[Felisin Fatter]

I really don't think there's any greed or ego. GRRM seems like a genuinely nice guy and not the type who covets ever more (money or attention, and he has plenty of both).

I believe it's crippling performance anxiety, leading to mild depression, leading to extreme procrastination. Although that basically describes me so I might just be projecting Anyway, I think he should just get some psychological help / coaching / perhaps even a ghost writer. Not because he is a patient or a victim or whatever, but because finishing this project would make him a lot happier - and he isn't managing it by himself. So I hope he does that. And if that doesn't work for some reason, I hope he just decides not to finish it, ever, and tells everyone. And has an easier life.

This post has been edited by Felisin Fatter: 28 January 2016 - 01:40 PM

[Tapper]

Abyss, on 19 January 2016 - 04:11 PM, said:

Tapper, on 19 January 2016 - 12:24 PM, said:

...As for the spoilered last segment... yes, there might be deviations between the books and the show, but how wildly can he deviate from what the show shows in his writing?

Quite a bit actually.


Not the bestest example perhaps, but the DA VINCI CODE film and book have very different endings.

But the film was made after the book was finished.
If GRRM has the freedom to completely deviate aSoIaF's ending from that of the series after they're done, what does that mean for HBO?

It is one thing for them to rename characters (whatshername Greyjoy), cut the cast of support characters in half or omit storylines as they choose, it is quite another to not have the opportunity to portray the 'true' ending(s) for the PoV characters in the show.

[Jahdu]

Did you know it took GRRM 5 months to write that blog post

[Nevyn]

Abyss, on 19 January 2016 - 04:11 PM, said:

Quite a bit actually.


Not the bestest example perhaps, but the DA VINCI CODE film and book have very different endings.

I didn't think those endings were all THAT different, actually.

Now, Jurassic Park on the other hand ...

And then Crighton went and wrote a sequel to the movie instead of the book ... sigh.

[Mentalist]

So I stopped following ASOIAF news a looooooong time ago (like, soon after finishing ADWD, which I bought on release date)

But today I was browsing through my Goodreads newsletter and apparently GRRM is releasing a "volume 1 of the History of the Targaryens" this month.

So, did he just give up on TWOW?

Wert? any updates?

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 27 October 2018 - 07:49 PM

[Nevyn]

I think he's been stuck on what to do with this monster for awhile. Once he fell behind the show, I think he more or less resigned himself to it. Now he is doing his own other projects, trying to figure out how he wants to resolve the story, and I think he will avoid even trying to finish until the main series is done.

If you're gonna finish after anyway, no point in dealing with continued in between comparisons. He makes money off the show and people judge the show off its divergences fro the book. Easier to go where ever he wants at this point when the show is done.

Or, he could let the show write his ending and then never get around to finishing himself I guess

[Abyss]

He will die and the The Expanse guys will finish it. Mark my words.

[Werthead]

Mentalist, on 27 October 2018 - 07:49 PM, said:

So I stopped following ASOIAF news a looooooong time ago (like, soon after finishing ADWD, which I bought on release date)

But today I was browsing through my Goodreads newsletter and apparently GRRM is releasing a "volume 1 of the History of the Targaryens" this month.

So, did he just give up on TWOW?

Wert? any updates?

Fire & Blood is a book he never meant to write, wrote it years ago and stuck it in a drawer and then his publishers got a bit antsy without a book from him and this was the only thing he had ready to go.

If you remember The World of Ice and Fire, George was supposed to write between 3,000 and 10,000 words of sidebars for it way back in 2012. George went a bit bonkers and instead wrote 350,000 words (!) in three months for it. That was far, far too much so his co-writers massively compressed that material down for the book that came out in 2014. Chunks of the original material were used to create three short stories for various projects: The Princess and the Queen, The Rogue Prince and Sons of the Dragon. So the publisher decided to release the full, original text even thought it was unfinished (it pauses at the beginning of Aegon III's reign) to tide things over.

As TWoW itself, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that George has more than a book's worth of material. His publishers apparently suggested releasing what he had as The Winds of Winter Part I, but George turned them down, partially because he doesn't want to do the AFFC/ADWD thing again (ever) but also because his non-linear writing process (he tends to write out character arcs, sticking with one POV through multiple chapters, before going back and catching up with another character, so he might theoretically have completely finished, say, all of Tyrion's material for the novel, half of Dany's but not even started Bran's) means he probably can't quite do that yet. If the book has to be split, it will be on the basis of finishing the entire thing and seeing where we are.

I'm hoping to interview GRRM at an event next year, by which time we will of course know more.

[Abyss]

Werthead, on 24 November 2018 - 12:15 AM, said:

.... The good news is that George has more than a book's worth of material...

Hee Hee. I see what you did there.

[Gabriele]

Yeah, please not another split; that was not the best idea. An understandable one from the perspective of the publisher, but I think it hurt Feast and Dance.

Fire and Blood is a fun read, at least for me who is acquainted with old chronicles. Now imagine, if the Romans had dragons ...

[Mentalist]

Saw it on sale @ 40% off. But then I saw that it's vol 1 of 2, and figured I'd wait until both volumes are out.

[QuickTidal]

Is anyone else in my boat? That I no longer care what the last couple of books says? The tv show will finish the series for me. I have almost nil interest in the final books since AFFC and ADWD burned me HARD.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 26 November 2018 - 02:07 PM

[Gorefest]

I'm still hoping that the TV show and the books will go completely separate ways, in which case I'm definitely still very intrigued in the last couple of books. I found that AFFC and ADWD held up better upon a reread. there is also a fan-made mix of the books ("Ball of Beasts" I think it is called) where they have merged the two books again so you get all the points of views in chronological order instead of split out across the two books. Might be more palatable reading it that way.

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 26 November 2018 - 02:06 PM, said:

Is anyone else in my boat? That I no longer care what the last couple of books says? The tv show will finish the series for me. I have almost nil interest in the final books since AFFC and ADWD burned me HARD.

My level of give-a-damn about the books is heavily wiped, by both the dip in quality since SWORD, and the endless delays. GRRM ain't my bitch and he can do what he likes, it's just the beauty of the series was immersing in those first three books and the product since then hasn't prompted me to reread or even skim, consequently diminishing my enjoyment as the gaps get longer and the books get mediocrer.

It hasn't got so bad that i'm out... I will continue to buy them, but we're talking audible credit or ebook, when convenient, no pre-order. I doubt GRRM or his publishers give a crap about my little blob of dollars, but at the end of the day i used to spend $30-40 on these books and now i spend $14.95 or less.

And i'm not spending dollars on part 1 of 2 of a historical piece he probably won't finish until he does, because fuck that. I enjoyed WORLD OF for the most part, but it didn't fill the gap.

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

Abyss, on 26 November 2018 - 02:34 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 26 November 2018 - 02:06 PM, said:

Is anyone else in my boat? That I no longer care what the last couple of books says? The tv show will finish the series for me. I have almost nil interest in the final books since AFFC and ADWD burned me HARD.

My level of give-a-damn about the books is heavily wiped, by both the dip in quality since SWORD, and the endless delays. GRRM ain't my bitch and he can do what he likes, it's just the beauty of the series was immersing in those first three books and the product since then hasn't prompted me to reread or even skim, consequently diminishing my enjoyment as the gaps get longer and the books get mediocrer.

Agreed 100%. I will probably have a quick look at the Wiki chapter by chapter summaries if/when Winds eventually lands, but that's it.

I kind of enjoyed the World book but also became frustrated with just how lazily it borrowed from established history (no problem with borrowing per se, but at least change it up a little.)

Oh look, a king who gets fatter and fatter and goes a little bit mental. How many wives did he have? ........ yeah, you guessed it. Six.

This post has been edited by TheRetiredBridgeburner: 26 November 2018 - 02:55 PM

[Abyss]

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 26 November 2018 - 02:53 PM, said:

Abyss, on 26 November 2018 - 02:34 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 26 November 2018 - 02:06 PM, said:

Is anyone else in my boat? That I no longer care what the last couple of books says? The tv show will finish the series for me. I have almost nil interest in the final books since AFFC and ADWD burned me HARD.

My level of give-a-damn about the books is heavily wiped, by both the dip in quality since SWORD, and the endless delays. GRRM ain't my bitch and he can do what he likes, it's just the beauty of the series was immersing in those first three books and the product since then hasn't prompted me to reread or even skim, consequently diminishing my enjoyment as the gaps get longer and the books get mediocrer.

Agreed 100%. I will probably have a quick look at the Wiki chapter by chapter summaries if/when Winds eventually lands, but that's it.

I kind of enjoyed the World book but also became frustrated with just how lazily it borrowed from established history (no problem with borrowing per se, but at least change it up a little.)

Oh look, a king who gets fatter and fatter and goes a little bit mental. How many wives did he have? ........ yeah, you guessed it. Six.

I forget, was that King Aegon, Aegon the King, or King Aegon the Other Aegon?

[QuickTidal]

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 26 November 2018 - 02:53 PM, said:

Abyss, on 26 November 2018 - 02:34 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 26 November 2018 - 02:06 PM, said:

Is anyone else in my boat? That I no longer care what the last couple of books says? The tv show will finish the series for me. I have almost nil interest in the final books since AFFC and ADWD burned me HARD.

My level of give-a-damn about the books is heavily wiped, by both the dip in quality since SWORD, and the endless delays. GRRM ain't my bitch and he can do what he likes, it's just the beauty of the series was immersing in those first three books and the product since then hasn't prompted me to reread or even skim, consequently diminishing my enjoyment as the gaps get longer and the books get mediocrer.

Agreed 100%. I will probably have a quick look at the Wiki chapter by chapter summaries if/when Winds eventually lands, but that's it.

I kind of enjoyed the World book but also became frustrated with just how lazily it borrowed from established history (no problem with borrowing per se, but at least change it up a little.)

Oh look, a king who gets fatter and fatter and goes a little bit mental. How many wives did he have? ........ yeah, you guessed it. Six.

Indeed. I mean the fact that the books began life as The Wars of the Roses with Dragons was a telltale sign from the off that GRRM wasn't being particularly inventive (The Starks/Yorks and the Lannisters/Lancasters) with the series.

[Gorefest]

Better well borrowed than poorly imagined. Nothing wrong with borrowing historical settings to hang an epic fantasy on, surely?

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

Gorefest, on 26 November 2018 - 03:54 PM, said:

Better well borrowed than poorly imagined. Nothing wrong with borrowing historical settings to hang an epic fantasy on, surely?

Not in essence no, but I would hope for a little changing it up/inventiveness accompanying it, rather than a straight cut and paste job which the World book did start to feel like (for me at least) in places. I'm not sure why it irks me so much, but it feels a bit lazy to not at least change it a little.

If the following phrase comes back to bite me because he deviates from the established pattern, then that's absolutely fine, but (at present) when you're looking at a newly introduced plot point that's supposed to be surprising and add suspense and thinking "George, I'm well aware who Purkin Warbeck was, thanks." then you're probably sticking a little too close to said history.

Don't get me wrong though - I genuinely would like it if he proved me wrong on that front!

This post has been edited by TheRetiredBridgeburner: 26 November 2018 - 04:49 PM

[QuickTidal]

Gorefest, on 26 November 2018 - 03:54 PM, said:

Better well borrowed than poorly imagined. Nothing wrong with borrowing historical settings to hang an epic fantasy on, surely?

The Lancasters became the Lannisters.

I mean...