Cool explanation.BloatedGuppy said:Issues with pacing in books 4 and 5 have been relatively well documented. There are two primary causes...Geo Da Sponge said:Ehhh, I didn't much like that bit when I read it in the books, either. It's more or less the point where I stopped enjoying them.
It's pretty much the point where all the main characters stop doing anything of significance and just get kicke around in situations which they have very little control of. It goes from "unpredictable story where things can play out in unusual ways, and reality ensues" to "People are just kind of doing stuff, for two books? I guess? Don't ask me what's actually happening though".
1) I'm sure you've heard Martin discuss "The Meereneese Knot". It's a term he uses to refer to the timeline surrounding events in Meereen, the geographical location of certain characters at the time certain events are happening, and what occurred to get them there. Originally he had planned for a 5 year gap between events at the end of A Storm of Swords and the beginning of the 4th book. Upon beginning to write it, he found he was over-relying on flashbacks, and decided to write it out instead. And he found that the logistics of it were an absolute nightmare. Which is why books 4 and 5 seem to be primarily comprised of people either traveling from point A to B in what feels like an extremely circuitous fashion, or chilling out in one place while events occur at glacial speed around them.
2) A reader pointed out to Martin at one point that he'd accidentally gender-swapped a horse between two books. Being caught in this relatively minor error apparently DEEPLY scarred the man (he spoke at length about how much it troubled him), and he's become consequentially obsessed with crossing every t and dotting every i. The pacing of the books has suffered.
One hopes that with books 4 and 5 (really one novel split in half) finished and most of the transitional details taken care of, Martin can get back to his original framework now and the pacing will pick back up. Due to 2, though, we can never be entirely sure.
One also suspects that Martin has become increasingly resentful of fan pressure over the years, and that ASOIAF has become something of a millstone for him. The guy always liked to flitter between projects and hobbies, and he seems to drag his feet more and more as the time pressure becomes more acute.
Still shoddy writing.
Nope. Everything got more and more 'meh' to me as virtually all of the characters become less and less effective. The previous events that got resolved start to feel meaningless, as yet more plot lines and problems get pulled out of a hat.Magmarock said:Yeah I was interested in know if it had the same affect on the book readers as well. Can you tell me without spoiling, if the story gets better and if you started enjoying them again?Geo Da Sponge said:Ehhh, I didn't much like that bit when I read it in the books, either. It's more or less the point where I stopped enjoying them.
It's pretty much the point where all the main characters stop doing anything of significance and just get kicke around in situations which they have very little control of. It goes from "unpredictable story where things can play out in unusual ways, and reality ensues" to "People are just kind of doing stuff, for two books? I guess? Don't ask me what's actually happening though".