Why You're Wrong if You're Mad at George R. R. Martin

Fractral

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Razhem said:
I'm pretty much only interested in Mistborn of Sanderson's works. The issue I have with Sanderson is that while he writes fast, he spreads himself to thin. I'm not interested in his YA stuff (read Steelheart, found it dull) and the Stormlight Archive moves at such a glacial pace that I can't bring myself to be excited for it when I know that half of each book is going to be fluff that serves only to expand his cosmere project. Well written fluff, granted, but I'll always prefer a more focused novel.
You're right though, he's not as bad as say, Robert Jordan or GRRM. I just wish he'd focus on one or two projects at a time. When he says that he doesn't expect to finish The Stormlight Archive until 2030 or whenever a part of me dies inside.
 

RJ 17

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Nov 27, 2011
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In looking over the back-and-forth through the comics here, I can only think of South Park's 3-parter that was making fun of the console wars, black friday madness, and of course: Game of Thrones.

"I don't see why everyone is so obsessed with this show...it's just a bunch of wieners flapping around on the screen!"

"Don't worry, kids, the pizza is DEFINITELY coming!"

:p
 

s0osleepie

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Luminous_Umbra said:
Perhaps you shouldn't use Full Metal Alchemist as a comparison if you're trying to not make this seem like a bad thing, seeing how poor the divergent version was. Just saying.
I'm not going to lie, I really liked classic FMA series once it figured itself out, but I recognize not everyone shares that opinion. What would you use as an example instead?
 

Heartsib

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I'm not mad at Martin, but I read up to the fourth book, saw the writing on the wall, and dropped the series. I'll be happy to continue reading if I at any point regain confidence that it will ever actually be finished... but, as has been the case with no few other talented writers with poor time-management skills, I can find other things to read while he decides whether or not he means to turn out a complete story.
 

Loonyyy

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Just try not to be a dick to the man.

He's a human being, and he's expressed frustration at it before, but if he dies, there's a far bigger tragedy than your stupid book series not being finished, there's a human being who no longer gets to experience the world, and that'll be tragic for him, and those who know him personally.

He's a human being, not a book delivery system.

Maybe try not discussing it in terms of an investment. Whether or not he finishes it, fuck, if he gets bored with it and decides to write hairstyling tips for Cosmopolitan, it's still a worthwhile read. You don't need to finish it to enjoy the time you spend reading it. If you did, none of us would play videogames.
 

RonHiler

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Here's the thing. I'm not mad at GRRM for being slow at his job. He loses respect points because of that (compare to, say, S. Donaldson, who can put out much more complex (and I would argue, better) stories[1] in three year installments like clockwork, as he takes his craft much more seriously. But I can accept not everyone has the same work ethic). He's a slow writer. He does many other things (book tours, conventions, football, etc), and when he's doing those things, he doesn't write during that time. Well, fair enough. Those are the advantages of being your own boss. Good job if you can get it.

What irritates me about GRRM is his complete lack of regard for the fans of his series. He has said multiple times, the story goes to the grave with him. If he doesn't finish it, nobody will. That's a dick move. That is saying to the fans "I don't give a rat's ass whether or not you get to see the end of this tale. This is MY ball, and I'm taking it with me. Screw you guys, I'm going home". I'm sorry, but that is just effing lame.

Now, that's his right. It's his IP. But facing the same situation, R. Jordan made sure his fans would get to read the end of his tale, whether he got to write it or not. That's showing respect for your audience. I didn't love his series (it was far too derivative for my tastes, and moved far slower than I liked), but I totally respect him for ensuring the story would get finished if he didn't live to write it (which sadly he didn't). There is NO reason GRRM couldn't do the same if it came to it, except he's just being an ass.

In all honesty, I don't like him. I like his writing (mostly). And I'll pay him to read his books. But that's as far as it goes, a pure business relationship. As a person, I think he's a jerk, and a bit of a bully (not that I have any personal relationship with him, I can only go by the information he chooses to share with me). He doesn't care that I don't like him, and he can laugh at me all the way to the bank if he wants. That's fine.

I'm glad D&D are doing the HBO series for a lot of reasons, but one of the biggest ones is I highly suspect that series is going to give us the only ending we're ever going to get. It's not as good as if we got to read it (through no fault of D&D, they are limited by the medium they are using, and what they are doing with it is impressive, but it can't hold up to the written word), but at least it's something.

[1]as a side note about SRDonadlson's books, I'd love to see movies and/or a series done on them, they would be great (and there has been some interest in them both past and possibly present). Sadly, I suspect it's never going to happen, as the protagonist does a very evil thing early on in the series, something many would consider completely unforgivable, and probably rightly so (it would be barely watchable if an antagonist did it, but to have the main protagonist doing such a thing ruins any chance of the series ever seeing film). And it's not like you could cut it, because it's an act that deeply affects and drives him from that point on. Too bad really.
 

Luminous_Umbra

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s0osleepie said:
Luminous_Umbra said:
Perhaps you shouldn't use Full Metal Alchemist as a comparison if you're trying to not make this seem like a bad thing, seeing how poor the divergent version was. Just saying.
I'm not going to lie, I really liked classic FMA series once it figured itself out, but I recognize not everyone shares that opinion. What would you use as an example instead?
Fair enough.

I was personally fine with how Soul Eater diverged. Granted, I enjoyed the original more, but it was still quite enjoyable. (Not asking you to change it or anything like that, sorry if I came off that way.)
 

Treeinthewoods

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I am not mad at him, I am mad at myself. After the crazy amount of time I waited for The Dark Tower series by Stephen King to be finished (and faced a very real chance it would never be done) I vowed to never again start reading an unfinished series. I was dumb enough to start and get hooked, now I am dying to read the books and see where it ends. I tried the show, I don't like it so now I have to wait and avoid spoilers across the internet.

Never start an unfinished series, ever. There are plenty of completed series to fill time while waiting (I really loved The Malazan Book of the Fallen, ten books which were all done before I started reading them).
 
Mar 30, 2010
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This news might surprise followers of the HBO series, but fans of the books have long since gotten used to the sound of deadlines whooshing past. I love ASoIaF, but if I've learned one thing during the last twenty years it's that if Mr Martin says "early 2016" what he actually means is "late 2017. If you're lucky. More likely mid 2018".
 

gorfias

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The show is increasingly diverging from the book. Going into the future, I doubt they will even be that similar any more.

Sad on one hand. Mountain vs. Viper. Wow.

But even similar things can change radically from book to show. Best recent example? The "Shame" nude scene with Cersei.

In the show, she is gorgeous and nude and fun to look at but you cannot help but feel her anger at how poorly she is being treated.

The book, with the same action, means a COMPLETELY different thing. It is the climax of the only interesting story line I found in book 4 and 5 and it is devastating.

She has been conducting herself as if power is all that matters. But stripped bare of her refinements and shorn of her "crown of beauty [hair] she is frighteningly mortal. A middle aged woman with 5 kids in medieval like times before plastic surgery and personal physical trainers. What she has been pursuing at the cost of her very soul is a temporary illusion.

So, I really no longer think of the books and shows as the same thing anymore. Now we get two fun but different things.

But Martin. Dude, hurry up!
 

happyninja42

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Politrukk said:
The book fans anger aside there are a lot of people who are dissapointed with the death of Stannis and his family as well as that supposedly of Jon Snow.
I don't know why people keep saying this. The last episode I saw did a very dramatic cutaway before Breanne of Tarth actually cut Stannis. In fact, the sound she made sounded more like pain than a battle cry, and I fully expect in the new season, when they come back to that plot, that someone offscreen hits her and distracts her from killing Stannis. Seriously though, am I missing a scene or something? Because I didn't see any actual killing blow on Stannis, and in a show that is happy to show a pregnant woman being stabbed in the womb, and then having her throat slit, the fact that they don't show the killing blow is a very telling sign he isn't actually dead.

And besides, even if she does kill Stannis, so what? It's not like death is a permanent deterrent in this world. Not only are there undead, but there's the freaking Red God who brings people back from the dead. It's not like they don't have a Get Out of Death card for him if they really need it.
 

Politrukk

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Happyninja42 said:
Politrukk said:
The book fans anger aside there are a lot of people who are dissapointed with the death of Stannis and his family as well as that supposedly of Jon Snow.
I don't know why people keep saying this. The last episode I saw did a very dramatic cutaway before Breanne of Tarth actually cut Stannis. In fact, the sound she made sounded more like pain than a battle cry, and I fully expect in the new season, when they come back to that plot, that someone offscreen hits her and distracts her from killing Stannis. Seriously though, am I missing a scene or something? Because I didn't see any actual killing blow on Stannis, and in a show that is happy to show a pregnant woman being stabbed in the womb, and then having her throat slit, the fact that they don't show the killing blow is a very telling sign he isn't actually dead.

And besides, even if she does kill Stannis, so what? It's not like death is a permanent deterrent in this world. Not only are there undead, but there's the freaking Red God who brings people back from the dead. It's not like they don't have a Get Out of Death card for him if they really need it.
1 the showrunnes called it.
2 have you even read the books?

Everything that happens at Winterfell and the Wall is changed drastically.