Wouter Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 I don't really see how this affects much of anything. There's a character that appears and needs a name, he names him after someone he knows (which, as Ran says, he's been doing since day one). Or are you expecting this character to take over the story?Werthead is AA. It is known. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calibandar Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 What a strange thing to be bothered about. He's been making nods and references to people since AGoT.Strange? Surely it's not strange at all.Suspension of disbelief, surely you've ever heard of it. If the idea is that one is investing oneself in a secondary, alternative world invented by the author, the idea is that that is a real creation, untouched by our real world. That's why it's a secondary alternative world Fantasy. To then learn that the author is using a friend of yours as a character in his book is a breach of the integrity of that. You will find Ran, if you look around, that it is really not so strange for people to feel that way, there were some comments of similar nature in the ADWD forum when people learned about the Patrek character. Is it a major dealbreaker? Of course not. But to me it is diminishing, it makes the world less immersive and less "real". GRRM shouldn't do it.As for any shout outs to others, I haven't noticed many, but if I had it would probably annoy me as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 To then learn that the author is using a friend of yours as a character in his book is a breach of the integrity of that. Good thing that's not happening, then, and that he's actually just using his name.As it is, it's a well known fact that no author has ever based a character on someone he/she knew. *firm nod*Now are we all finished pissing in Wert's cornflakes? The guy gets a nod in GRRM's work, someone starts a thread to congratulate him: is it really appropriate to use that thread to complain about how it's going to affect your reading experience? That seems a mite self-centered, to me. I think the appropriate response is a big :thumbsup: to Wert, and if anyone has any worries about how the numerous references and homages impact on their own immersion (is it worse when it's not somebody famous, I wonder?), maybe they could go write a blog post about it or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galen M Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 Didn't Rowling actually base a character (Lockhart) off her first husband or maybe a guy she dated. That's a lot more oblique than just a name, and I don't think it impugns the integrity of her work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jurble Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 Lord Elvis of House Presley would awesome. I wonder what their House arms would be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. X Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 Lord Elvis of House Presley would awesome. I wonder what their House arms would be.Bananas and bacon on a field of peanut butter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kat Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 Bananas and bacon on a field of peanut butter.Done and done.Mod warning: Enough passive-aggressiveness in this thread for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Snow's Bastard Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 I don't catch the references Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regina Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 Kat, you are the best. That was awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerraPrime Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 To then learn that the author is using a friend of yours as a character in his book is a breach of the integrity of that. Does Wert know about this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angalin Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 Lord Elvis of House Presley would awesome. I wonder what their House arms would be.Very good coat of arms! And he would never even need to be resurrected, because he would never die. :)In any case, congrats, Wert! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riverrun Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Just because I got dismembered and had my head smashed to a pulp by a giant doesn't mean I'm done for. . .Have a little faith!PatrickSer, I admire your optimism xD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Tully Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Congrats to Wert, who has been an active part of the ASoI&F community for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterbound Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Fuck it, good on ya Wert!Let's hope your character doesn't spawn some pain in the ass prophesy theory that the floob argues over for months. Maybe a nice clean death in a tourney, or a mention in some entourage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ducessofwords Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 I thought Martin had said he wasn't going to be introducing any new POV's after Dance with Dragons (excepting prologues and epilogues) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galen M Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 I thought Martin had said he wasn't going to be introducing any new POV's after Dance with Dragons (excepting prologues and epilogues)most people ignore that fact, especially while they're speculating the title for the 8th book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oracle86 Posted August 30, 2011 Author Share Posted August 30, 2011 I thought Martin had said he wasn't going to be introducing any new POV's after Dance with Dragons (excepting prologues and epilogues)Adam's just a character, not a POV, as far as we know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Jon Snow Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 Cool for him. I love the subtle nods, and to have it be someone I "know" is that much cooler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahri Adaran Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Wow, I can't believe that some of you guys seem to have missed the Larry, Curly and Moe reference in AGoT (the knights who help Catelyn after she grabs Tyrion). Martin has been doing some pretty blatant nods for a long long long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aryador Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Didn't Rowling actually base a character (Lockhart) off her first husband or maybe a guy she dated. That's a lot more oblique than just a name, and I don't think it impugns the integrity of her work.Actually, there is a huge difference in here.Basing a character on a person you know is not a problem at all. Every author should use traits of people he knows to inspire him. How else do you want to describe a person that seems real? I could not care less if Lockheart is based on a former lover, because I know that there are plenty of Lockheart type people out there who are immensely concerend about themselves and busy with admiring themselves.But using a real existing name or a fake name for a person in your book shatters the dream. If a person is called "Lord Jordayne of Tor", I immediatly imagine him to be Robert Jordan. What else could I do? I don't even have much more information about him than his name? But I don't want Robert Jordan in my ASoIaF-book. He does not belong there. If Martin wants to honour him, he could at least write an unconnected short story, or something similar.I remember I once read a novel based on cardinal Richelieu's France, and the main character booked a passage on a ship where the captain's name was Jean-Luc Picard. Well, Jean-Luc is not an uncommon French name, neither is Picard, so I thought it a nice little coincidence, and forgot about it. Later I found out that the author was, in fact, a huge Star Trek fan, even writing lots of FanFic in her free time. Suddenly, having Jean-Luc Picard in a novel which was supposed to be more or less historical accurate, was kind of annoying. (And to make matters worse, another British captain in the book later was indeed called William Riker.)Anyway... if we have more hidden persons in the books, I'd still be interested to hear about them. Is there a list somewhere? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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