True.Edged Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 It almost seems like he has lost interest in finishing the series. He will, and I'm sure it will be fantastic regardless of how long it takes to finish, but each passing year it seems he puts off new material more and more. Feast and Dance were supposed to be 1 book, much like GoT,aSoS, and aCoK. It just seems like hes writing circles now instead of driving the narrative forward. The one thing I would like to note is the fallacy that great literary work takes time. One of the worst things you can do as an author is over-edit a project. You may end up with a more polished product, but you will lose much of the intensity that drives a narrative forward. Many of the great works that people study today are not masterpieces that took decades to complete. You see that in GRRM's work actually, his novella's and other works that take less time have a greater sense of urgency to them, they feel more complete even if they are less polished. I have no doubt that Game will finish before GRRM completes aDoS, and that will be sad as then he will be at least partially handcuffed to the series on HBO's story line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queen of Whores Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 George may have said in an interview that he's a slow writer, but that doesn't set it in stone. It's his opinion, said in the heat of the moment and may not even reflect his real views on his writing speed. It took J.K.Rowling 17 years to complete the roughly 3400 pages of the Harry Potter series. Seventeen years after George started writing ASOIAF, he had published 3800 pages, not counting the dunk & egg stories and the then-unpublished chapters of ADWD. Yet no one marks Rowling as a slow writer.That's because she published a book every one or two years, so fans were given no reason to think she was slow at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l3ol3o Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 My biggest problem is the TV show. I wouldn't care if the next book wasn't released 5 years from now if there wasn't a TV show. I don't want TV show to eclipse the books. This looks very likely and I'm very concerned as to the consequences of this. Will GRRM even be motivated to finish the series if the everyone already knows the ending? Will he feel pressured to change the books so it's different from the show? Will readers still be interested in reading the ending if it comes out 3-5 years after we all saw the ending on TV? Will the show force GRRM to change his original vision for the show? I just have a bad feeling that the book series will never be finished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickey2093 Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 George may have said in an interview that he's a slow writer, but that doesn't set it in stone. It's his opinion, said in the heat of the moment and may not even reflect his real views on his writing speed. It took J.K.Rowling 17 years to complete the roughly 3400 pages of the Harry Potter series. Seventeen years after George started writing ASOIAF, he had published 3800 pages, not counting the dunk & egg stories and the then-unpublished chapters of ADWD. Yet no one marks Rowling as a slow writer. Every volume of her Harry Potter series can stand on its own - while it's nice to have the previous books behind you, it's not necessary. The same cannot be said of asoiaf. And she didn't leave cliff-hangers at the end of each novel... This is the major complaint, if you read over the posts - the long delay between novels exacerbates the frustration of the cliff-hangers. None of which (cliff-hangers) are necessary, btw... edit: And actually, it wasn't said in a single interview in the heat of the moment - he's posted that information in his NAB, and mentioned it in more than one laid-back interview... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloodofwinterfell Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Every volume of her Harry Potter series can stand on its own - while it's nice to have the previous books behind you, it's not necessary. The same cannot be said of asoiaf. And she didn't leave cliff-hangers at the end of each novel... This is the major complaint, if you read over the posts - the long delay between novels exacerbates the frustration of the cliff-hangers. None of which (cliff-hangers) are necessary, btw... edit: And actually, it wasn't said in a single interview in the heat of the moment - he's posted that information in his NAB, and mentioned it in more than one laid-back interview... On top of all the cliffhangers at the end of ADWD, some readers (not me thankfully, I'm a new fan) have been waiting years to find out what happened to certain POVs from AFFC, such as Brienne and Sansa. The wait for HP wasn't too long, if I recall correctly. Order of the Phoenix was published in 2003 (I think?), Half-Blood Prince in 2005, and Deathly Hallows in 2007. The biggest gap was between Goblet of FIre and Order of the Phoenix, and that was only three years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiasyd Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 It's too unfair to compare GRRM's work with JK Rowling's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickey2093 Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 It's too unfair to compare GRRM's work with JK Rowling's. Agreed - Completely different type of story with a completely different type of audience, told in a completely different manner. grrms is one long-ass story with forced division into separate novels due to the size and scope. I'm sure he'd have preferred writing it as a single work - the ability to maintain continuity alone would make his life much easier. But then he'd still be working on that single story, and it would take even longer, as he'd have had to do something else to make a living... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickey2093 Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Actually, I think that's a good point... It IS one long-ass story, with forced divisions due to length and scope. So why not publish smaller books more often? It obviously can be done, since he did it with AFFC/ADWD... Yeah, picking the place to split is a pain in the ass, but hey - it would mean a more systematic, regular release of the books, while giving him time to write ahead... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Human Abstract Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 We discussed before. It is indeed possible, but for whatever reason the author just wants to have 2 massive tomes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queen of Whores Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 We discussed before. It is indeed possible, but for whatever reason the author just wants to have 2 massive tomes. It might have something to do with the odd notion that the bigger book = the better book. There are plenty of very short books that are just over a hundred pages are are masterpieces and are able to pack a lot of stuff into it. Just look at A Storm of Swords. The last 300 pages are amazingly event-packed and fast-paced. I personally think shorter but more frequent instalments would be better for this series in the long run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickey2093 Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 It might have something to do with the odd notion that the bigger book = the better book. There are plenty of very short books that are just over a hundred pages are are masterpieces and are able to pack a lot of stuff into it. Just look at A Storm of Swords. The last 300 pages are amazingly event-packed and fast-paced. I personally think shorter but more frequent instalments would be better for this series in the long run.Exactly - For instance -the current publishing history is:4273 pages starting publishing in 1996.GOT - 704 pages published in 1996COK - 768 pages published in 1999, totaling 1472 pagesSOS - 992 pages published in 2000, totaling 2464 pagesFFC - 753 pages published in 2005, totaling 3217 pagesDWD - 1056 pages published in 2011, totaling 4273 Now - slightly different publishing method, starting at the same date...Book1 - 400 pages published in 1996Book2 - 400 pages published in 1998, totaling 800Book3 - 400 pages published in 2000, totaling 1200Book4 - 400 pages published in 2002, totaling 1600Book6 - 400 pages published in 2004, totaling 2000Book7 - 400 pages published in 2006, totaling 2400Book8 - 400 pages published in 2008, totaling 2800Book9 - 400 pages published in 2010, totaling 3200Book10 - 400 pages published in 2012, totaling 3600Book11 - 400 pages published in 2014, totaling 4000Book12 - 400 pages published in 2016, totaling 4400 (he would have only 127 pages left to go for this one) I think even grrm could maintain that rate through the rest of the story.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Human Abstract Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 As long as he doesn't have lengthy tours after each one... at this point it might be better for completion times just to do the 2 books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sifth Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Exactly - For instance -the current publishing history is:4273 pages starting publishing in 1996.GOT - 704 pages published in 1996COK - 768 pages published in 1999, totaling 1472 pagesSOS - 992 pages published in 2000, totaling 2464 pagesFFC - 753 pages published in 2005, totaling 3217 pagesDWD - 1056 pages published in 2011, totaling 4273 Now - slightly different publishing method, starting at the same date...Book1 - 400 pages published in 1996Book2 - 400 pages published in 1998, totaling 800Book3 - 400 pages published in 2000, totaling 1200Book4 - 400 pages published in 2002, totaling 1600Book6 - 400 pages published in 2004, totaling 2000Book7 - 400 pages published in 2006, totaling 2400Book8 - 400 pages published in 2008, totaling 2800Book9 - 400 pages published in 2010, totaling 3200Book10 - 400 pages published in 2012, totaling 3600Book11 - 400 pages published in 2014, totaling 4000Book12 - 400 pages published in 2016, totaling 4400 (he would have only 127 pages left to go for this one) I think even grrm could maintain that rate through the rest of the story.... I would have been perfectly fine if the books were written this way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickey2093 Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 On top of all the cliffhangers at the end of ADWD, some readers (not me thankfully, I'm a new fan) have been waiting years to find out what happened to certain POVs from AFFC, such as Brienne and Sansa. The wait for HP wasn't too long, if I recall correctly. Order of the Phoenix was published in 2003 (I think?), Half-Blood Prince in 2005, and Deathly Hallows in 2007. The biggest gap was between Goblet of FIre and Order of the Phoenix, and that was only three years.From harrypotter.wikia.com:Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone ("Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" in the U.S) (UK release: 26/06/97; US release 9/01/98)Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (UK release: 2/07/98; US release 6/02/99)Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (UK release: 8/07/99; US release 9/08/99)Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (UK & US releases: 8/07/00)Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (UK & US releases: 21/06/03)Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (UK & US releases: 16/07/05)Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (UK & US releases: 21/07/07)She was getting them out at a pretty decent clip... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zman1863 Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 From harrypotter.wikia.com: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone ("Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" in the U.S) (UK release: 26/06/97; US release 9/01/98) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (UK release: 2/07/98; US release 6/02/99) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (UK release: 8/07/99; US release 9/08/99) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (UK & US releases: 8/07/00) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (UK & US releases: 21/06/03) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (UK & US releases: 16/07/05) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (UK & US releases: 21/07/07) She was getting them out at a pretty decent clip... True but the HP series is significantly shorter than ASOIAF. Additionally, Rowling was always very closed lipped about her progress with her books. I recall the gap between Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix was jarring after there being a book a year up until that point. But it wasn't such a big deal because all she said was that she was taking a break from the series and to not expect the next for a while. She hardly said anything about writing progress book to book until announcing a publication date for the next. I think GRRM's reputation as having the slows gets exaggerated partially because his style of documenting his progress more openly to his fans just yields a clamoring for more updates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kittykatknits Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 How'd this get to six pages without a mention: George R.R. Martin is not your bitch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queen of Whores Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 How'd this get to six pages without a mention: George R.R. Martin is not your bitch.Thank you so much for your very helpful contribution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hangover of the Morning Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 How'd this get to six pages without a mention: George R.R. Martin is not your bitch. Thanks for posing the link. Very enjoyable read and sums it up perfectly. When or even whether the next book gets published is completely beyond our control so why stress about it? Enjoy life, do other things and forget for awhile whether Jon is Azor Ahai or whether Aegon is fake or not. We might not find out for awhile, and so what, it's not going to make much difference in our lives anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fool of a Book Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Curiously, did someone from this board post about this exact topic on Imgur? If not, we aren't the only ones worried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kittykatknits Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Thanks for posing the link. Very enjoyable read and sums it up perfectly. When or even whether the next book gets published is completely beyond our control so why stress about it? Enjoy life, do other things and forget for awhile whether Jon is Azor Ahai or whether Aegon is fake or not. We might not find out for awhile, and so what, it's not going to make much difference in our lives anyways. Thanks. I like Gaiman's approach on it too. I've been in the fandom for 14 years now and have pretty much made peace with the idea it could be 14 more years until it's done. I've gone years at a time pretty much forgetting the books even exist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.