What do you think caused Martin to loose his grip on the material?

[BlackLightning]

14 hours ago, argonak said:

I just still can't handle the ironborn as a credible threat.  They shouldn't have the population or the resources to take on any major power given their size and apparent wealth.  I get that its author fiat that they should be, but it just doesn't make any sense to me.  

It'd be like if at the end of Return of the King,  the Thain marches an army of Hobbits from the shire to mordor, and defeats Sauron in battle.  Nothing we are otherwise told of the Shire would imply they have the manpower or resources to craft an army.  That's the problem I have with it.  Instead we get a small force of Dunedain who show up and join Aragorn, which accurately reflects what we've been told whats left of Arnor.   

It kicks me out of the story when I'm reading things that seem to break the rules of the universe.  if the Iron islands were three times their current size, then I could accept it.  Or maybe if it was literally ireland, a green, heavily populated land sitting a ways off Lannisport.   But the iron islands are tiny, and we're repeatedly told they're just poor and lightly populated.

You're not getting what I'm saying.

The reason why they are a credible threat is because no one thinks that they are a credible threat.

The upper crust of society just let them reave and raid and rape (notably they pose no threat to them in their castles and keeps) until the Ironborn get too much of a foothold. Then the high lords, all of the sudden, realize that they have a situation on their hands.

The Ironborn invasion of the North doomed Robb Stark; if they had never attacked (or if Theon had warned Robb), then so much crazy stuff would have likely never happened: Sansa may not have been forced to marry Tyrion, Catelyn wouldn't have released Jaime, Robb wouldn't have been vulnerable enough to sleep with Jeyne, the Boltons would not have had such an easy time betraying Robb, etc.

It was the beginning of the end for Robb. And it is likely to have the same effect on the Tyrells.

If Cersei had handled the Ironborn invasion of the Reach with the urgency that God gave a cow, then the Iron Throne wouldn't have to worry about juggling five impending crises - Euron, Aegon, the Faith, wintertime and the assassinations of the Lord Regent and the Grand Maester - at once.

[The Scabbard Of the Morning]

9 hours ago, Jabar of House Titan said:

LOL WUT

Did you read all of my post.

The story has three (or four, if you want to add in the coming-of-age story of the Stark kids) main plots. Three plots ≠ one plot

Eventually, it will hopefully converge back into one main plot but we have had three main plots since the tenth chapter (eleventh, if you count the prologue) of A Game of Thrones. I believe that was within the first hundred pages.

The story has one main plot, everything else is a subplot. 

[Tagganaro]

On 10/3/2018 at 1:38 PM, The Coconut God said:

What you are saying is just a bare minimum of information (and I don't even think Dany's dream was really a vision of the Trident). This isn't so much about informing the readers about what's going to happen next, it's about preparing them with enough information so that when something happens they have enough background knowledge and emotional investment to allow you to go all in on the action without trying to explain the setting as it happens. George isn't above drilling things into our heads repeatedly when he wants us to know something prior to a scene (e.g. the importance of guest rights prior to the Red Wedding).

SNIP

I had a long response typed out point by point but felt it was unnecessarily complex so I've simplified it a lot.  I disagree on this major point here- The Riverlands has already been well-established and if your theory turns out to be true that it gets overrun and GRRM doesn't want a POV there, I don't think Brienne's chapters do anything to give it "heart" that it doesn't already have.  Look, we've gotten a pretty extensive look at the Riverlands, both through the eyes of Kings and Lords and the smallfolk that inhabit it in Catelyn's, Arya's, and Jaime's chapters.  I don't think Brienne's really add much to that discussion.  We will get even more of a look at it through the eyes of LSH and the BWB, which I think I am arguing and others are arguing is really the only point to Brienne's chapters in AFFC.

Quote

- Illifer's chapter is probably less about Illifer and more about setting up the Mad Mouse, who appears again in the Alayne sample character and will probably play some role there. Starting out with Illifer was probably a sleight of hand meant to obscure his character until a later re-read (more knights means you're less likely to remember them individually). It also makes more sense that Brienne would accept to walk with Illifer than the Mad Mouse directly, since the latter was a shadier character.

I think we can agree that Illifer is irrelevant, just like Nimble Dick and others who have been mentioned.  This cuts to another complaint- Brienne is often a passenger in her own storyline serving whatever other storyline needs it.  I don't disagree that this is about introducing the Mad Mouse- what I disagree with is how he is introduced and why he is introduced.

Quote

SNIP

This is where I can really simplify my point of contention- you may be right about EVERYTHING, it's certainly possible in terms of where the story is headed, etc.  My complaint is and always has been started from a simple fact- AFFC and ADWD are messes from an editing and narrative structure standpoint.  ADWD is Book 5 of what is supposed to be a 7 book series- yet over half of it is devoted to finishing up things that could not be fit in Book 4 and as a result, Book 5 comes across as completely unfinished and sloppy in that we don't get the climax ADWD is unquestionably building towards in the Battles of Ice and Fire.  

The simple problem is that there are too many chapters in AFFC/ADWD- too many POVs and too many plotlines.  There is simply too much of everything.  This is not an issue that's solved by introducing more and more characters and more and more storylines, which is exactly what AFFC and ADWD are doing.  As a result, many of the characters we've grown to love and are the ones we care about are completely underserviced in what should only be 1 book but is actually 2 books- characters like Bran, Arya, and Sansa for example are afterthoughts while stuck in waiting patterns so other pieces can be put in place for a finale that seems unlikely to ever occur based on GRRM's writing pace.  

I don't doubt nor do I contend that every character and plotline who appears in AFFC and ADWD has a purpose- what I doubt is the actual purpose and the propriety of including such characters as Meribald, Nimble Dick, etc. when you have chapters devoted to them yet can't find space to conclude the Battle of Winterfell.  As I and others have stated, these characters are better-served in separate novellas and shorty stories than they are in this grand sprawling narrative that needs to start making moves towards an end game. 

[The Scabbard Of the Morning]

It would be Shakespeare writing McBeth and decided he needed a whole Act featuring Malcolm and his exploits raising an army in England  And another one on MacDuff and his flight from Scotland.

If GRRM rewrote ACOK now he'd have Robb as a POV and show us what happened at the Crag.    And if he finished ASOIAF and wanted to write a couple chapters of Robb to give us insight, I'd be all for it.  But for the purposes of the story he is telling, I'm glad he didn't do it.  It was enough we heard what happened, we didn't need another POV in ACOK. The problem is now he doesn't have an editor who can discipline him.

 

[Ser Maverick]

19 hours ago, The Scabbard Of the Morning said:

The story has one main plot, everything else is a subplot. 

Are you sure A Song of Ice and Fire is the series you read? The story has always been a bunch of subplots that contribute to an overall narrative.

This is like saying Marvel comics has a “main” comic series. 

[The Scabbard Of the Morning]

3 minutes ago, Ser Maverick said:

Are you sure A Song of Ice and Fire is the series you read? The story has always been a bunch of subplots that contribute to an overall narrative.

This is like saying Marvel comics has a “main” comic series. 

Yes I am sure.  I'm also sure that ASOIAF is not a comic book brand.

[Rhodan]

On ‎9‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 4:29 PM, argonak said:

I don't really mind the extra POVs, as long as they're sticking with the main plot.  Its interesting to see how Cersei feels about things sometimes (and to find out she's a completly loonely narcasist), as long as its relating to the main plot.

Its easy to criticize I know, but I feel like the entire ironborn and Dorne plots should have just been completly cut out and made for a much better story.   Maybe then GRRM might have been able to finish more than a book a decade.  I want him to be sccessful and finish his story, its always a bit depressing to think about ASOIAF and remmeber its just lieing there unfinished, with the messy 4 and 5 books the most current material.

Others have already said something about excluding those two fractions, but it starts to be more and more obvious why they were included by Martin in order for him to fulfill his "epic vision". Dorne exists becouse of FAegon storyline. Ironborn exist to make power seat for Euron, his Ersatz -Sauron. Although you can say that both storylines feel tacked when introduced so late, that might be one of Martin´s current problems with structurating the present act.

[T and A]

What most of you guys are writing about Dorne, Euron and Mereen has a point  and it is mostly well analysed. But I think, and excuse me when I say it, that it is a little bit overanalysed, while the simple truth is mostly the correct one. GRRM has not written the sixth installment so far, because he is not writing consistently, if at all. And the reason is also very simple. The time he invests on other projects, especially HBO, is much more profitable, than writing the books. It is actually that simple. The day has 24 hours, maybe 12 productive hours, and he has to wage how to allocate his time. And working with HBO is more profitable. That's it.  

[M.Alhazred]

On 10/5/2018 at 11:10 AM, Tagganaro said:

I had a long response typed out point by point but felt it was unnecessarily complex so I've simplified it a lot.  I disagree on this major point here- The Riverlands has already been well-established and if your theory turns out to be true that it gets overrun and GRRM doesn't want a POV there, I don't think Brienne's chapters do anything to give it "heart" that it doesn't already have.  Look, we've gotten a pretty extensive look at the Riverlands, both through the eyes of Kings and Lords and the smallfolk that inhabit it in Catelyn's, Arya's, and Jaime's chapters.  I don't think Brienne's really add much to that discussion.  We will get even more of a look at it through the eyes of LSH and the BWB, which I think I am arguing and others are arguing is really the only point to Brienne's chapters in AFFC.

I think we can agree that Illifer is irrelevant, just like Nimble Dick and others who have been mentioned.  This cuts to another complaint- Brienne is often a passenger in her own storyline serving whatever other storyline needs it.  I don't disagree that this is about introducing the Mad Mouse- what I disagree with is how he is introduced and why he is introduced.

This is where I can really simplify my point of contention- you may be right about EVERYTHING, it's certainly possible in terms of where the story is headed, etc.  My complaint is and always has been started from a simple fact- AFFC and ADWD are messes from an editing and narrative structure standpoint.  ADWD is Book 5 of what is supposed to be a 7 book series- yet over half of it is devoted to finishing up things that could not be fit in Book 4 and as a result, Book 5 comes across as completely unfinished and sloppy in that we don't get the climax ADWD is unquestionably building towards in the Battles of Ice and Fire.  

The simple problem is that there are too many chapters in AFFC/ADWD- too many POVs and too many plotlines.  There is simply too much of everything.  This is not an issue that's solved by introducing more and more characters and more and more storylines, which is exactly what AFFC and ADWD are doing.  As a result, many of the characters we've grown to love and are the ones we care about are completely underserviced in what should only be 1 book but is actually 2 books- characters like Bran, Arya, and Sansa for example are afterthoughts while stuck in waiting patterns so other pieces can be put in place for a finale that seems unlikely to ever occur based on GRRM's writing pace.  

I don't doubt nor do I contend that every character and plotline who appears in AFFC and ADWD has a purpose- what I doubt is the actual purpose and the propriety of including such characters as Meribald, Nimble Dick, etc. when you have chapters devoted to them yet can't find space to conclude the Battle of Winterfell.  As I and others have stated, these characters are better-served in separate novellas and shorty stories than they are in this grand sprawling narrative that needs to start making moves towards an end game. 

I've always felt that once the show started and got bigger his editors and publisher's became more than a little starstruck.Both of those books are a product of that it seems to me.

[BlackLightning]

On 10/4/2018 at 7:15 PM, The Scabbard Of the Morning said:

The story has one main plot, everything else is a subplot. 

Like @Ser Maverick said...are we reading the same book. Because the main plot that you are speaking of (the war against winter and death personified by the Others and their zombie army) has two parts: fire (Daenerys) and ice (Jon). There cannot be only one main plot if there are two diametrically opposed stories going on to drive the main plot--especially not if they are happening on the fringes of two separate continents.

If the story truly had one main plot and a bunch of other subplots, we would be spending at least 60% of our time with Jon Snow and the Night's Watch on the Wall. Nope, the first book didn't see Jon do much of anything outside of his first three and last two chapters and the fourth book of the series didn't even have anything to do with the Wall or what lies beyond.

I mean, I respect your opinion but...

15 hours ago, Rhodan said:

Others have already said something about excluding those two fractions, but it starts to be more and more obvious why they were included by Martin in order for him to fulfill his "epic vision". Dorne exists becouse of FAegon storyline. Ironborn exist to make power seat for Euron, his Ersatz -Sauron. Although you can say that both storylines feel tacked when introduced so late, that might be one of Martin´s current problems with structurating the present act.

Dorne also exists because of the "Lannisters are the cancer of the Baratheon dynasty and the realm" storyline. Between the tragedies and injustices that befell the Martell family, Martin gives us a more unbiased, un-Stark look at how the main branch of Lannisters really are ruining everything.

I'm also sure that Dorne exists because Martin couldn't help but divulge in the ancient fantasy trope of an exotic, non-oriental medieval land. After all, everyone is more or less familiar with medieval England, France and Germany. However, what does anyone knows about medieval (pre-Islamic or early Islamic) Spain, Greece and North Africa?

Euron = Sauron

No, man I'm not seeing it. Maybe I need to go back through Lord of the Rings again....because Euron reminds me of the infamous Viking Erik the Red, the sorcerer Saruman (Gandalf's rival from Lord of the Rings), Jack Sparrow and Scar from Lion King

[HexMachina]

Euron share little to nothing in common with Saruman imo. The latter is a much more nuanced and subtle evil, Euron is a straight up nut

[Rhodan]

On ‎10‎/‎7‎/‎2018 at 6:18 AM, Jabar of House Titan said:

Euron = Sauron

No, man I'm not seeing it. Maybe I need to go back through Lord of the Rings again....because Euron reminds me of the infamous Viking Erik the Red, the sorcerer Saruman (Gandalf's rival from Lord of the Rings), Jack Sparrow and Scar from Lion King

If we are re taking fantasy literary comparisions "seriously" he also quite reeks by antagonists of On stranger tides, my long-held personal view. As for Sauron identification, it might exist in undertones - his name, his symbol (evil red eye), supposed usage of glass candles (palantirs of this story) and in AWOIAF the ancient Drowned Man (the first Ironborn mentioned) is even called "Sauron", perhaps Martin´s indication of what way these people swing.  

[The Scabbard Of the Morning]

I think a better comparison is the Iron Islanders to the Hill Men/Haradrim.

I think Martin is working out a way to illustrate how a nation of men comes to side with the supernatural evil and monsters against other human beings.

[Amris]

15 hours ago, Rhodan said:

If we are re taking fantasy literary comparisions "seriously" he also quite reeks by antagonists of On stranger tides, my long-held personal view. As for Sauron identification, it might exist in undertones - his name, his symbol (evil red eye), supposed usage of glass candles (palantirs of this story) and in AWOIAF the ancient Drowned Man (the first Ironborn mentioned) is even called "Sauron", perhaps Martin´s indication of what way these people swing.  

One (among several other) inspirations for the Ironborn may be Tolkien's Corsairs from Umbar. After all Aragorn's army manages to 'appropriate' the Corsairs' ships in order to use them as transport to get to the Battle of Minas Tirith.

If Dany ends up using Vic's ships to get her army to Westeros then that's a pretty clear parallel.

[The Coconut God]

On 10/5/2018 at 7:10 PM, Tagganaro said:

I disagree on this major point here- The Riverlands has already been well-established and if your theory turns out to be true that it gets overrun and GRRM doesn't want a POV there, I don't think Brienne's chapters do anything to give it "heart" that it doesn't already have.  Look, we've gotten a pretty extensive look at the Riverlands, both through the eyes of Kings and Lords and the smallfolk that inhabit it in Catelyn's, Arya's, and Jaime's chapters.  I don't think Brienne's really add much to that discussion.  We will get even more of a look at it through the eyes of LSH and the BWB, which I think I am arguing and others are arguing is really the only point to Brienne's chapters in AFFC.

All I'm saying is that we can't make a solid argument either way without Winds. There are plenty of slow chapters in the first three books, and several characters that must have seemed aimless and boring on a first read, particularly Sansa, Bran and Catelyn, who don't really have a lot of agency, and even when they do something important (such as Catelyn capturing Tyrion or freeing Jaime), it's not something that immediately impacts their own arcs. But these get a pass because they make sense in retrospect, and they get a great re-read value from all the puzzle-pieces and the hints that were invisible on the first go.

Once Winds comes out, Brienne's chapters are either going to click with something or they won't. If it turns out that the plot point with LSH was the only thing that mattered all along, we can conclusively call them filler - whether we like them or not, just like you said. But there's a huge difference between this, an objective analysis, and the undercurrent that seems to be driving much of the criticism, which is assuming from the start that all new characters are filler because the story has to be about the Targaryens, Lannisters and Starks.

We are approaching the issue in fundamentally different ways. You say: Brienne is just a bridge between Jaime and LSH, otherwise she's a minor character and doesn't matter; her chapters should have been cut in order to get to the "main plot line" faster. I say: If Brienne was granted 9 chapters in Feast, she damn well better be important. It may turn out that Jaime and Cat/LSH were support characters for her all along and her arc is more important than theirs, we were simply tricked by the smokescreen of the PoV writing style.

On 10/5/2018 at 7:10 PM, Tagganaro said:

My complaint is and always has been started from a simple fact- AFFC and ADWD are messes from an editing and narrative structure standpoint.  ADWD is Book 5 of what is supposed to be a 7 book series- yet over half of it is devoted to finishing up things that could not be fit in Book 4 and as a result, Book 5 comes across as completely unfinished and sloppy in that we don't get the climax ADWD is unquestionably building towards in the Battles of Ice and Fire.  

The simple problem is that there are too many chapters in AFFC/ADWD- too many POVs and too many plotlines.  There is simply too much of everything.  This is not an issue that's solved by introducing more and more characters and more and more storylines, which is exactly what AFFC and ADWD are doing.  As a result, many of the characters we've grown to love and are the ones we care about are completely underserviced in what should only be 1 book but is actually 2 books- characters like Bran, Arya, and Sansa for example are afterthoughts while stuck in waiting patterns so other pieces can be put in place for a finale that seems unlikely to ever occur based on GRRM's writing pace.  

I don't doubt nor do I contend that every character and plotline who appears in AFFC and ADWD has a purpose- what I doubt is the actual purpose and the propriety of including such characters as Meribald, Nimble Dick, etc. when you have chapters devoted to them yet can't find space to conclude the Battle of Winterfell.  As I and others have stated, these characters are better-served in separate novellas and shorty stories than they are in this grand sprawling narrative that needs to start making moves towards an end game. 

I agree with you about the structural sloppiness of Feast and Dance, especially when it comes to what was cut from the ending, but I see it as a minor problem particularly because they are books 4 and 5 in a series. By now I don't really expect a contained arc in each volume, I'm going to read the series as a whole, so as long as everything ties together in the end, I don't care.

There's also the possibility that George chose not to include the battles of Ice and Fire not just because he lacked space in the book, but because it would have tipped his hand too much. The final chapters in each battle will probably be a good indicator of where their connected stories are going. If the Exodus theory is correct, they would have certainly spilled the beans, either by having Dany express a desire to conquer the rest of Essos, in her speech to the Dothraki or in the wake of her victory in Meereen, or by revealing that the Wall has fallen in the final chapter of the Battle of Ice, at a time when Dany is still somewhere in the Dothraki Sea.

[SirArthur]

5 hours ago, Amris said:

One (among several other) inspirations for the Ironborn may be Tolkien's Corsairs from Umbar. After all Aragorn's army manages to 'appropriate' the Corsairs' ships in order to use them as transport to get to the Battle of Minas Tirith.

If Dany ends up using Vic's ships to get her army to Westeros then that's a pretty clear parallel.

Hmm. You really think Tolkien had the equivalent of Aragorn's tax policy with Umbar (from the early Gondorian conquest over a throne claimant fleeing there up the the Golden Age of Umbar up to Aragorn's attack on Umbar a few decades before the events of LoTR ) while GRRM just handwaves Dany's fleet to Westeros without any connections and background between her and the Targaryens to the Ironborn ?

[argonak]

On 10/6/2018 at 5:15 AM, Rhodan said:

Others have already said something about excluding those two fractions, but it starts to be more and more obvious why they were included by Martin in order for him to fulfill his "epic vision". Dorne exists becouse of FAegon storyline. Ironborn exist to make power seat for Euron, his Ersatz -Sauron. Although you can say that both storylines feel tacked when introduced so late, that might be one of Martin´s current problems with structurating the present act.

I'm not saying the Ironborn should go away, they fulfill a major part of the plot, but we don't have to read it in such ludicrous depth.  Most of what we see in all these Ironborn chapters is just fluff and some character building.  It doesn't accomplish anything that couldn't be accomplished some other way.

Look at the first battle of Mereen.  We hear about it in very light detail as folks talk about it afterwards.  GRRM didn't feel the need to give us an RA Salvatore blow by blow run through of Jorah's adventure.  And he very well could have, because it sounded EPIC to hear about.  But he skimmed over it instead.   In my opinion, the whole of Drone could have been that way.  (Other sections too)

"Myrcella went down to Dorne.  Her Kingsguard was seduced by a Dornish princess.  The Princess attempted to start a rebellion in Myrcella's name, but Myrcella was greviously injured, her Kingsguard was killed, and the Dark Star of Dayne is all to blame."  This could all have been revealed by some plucky spy. 

Sure it skimps out an a lot of cool background info.  But which would you rather read, bulky character background material or the actual story getting finished?

If Tolkien had only ever finished FOTR and TTT because he spent too much time writing encyclopedias of Elvish history, do you think anyone would still remember it?

GRRM is a great writer.  he could write all these side story expansions after he finished ASOIAF and people would eat it up.  He could write history book after history book and people would eat it up.  But  in my opinion, his great tradgedy will be if he never finishes his main series because of those distractions.

[Amris]

5 hours ago, SirArthur said:

Hmm. You really think Tolkien had the equivalent of Aragorn's tax policy with Umbar (from the early Gondorian conquest over a throne claimant fleeing there up the the Golden Age of Umbar up to Aragorn's attack on Umbar a few decades before the events of LoTR ) while GRRM just handwaves Dany's fleet to Westeros without any connections and background between her and the Targaryens to the Ironborn ?

What do you mean?

I can tell you are being sarcastic but I don't know why you are. What are you trying to say?

[Rhodan]

20 hours ago, argonak said:

I'm not saying the Ironborn should go away, they fulfill a major part of the plot, but we don't have to read it in such ludicrous depth.  Most of what we see in all these Ironborn chapters is just fluff and some character building.  It doesn't accomplish anything that couldn't be accomplished some other way.

Look at the first battle of Mereen.  We hear about it in very light detail as folks talk about it afterwards.  GRRM didn't feel the need to give us an RA Salvatore blow by blow run through of Jorah's adventure.  And he very well could have, because it sounded EPIC to hear about.  But he skimmed over it instead.   In my opinion, the whole of Drone could have been that way.  (Other sections too)

"Myrcella went down to Dorne.  Her Kingsguard was seduced by a Dornish princess.  The Princess attempted to start a rebellion in Myrcella's name, but Myrcella was greviously injured, her Kingsguard was killed, and the Dark Star of Dayne is all to blame."  This could all have been revealed by some plucky spy. 

Sure it skimps out an a lot of cool background info.  But which would you rather read, bulky character background material or the actual story getting finished?

If Tolkien had only ever finished FOTR and TTT because he spent too much time writing encyclopedias of Elvish history, do you think anyone would still remember it?

GRRM is a great writer.  he could write all these side story expansions after he finished ASOIAF and people would eat it up.  He could write history book after history book and people would eat it up.  But  in my opinion, his great tradgedy will be if he never finishes his main series because of those distractions.

- The character building exists exactly becouse you need to flesh the new setting.  I know a lot of people will say these characters don´t matter, but that is seriously limiting the scope of fictious world. And IMHO Kingsmoot is one of the best written, atmospherical chapters in the books.

- The very conquest of Meereen really didn´t need to be showed, though the location didn´t pop up from nothing obviously.

- I´m not sure I understand this. The whole Dornish section served as slow descend into revealing Doran´s plans that are supposed to lead into FAegon plot, not being about background material.

- The Tolkien comparision is somewhat inadequate, becouse, after all, LOTR is one book, he actually left a lot of things unfinished and he was terribly obsessed about his worldbuilding. Of course I understand what are you talking about, but this is actually  a different issue. Martin´s indulgance with new plots doesn´t directly tie with indulgance with worldbuilding. In my opinion his problem aren´t distractions (although he himself used that word recently), but sort of creative mental illness of later age (and I don´t mean that disrespectfuly). Just like George Lucas went kinda nuts with editing, Martin´s brain still produces infodumps, but only seldomly is able to organize actual narration.     

[argonak]

4 hours ago, Rhodan said:

 The Tolkien comparision is somewhat inadequate, becouse, after all, LOTR is one book, he actually left a lot of things unfinished and he was terribly obsessed about his worldbuilding. Of course I understand what are you talking about, but this is actually  a different issue. Martin´s indulgance with new plots doesn´t directly tie with indulgance with worldbuilding. In my opinion his problem aren´t distractions (although he himself used that word recently), but sort of creative mental illness of later age (and I don´t mean that disrespectfuly). Just like George Lucas went kinda nuts with editing, Martin´s brain still produces infodumps, but only seldomly is able to organize actual narration.     

And if GRRM had been more careful limiting the scope of his work,  rather than rapidly expanding it in books 4 and 5, he could have finished his primary story successfully.  Then he could have gone back and fleshed out side quests and secondary characters, and people would have drank it up like a fine arbor gold.  My wife is reading a book series right now thats exploring a minor character of a different series's own dramatic adventures.  

And GRRM may still finish the series, he's got a lot of life left in him.  Hell, my own dream of spring is that he finished WoW several years ago, and has not yet released it because he's waiting for the show, and is finishing Dream of Spring now.

Anyway, I just want him to finish this great project he's started.  And its easy for me to criticize as a reader since I don't have to do the hard work.  But from where I'm standing his biggest problem is a relatively recent lack of self discipline when it comes to recognizing what to keep and what to chop.