"GoT, this really bugs me." Topic

Growing up I was a big fan of the Arthurian Stories. Naturally I read "Once and Future King" and a lot of others (including a Sci Fi novel where Arthur is half alien). And I followed the Mary Stewart novels. It didn't take forever for her to finish them, I think you know where I'm going with this.

I started on the GoT novels earlier this year and now I'm down to the last one. Meanwhile, next month this comes out;

link

George R.R. Martin, you're killing me! Finish the damn story!

A Cracked.com contributor had a good take on this in a photoplasty contest, "What Today's Celebrities Will Be Doing 20 Years From Now."

(BTW, it won first place.)

Yup. Read the books in the series he's published so far, but that's it. The last three were bloated bores. One can only hope HBO saves things.

Frankly I just can't get into the TV series.

He was able to continue his leisurely writing pace only because the only ones affected were thousands and thousands of fans.
So he could attend conventions, write Dunk and Egg novellas, wander off to edit anthologies, write GoT world histories, etc.

Now there is a huge corporation that produced the Sopranos breathing down his neck and able to finish the story as they wish.

I read all 5 books within 4 months. So I feel the pain of those who have been waiting 20 years.

If he hadn't wandered off into the Dorne and Iron Islands tangents we would have seen the light at the end of the tunnel. As it is, HBO seems to have dropped the Iron Islands arc.

It does seem as though this could have been a four book series. When I hit "Feast of Crows" I thought that if it had been the first book there would have never been a GoT fandom.

I tend to love 'background' books like this, but I agree that Martin working on this and not Winds of Winter is a bit of a er.

-Will

Eh, I loved the first three books and have enjoyed every bit of the HBO show, but if Martin never finishes the series it will be no loss to me. There are plenty of other excellent books out there out of which I get every bit as much enjoyment. The constant moaning from the GoT fans seems a bit much to me…

The series showrunners are quite talented and able to finish the HBO series regardless of what Martin does or doesn't do. I've long lost interest in the books but love the show so that's good enough for me

I've read that the HBO writers were given the outline for the rest of the books, so we'll get a finish, one way or the other.

SPOILER ALERT:
Jon Snow is Tyrion's mother.

The constant moaning from the GoT fans seems a bit much to me…

You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me?
How dare GRRM have a life! It's all about ME!!!

Heh.

Well as for moaning, Martin should take it as a compliment. If folks didn't care, if they didn't want to read it then they wouldn't complain. As for the HBO series I understand that folks like/love it. For me though, I'm a reader, I go by what the great Dr. Sheldon Cooper said "it runs on the greatest graphics chip of all time, your imagination". It just seems as though Books Four and Five were just filler. The series seems to be a couple of books too long.

Generally speaking I read History. Gordon Rhea covered Grant's Overland Campaign in 4 books, Ed Bearss covered Petersburg in two volumes, Rick Atkinson's "Liberation Trilogy" was just that, a trilogy. I loved John Julius Norwich's books on the Byzantine Empire. Believe me if Martin doesn't finish the series I have plenty to read, including the remainder of Dumas' "D'Artagnan" series. But I kind of feel that I got sucked into this, courtesy of Martin and the Kindle. Its popcorn for the mind, and as the great philosopher Sam Malone said, it fine until "all that's left are the scraps and duds."

BTW, I loved the photo! Skeleton Memes forever!

I actually think HBO doesn't care overmuch. In fact, they have the ending as communicated to them by Martin. I suspect their story is in the process of diverging enough from the books (it certainly did last season) that they are virtually two separate entities, almost.

That said, if I were the guy spinning this tale, I would be bummed out if a TV series finished my story for me. I don't see how, at this pace, he can possibly beat HBO. The next book isn't the last, he has hinted at 8 books in total now.

That's what I don't understand, that he's okay with someone else telling his story. Of course since HBO backed a truck full of cash up to his house….. 8 books now though? I don't know, I mean he could write an infinite number of books since it's not like the Arthurian Cycle which is going to end with Arthur going to Avalon. This story doesn't necessarily have to end with a restoration of the Targaryens or Jon Snow finding out who he is and marrying Dany or the fall of the Lannisters or Jaime and Brienne becoming King and Queen.

Although at the rate that he's writing you have to wonder if we will have the next two or three books. Maybe he should hire Stephen King to ghost write for him, King would knock out the next three books by Halloween.

Seems like we just might get the next book by sometime in the middle of next year since he`s now under a bit of pressure with the TV series beginning to catch up with where he`s got to in the story.
He seems to be currently back working on it at the moment.
Of course what we might get is another split book, essentially The Winds of Winter Pt1.