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George R. R. Martin addresses detractors on lateness of "A Dance With Dragons"...

post #1 of 93
2/26/09 at 1:12pm
Thread Starter 
...and others chime in:

George's statement: http://grrm.livejournal.com/75053.html

Charles Stross has some illuminating things to say: http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog....html#comments

John Scalzi's take: http://whatever.scalzi.com/2009/02/23/pissy-fans/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles Stross
Here's my take on it:

Firstly — and I only feel the need to emphasize this point because the peanut gallery seem to be comprehensively missing it — GRMM is not wilfully dragging his heels. If he doesn't turn in the next book in the series on time, he doesn't get paid.

We authors typically get paid in installments: first an advance against future earnings, then, once the book has earned out, royalties it has earned above and beyond the advance. The advance is typically divided into a number of tranches -- a chunk on signing the contract, a chunk on delivering the manuscript and the editor signing it off for production, and a chunk on publication. The point is, George won't get paid (at least, the last two chunks of his advance) until he hands the finished MS in. Given that the series in question is by far his best-selling work, I find it rather implausible that he's dragging his heels deliberately. So let me make it explicit: if he's way overdue on this book, it's because he's having real trouble with it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by John Scalzi
All of this comes around again to the question of what authors owe their readers. My opinion on this is that what authors owe their readers is that when their book comes out, it is, in the estimation of the author, as good as the author can make it. Everything else — how much time it takes, what else the author is doing with his time, so on and so forth — is neither here nor there. Now, certainly some fans may think differently about that. But they’re not writing the book. It’s a subtle yet telling difference, there.
THANK YOU Charlie and John. There's hasn't been much gnashing of teeth over A Dance With Dragons being so late here at Chud, but I have seen it elsewhere on the web. Still, I find the perspectives from other working authors to be pretty interesting, particularly Stross and his explanation of just how difficult these long, sprawling series are to write. Have any of you guys ever attempted to start anything on the scale of the Song of Ice and Fire books? My head hurts just contemplating it.
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post #2 of 93
2/26/09 at 1:22pm
http://grrrm.livejournal.com/

Those guys take it a little far, but the frustration is understandable. We're not talking about a standalone book. We're talking about the continuation of a series, one we assume Martin has some kind of plan for. But, the way he talks about tossing out hundreds of pages of writing and starting over, and pushing chapters into different books makes people wonder if he has a clear idea where he is going.

I don't think fans have a right to make personal attacks on Martin, but I think they have every right to be frustrated, especially seeing how disappointing A Feast for Crows was.
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post #3 of 93
2/26/09 at 1:26pm
There's a lot to consider. First off, this series was supposed to be a trilogy. Then 5 books, Then it's 7. With a time-jump at book 5. Now we're at book 5, still in the same place.

A Feast for Crow was a disappointment. Really. And book 5 is only the other half.

It's clear that Martin has no, if any, outline of where's he going, beside the obvious : The Others invade, the Starks takes their revenge, and the Targaryen return to rule. That may explain some stuff.

But does it take 5 years to write? Come the fuck on.
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post #4 of 93
2/26/09 at 1:40pm
If there's anything I hate reading about series, it's the words, "The story grew too big." Bullshit. You're the author. You say where the story goes.

I'm hearing the same thing about Brandon Sanderson's effort to wrap up Jordan's Wheel of Time series, how the final book is so large that it's probably going to be split into two volumes, with the first volume being published before the second is even finished. I'm not trying to put restrictions on creativity, but a little discipline seems like it wouldn't hurt. Love that minor character too much? Great, write their own stories when the main story is done. Focus!
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post #5 of 93
2/26/09 at 1:42pm
Nevermind the fact that he, quite frankly, has way too much on his plate. It's a valid criticism. Time management is not one of his strong suits.
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post #6 of 93
2/26/09 at 1:47pm
What Dickson mentioned is the source of reader anger/frustration: the unavoidable conclusion that Martin has literally lost the plot. There's nothing anyone--readers or Martin--can do about it, so in that sense ranting about it is useless and misplaced.

But there's a kind of assumption (or hope) when a reader invests in a long and complicated story like this that the author knows where it is going. I don't think an author has to know ahead of time--writing should be organic and flexible--but when he so obviously hits a wall like this, it actually ruins the suspension of disbelief for the reader. It becomes too painfully obvious that the story is being made up by someone, even though we knew that all along.

I'm not blaming Martin at all. And people should just accept what the situation is and hope he can find his muse, rather than bitching about it. But that's why it hurts the series.
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post #7 of 93
2/26/09 at 1:51pm
And that why Steven Erickson is even better. The fucker knows where he's going, and does so at a superb pace. One book a year. And the quality is at worse, much above average. Suddenly, a 10 books series is actually worth my time and money.

George RR Martin seems to think time is better off invested in football and chicken wings. And having that A Song of Ice and Fire HBO series and comics ain't gonna help.
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post #8 of 93
2/26/09 at 1:53pm
Someone's gotta sell those fine Jon Snow replica swords! And who will attend Tokyo FurCon '09? GRRM has other shit on his mind, people!
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post #9 of 93
2/26/09 at 2:05pm
Not hooked on Martin - but fuck if I'll see another installment of the War Against the Chtorr series before I die.
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post #10 of 93
2/26/09 at 2:08pm
The really frustrating thing for a fan of fantasy literature these days is good luck finding a book that isn't Volume 1 of the ____________ Trilogy. I don't mind if you write a standalone book that becomes popular and lends itself to more stories being told. But jumping in right off the bat by asking me to commit to at least two more books? And often times from a new and unproven author? It's getting ridiculous.
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post #11 of 93
2/26/09 at 2:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Dickson View Post
The really frustrating thing for a fan of fantasy literature these days is good luck finding a book that isn't Volume 1 of the ____________ Trilogy. I don't mind if you write a standalone book that becomes popular and lends itself to more stories being told. But jumping in right off the bat by asking my to commit to at least two more books? And often times from a new and unproven author? It's getting ridiculous.
I'm not a huge fan of fantasy, but it seems like the only genre where the authors feel the need to to tell the stories over three parts in order to add some whiff of legitimacy to it. If a single book can't stand on its own merits, the trilogy won't either.
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post #12 of 93
2/26/09 at 3:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Dickson View Post
The really frustrating thing for a fan of fantasy literature these days is good luck finding a book that isn't Volume 1 of the ____________ Trilogy. I don't mind if you write a standalone book that becomes popular and lends itself to more stories being told. But jumping in right off the bat by asking me to commit to at least two more books? And often times from a new and unproven author? It's getting ridiculous.
Worse. When you finally find a new author that you're willing to try and the bookstore only has volume 2 of the trilogy in stock. I very rarely buy books online, so if the bookstore doesn't have what I want when I'm there , I won't pick up a new series.
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post #13 of 93
2/26/09 at 4:09pm
Fantasy and science fiction are particularly vulnerable to multi-volume tales if only because the bona fide classics of the genre - The Lord of the Rings and The Foundation Trilogy (and beyond!) - span several books. Harlan Ellison once railed against sequels in general, arguing that an author should be able to tell a complete story in one volume, and if they had additional great ideas they should just put them in a new, non-sequel book.

It's also understandable (and amusing) that Charles Stross is defending Martin since Stross' fans are salivating for another book about Bob Howard and The Laundry.
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post #14 of 93
2/26/09 at 4:19pm
I've always said that if I ever ran a book store, I would never have a Vol. 2 on the shelf without having Vol. 1 right there next to it. It's like walking into a game store and seeing all the sourcebooks for an RPG but no copies of the core rules.
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post #15 of 93
2/26/09 at 4:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Dickson View Post
The really frustrating thing for a fan of fantasy literature these days is good luck finding a book that isn't Volume 1 of the ____________ Trilogy. I don't mind if you write a standalone book that becomes popular and lends itself to more stories being told. But jumping in right off the bat by asking me to commit to at least two more books? And often times from a new and unproven author? It's getting ridiculous.
That's why I loved Sanderson's Mistborn Series, three books and done.

Yet, at the same time, I'm glad the Dresden series is planned to be 20+ books. The episodic style really works there. And, fuck me if Butcher doesn't push them out fast (a Dresden book in the spring and an Alara book in the fall).
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post #16 of 93
2/26/09 at 4:30pm
A Feast for Crows was pretty much all spinning plates with characters I could care less about. Plus the sudden addition of the Queens "fortune telling" experience, a complete after thought that made no sense considering her motivations in the previous books, that was an easy excuse for her to do some of the stupidest shit ever.
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post #17 of 93
2/26/09 at 4:54pm
Not to derail, but has anyone picked up the new R. Scott Bakker book "The Judging Eye"?
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post #18 of 93
2/26/09 at 5:19pm
No but I want to. Heard great things about it. Being better than the previous series.
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post #19 of 93
2/26/09 at 5:25pm
I'm about 2/3 through it right now. I LOVED the original 3 books, and so far so good this time. Definitely a more "accessible" book than any of the "Prince of Nothing" books.
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post #20 of 93
2/26/09 at 5:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin Savage View Post

George RR Martin seems to think time is better off invested in football and chicken wings.
This is beneath you, honestly. And after making the mistake of reading the fucking bile on a couple of these blogs, abusing GRRM on a poisonous, personal level - I actually feel kind of ill. Jesus Christ. Let's have a bit of fucking perspective.
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post #21 of 93
2/26/09 at 6:21pm
I haven't read much of the said stuff you talk about, especially the personal one, but I sure understand why it's there. You don't start a series like that with no outline. Fuck writer's block in cases like this.This is not art, nor one book, it's the rule s you play by when you start a series.

Imagine a TV show like this. A 5 years hiatus because of that.

I went like twice on his site, check his "update" and blog, and he seemed fond of TV and reading and miniature more than anything else.

And I'm realistic; he's likely gonna die before ever finishing this.
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post #22 of 93
2/26/09 at 6:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil Connors View Post
Jesus Christ. Let's have a bit of fucking perspective.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HBarr View Post
Nevermind the fact that he, quite frankly, has way too much on his plate. It's a valid criticism. Time management is not one of his strong suits.
I don't think anyone (here) is saying anything that isn't a valid criticism. Especially in regards to having an outline for the advancement of your plot.
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post #23 of 93
2/26/09 at 6:29pm
So wait until the book comes out and sucks, and then criticize it using the reasoning that he should have had an outline, if that reasoning fits with the material. But until then it's weird to get involved in the discussion of the process, and it's always weird to care about the man's personal life and time management.
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post #24 of 93
2/26/09 at 6:30pm
By this point it's clear he has no clear outline. I guess where he's going, but the last book was a tremendous waste of words.
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post #25 of 93
2/26/09 at 6:34pm
Bullshit. Based on what was expected (Martin outlined it earlier in the thread) the author is not giving us what was stated. We have every right to be concerned. Frankly, if I knew that George RR was going to be so sloppy with this series I would never have invested my time (or money). As is, he surely is losing fans (and money). Personally, I won't buy another hardcover of his books. Paperback is beginning to look unlikely too. He should be worried about that.
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post #26 of 93
2/26/09 at 6:37pm
I don't know. After Feast for Crows, I'm not sure how excited I am to pick up another 1000 page installment, especially a troubled one.

I kind of hope the HBO series starts with the books and eventually jumps in their own direction, like Dexter.
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post #27 of 93
2/26/09 at 6:38pm
I'm not saying to wait because there's uncertainty. I'm saying to wait because that's the right thing to do. Basically, what the quote in the OP describes, about what readers are owed: we're not owed anything other than a book. We don't get to care about the writer's life; we just do not have that right, or at least that's the way it feels to me, and anything else feels tremendously... I don't know the exact word but you know what I mean... indecorous.
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post #28 of 93
2/26/09 at 6:53pm
But doesn't starting a series and having that series be successful at least imply some sort of contract with the readers that, in exchange for making it a success, they get the ending in something resembling a timely fashion?

And if Martin is going to throw his life out there in a blog for everyone to see, he can't expect no one to comment on it, positively or negatively. And reading about how he can only write under certain circumstances and then reading repeated blogs about him being as far removed from those circumstances as possible has lead some to believe he's not really serious about finishing this book. Add to that the repeated hawking of ASoIaF merchandise in his blog, and a lot of people feel like their enjoyment of the series is being milked for all it's worth.
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post #29 of 93
2/26/09 at 7:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Subotai View Post
Not hooked on Martin - but fuck if I'll see another installment of the War Against the Chtorr series before I die.
Good point...I've just read the first two, can't remember shit about them (apart from the aliens)...and have no idea how many have been published thus far...(Google is your friend...bollocks)

Say what you like about him, but Lafayette Ronald Hubbard wrote all 10 volumes of 'Mission Earth' in 3 years (sorry, that should read got 10 manuscripts to his publishers in 3 years).

THIS is why I HATE series...they snuff it before they can finish it.
Case in point...Frank Herbert.
Final book to write...he kark's it.

Other authors I envisage dying before finishing an 'opus'
Stephen R Donaldson
Neil Stephenson
Stephen King (he's bound to tempt fate and begin a new one.)
I'm SURE you can add others.
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post #30 of 93
2/26/09 at 7:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arjen Rudd View Post

I kind of hope the HBO series starts with the books and eventually jumps in their own direction, like Dexter.
From a budget standpoint alone, they would probably have to.

I'm one of those rare folks that isn't too concerned if it never gets finished. Yes, I'd love to see the fates of a lot of these characters and how that world ends up, but, from my perspective, I got to read three excellent books and one middling one and that's good enough for me.

I almost think we need a "Will They Stick the Landing" thread to encompass the near completions of BSG, Lost, this series, Scott Pilgrim and what have you.
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post #31 of 93
2/26/09 at 7:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arjen Rudd View Post
I don't know. After Feast for Crows, I'm not sure how excited I am to pick up another 1000 page installment, especially a troubled one.
Amen. Since the last SOFAI book came out I've read some wondeful fantasy novels by Scott Lynch (Lies of Locke Lamorra), R. Scott Bakker (Prince of Nothing series) and to a lesser extent Joe Ambercrombie (The First Law series). I'm looking forward to their new stuff so much more than RR Martin's for numerous reasons, one of which is their stuff comes out so much more timely. Bakker's universe is just as deep and well designed as anything Martin has created yet Bakker is much more adept at turning out stories without filler and without delay.
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post #32 of 93
2/26/09 at 7:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JudgeSmails View Post
Bakker's universe is just as deep and well designed as anything Martin has created yet Bakker is much more adept at turning out stories without filler and without delay.
And without weird creepy giggly depictions of sex that sound like they're coming from a virgin that looks like..... well, like George RR Martin.
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post #33 of 93
2/26/09 at 7:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Dickson View Post
But doesn't starting a series and having that series be successful at least imply some sort of contract with the readers that, in exchange for making it a success, they get the ending in something resembling a timely fashion?

And if Martin is going to throw his life out there in a blog for everyone to see, he can't expect no one to comment on it, positively or negatively. And reading about how he can only write under certain circumstances and then reading repeated blogs about him being as far removed from those circumstances as possible has lead some to believe he's not really serious about finishing this book. Add to that the repeated hawking of ASoIaF merchandise in his blog, and a lot of people feel like their enjoyment of the series is being milked for all it's worth.
In my opinion (and I think it's the right one) ...

If season one of Lost is good, then it'll still be good whether the series ends well or ends disappointingly or gets canceled. Same thing with these books. Martin can quit or die or lose his touch and I don't see how that affects the books that already exist. (It affects future books, but that's no different than a writer of standalone stories.) You can decide to invest yourself further, and become a "fan," possibly gaining some emotional fulfillment, but it comes at a risk if it makes you care about silly things like what the writer does on his lazy Sundays. And it's your choice, your problem, not Martin's or the books'. (This is "you" in general, not you Richard Dickson.)
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post #34 of 93
2/26/09 at 8:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Louris View Post
And without weird creepy giggly depictions of sex that sound like they're coming from a virgin that looks like..... well, like George RR Martin.
Real fans have been waiting for Arya and Sansa to get raped since 2005!
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post #35 of 93
2/27/09 at 10:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Graham View Post
Other authors I envisage dying before finishing an 'opus'
Stephen R Donaldson
Neil Stephenson
Stephen King (he's bound to tempt fate and begin a new one.)
I'm SURE you can add others.
Stephen Donaldson just finished the first write of volume 3 in the new (and final) series. Side note, if you haven't already checked out the gradual interview on his website, do so immediately. Very informative and also a nice glimpse into the writing process.
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post #36 of 93
2/27/09 at 11:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Luca S. View Post
Real fans have been waiting for Arya and Sansa to get raped since 2005!
I'm sadly laughing at this. So true...
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post #37 of 93
2/27/09 at 11:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Luca S. View Post
Real fans have been waiting for Arya and Sansa to get raped since 2005!
Oy...sad but true.

Especially Sansa, whom just about everyone loathes....
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post #38 of 93
2/27/09 at 11:22am
Thanks for that!
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post #39 of 93
2/27/09 at 11:25am
My pleasure. I wish more authors would go Donaldson's route with how they communicate with their readers. There are some fantastic conversations in the GI (gradual interview) about the concepts of good vs evil and how they play out in his books.
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post #40 of 93
2/27/09 at 11:28am
Five years is nothing. Harlan Ellison holds the record for taking the piss out of his readers:

From Dave Langford's excellent Ansible site:

Quote:
The Book on the Edge of Forever

What's the most famous science fiction title of all time? Everyone has an opinion: it's The Time Machine, it's the Foundation trilogy, it might be 2001 because of the movie, or Frankenstein if you reckon that's sf rather than horror ... and there's always some clever sod who argues for the Bible or the Conservative Party manifesto.

But how about the most famous unpublished sf work? The chorus from insiders is unanimous: there's nothing to challenge the supremacy of that non-existent blockbuster anthology The Last Dangerous Visions, edited (if that's the word) by Harlan Ellison.

This is a modern legend. Like the Flying Dutchman, the ghostly volume has sailed down the decades with dead men in its crew, its grisly fame increasing yearly. Will it ever reach a safe landfall? Of course, cries Captain Ellison. Never, suspects early contributor Charles Platt -- who in 1994 celebrated the silver jubilee of his story sale to Ellison after waiting 25 years to see it published, but still in vain....

The tale opens with Ellison's taboo-breaking sf anthology Dangerous Visions, which appeared with much fanfare in 1967, was widely acclaimed, and gathered many awards for contributors. Hot with excitement, Ellison assembled a much bigger (and, carping critics complained, flabbier) follow-up: Again, Dangerous Visions in 1972. His third volume was planned to be huger still. The Last Dangerous Visions began with stories which like Platt's 1969 submission were squeezed out of ADV, and grew in the editor's imagination to become a definitive map of contemporary sf -- featuring every significant writer who hadn't been in books one or two.

As it grew, it slithered out of control. TLDV was to be published six months after ADV in 1972. Ellison's first of many announcements of the book's completion came in September 1973, with the footnote 'AND I DAMMIT TO HELL DON'T WANT TO SEE SUBMISSIONS FROM ANYONE EVER AGAIN IN THIS LIFE!' (But there were still 60,000 words of story introductions for him to write.) In 1974 he was hunting again for new stories -- because new and major sf writers had appeared. TLDV would be a million words long, maybe a million and a half!

Time passed. Interviewed in 1976, Ellison stated proudly that TLDV would appear in Spring 1977. Next year he assured contributors that it was on course for Christmas 1978. A 1978 letter promised that the book would appear from a different publisher by Christmas 1979. This slipped again, to 1980....

I was at the 1980 World SF Convention in Boston, where Ellison received a glad standing ovation for his announcement that the anthology, so long delayed, had been personally delivered by himself! General enthusiasm and relief were so infectious that wild applause came even from fellow-writers who, at a party mere days earlier, had heard the great man admit that he hadn't yet written all those introductions to the stories.

Further publication dates were announced: 1981 ... 1982 ... 1984 ... the Flying Dutchman sailed on. Members of its crew of writers were dying over the years: Alfred Bester, Frank Herbert, Clifford Simak, a whole crowd of lesser names. What had gone wrong? Ellison was ill, friends said: but he always seemed to rally when he needed to script movies or TV shows, make outspoken public appearances, and denounce his foes. He's so famous for vitriol and invective that few dared to tackle him head-on about the anthology from hell. Some who decided the venture was doomed and withdrew their stories were given a very bad time indeed.

Such is the fame of TLDV that a whole nonfiction chapbook has been written about it: The Book on the Edge of Forever (Fantagraphics Books, 1994) by Christopher Priest, whose title ironically echoes Ellison's Hugo-winning Star Trek script. Priest traces the story in merciless detail, with documentation and eye-witness accounts, and reckons that TLDV is too unwieldy to be published, too full of dated material from authors who have since learned to write far better: 'It is a book that is no longer possible.' When Priest first muttered this, Ellison issued a 1988 counterblast stating that the project was occupying most of his time ... but in 1995 it remains on the edge of forever.

I talked to Harlan Ellison myself last year, and he managed to sound genuinely hurt and surprised that, despite minor delays since 1972, anyone could doubt that TLDV would soon appear. We must have faith. Occasional rats may scuttle overboard, but the vessel from the 1960s ploughs onward with Captain Ellison still unbowed at its helm, his eyes on the horizon of the twenty-first century. As yet, it is a story with no end.
The book still hasn't been published.
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post #41 of 93
2/27/09 at 11:31am
I actually quite like Arya and Sansa.
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post #42 of 93
2/27/09 at 11:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Luca S. View Post
I actually quite like Arya and Sansa.
Raped or unraped?
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post #43 of 93
2/27/09 at 11:32am
On the fantasy side, Melanie Rawn fans have been waiting since 1997 for the end of her Exiles trilogy. I doubt it will ever happen.
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post #44 of 93
2/27/09 at 11:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin Savage View Post
Raped or unraped?
I'm not fussy.
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post #45 of 93
2/27/09 at 11:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin Savage View Post
Raped or unraped?
Are you sure we're not talking about Stephen Donaldson here?
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post #46 of 93
2/27/09 at 11:57am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Dickson View Post
But doesn't starting a series and having that series be successful at least imply some sort of contract with the readers that, in exchange for making it a success, they get the ending in something resembling a timely fashion?

And if Martin is going to throw his life out there in a blog for everyone to see, he can't expect no one to comment on it, positively or negatively. And reading about how he can only write under certain circumstances and then reading repeated blogs about him being as far removed from those circumstances as possible has lead some to believe he's not really serious about finishing this book. Add to that the repeated hawking of ASoIaF merchandise in his blog, and a lot of people feel like their enjoyment of the series is being milked for all it's worth.
If you read the comments on Scalzi's blog piece, he addresses most of your points in a pretty fair and convincing manner. A contract requires two people, it doesn't matter what fans 'feel' exists between them and the writer if the writer never acknowledges it.

Stross' comments section is good too.

I think Martin just honestly thought he was close to finishing when he put his statement at the end of AFfC, then, like Stross says, ran into trouble, or decided to change direction, or whatever. I'd rather have a good book than a half-baked piece of crap that was cranked out with no passion or ideas just to please the fans. If it takes him another five years to do it and the man needs to watch football to preserve his sanity, well, ok. Sure, the wait is frustrating, but, as others have pointed out, there's an entire universe of fiction and non-fiction out there to keep one busy in the mean time.
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post #47 of 93
2/27/09 at 12:43pm
Last time I got worried about an author finishing a series before he died, and was finally satisfied that the author was making a "concerted effort" to get it done, was The Dark Tower series.

I'd rather Martin's next book take another year or two to come out than end up with the kind of "alright, alright, I'll hurry up and finish" mess that King crapped out.
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post #48 of 93
2/27/09 at 2:12pm
With these guys it is less the story got away (which sounds like an excuse) and more the success got away with the story. Original plan was a trilogy, then martin has great sales and it keeps expanding beyond his original story. Now he is screwed trying to finish it. Also I cut Sanderson major slack, as he has to close all plot points from a run away story (that went on way too long). Jordan kept saying it was the last book, but now it will truly be the last book (at least until his widow licenses out the stuff for some money) . Finishing up that mess (and actually trying to make a good book/ending out of it) is going to be a long affair.
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post #49 of 93
2/27/09 at 2:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt M View Post
Last time I got worried about an author finishing a series before he died, and was finally satisfied that the author making a "concerted effort" to get it done, was The Dark Tower series.

I'd rather Martin's next book take another year or two to come out than end up with the kind of "alright, alright, I'll hurry up and finish" mess that King crapped out.
I agree with that. Do it right. Having said that though, it really shows that the author can not finish a story. They either let success (and maybe some pressure from the publisher) allow them to expand the story beyond what was intended or they just plain can not figure out to end a story.
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post #50 of 93
2/27/09 at 2:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt M View Post
Last time I got worried about an author finishing a series before he died, and was finally satisfied that the author was making a "concerted effort" to get it done, was The Dark Tower series.

I'd rather Martin's next book take another year or two to come out than end up with the kind of "alright, alright, I'll hurry up and finish" mess that King crapped out.
And that's the source of some of the annoyance at Martin, the fact that he doesn't seem to be making a "concerted effort" to get shit done. He's selling collectibles and attending furcons and eating Whoppers by the mitful. I get the fact that readers have no right to bitch at authors or have any expectations about their schedule, but I also understand how a reader can be annoyed as fuck when the book isn't coming about because the guy is jerking off. I would bet people would be a lot more understanding of delays if the guy gave the impression that he was going balls out to get it done and just having problems. Instead the impression he gives is that works a bit on his book if he has time after he's painted some miniatures, watched tentacle porn, ordered a pizza, read the mail, ordered more pizza, taken a shit, and written his daily blog post.
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CHUD.com Community › Forums › ARTS & LITERATURE › Books and Magazines › George R. R. Martin addresses detractors on lateness of "A Dance With Dragons"...