Considering he'd originally agreed with his publishers to a deadline of Spring 2016 for WoW, the fact it's now not coming out until 2019 is.. well I'm not mad, just disappointed.
It sounds like this is the project that’s been most occupying him for a good while now, so that’s a positive development. His pseudo-histories aren’t bad reads in and of themselves either, if you’ve got a taste for the writing style.
All the same, and with as much kindness as possible, yes, fuck.
Considering he'd originally agreed with his publishers to a deadline of Spring 2016 for WoW, the fact it's now not coming out until 2019 is.. well I'm not mad, just disappointed.
After FoC and DoD, it's kind of at the point of "Fool me twice" at this point. Being mad or disappointed are understandable emotions. Being in any way surprised... that's not something ANYONE should be feeling.
Considering he'd originally agreed with his publishers to a deadline of Spring 2016 for WoW, the fact it's now not coming out until 2019 is.. well I'm not mad, just disappointed.
After FoC and DoD, it's kind of at the point of "Fool me twice" at this point. Being mad or disappointed are understandable emotions. Being in any way surprised... that's not something ANYONE should be feeling.
Yeah, I had zero faith that Winds of Winter was going to be released in 2018.
I'm actually at the point where I'm not going to believe that the book is ever getting published until I actually have a physical copy in my hands. Even then, I'll be skeptical.
"George RR Martin guarantees that the ending he writes to his most popular work is not the one that anybody knows."
It was all the imaginings of an autistic boy!
It was a dream Emelia Clarke had, while Kit Harrington was in the shower!
It's Earth, hundreds of thousands of years ago, and the final notes will be a minor variation of a Jimi Hendrix song!
After burying his half-sister at sea, he becomes a lumberjack!
The main cast are sitting in a diner, and it fades to black!
Jon Snoww never returns home!
Jon Snow gets full immunity and has to take a soul-killing menial office job!
There, that's seven I know, therefore it won't be any of those.
I do expect the finale of the books (if not the TV show) to be disappointing in it's conclusion, but that's just because I've become so used to it happening over and over.
"George RR Martin guarantees that the ending he writes to his most popular work is not the one that anybody knows."
It was all the imaginings of an autistic boy!
It was a dream Emelia Clarke had, while Kit Harrington was in the shower!
It's Earth, hundreds of thousands of years ago, and the final notes will be a minor variation of a Jimi Hendrix song!
After burying his half-sister at sea, he becomes a lumberjack!
The main cast are sitting in a diner, and it fades to black!
Jon Snoww never returns home!
Jon Snow gets full immunity and has to take a soul-killing menial office job!
There, that's seven I know, therefore it won't be any of those.
I do expect the finale of the books (if not the TV show) to be disappointing in it's conclusion, but that's just because I've become so used to it happening over and over.
"Jon Snow was really just telling his kids this story about Ygritte so he could get their permission to fuck their (literal) aunt" doesn't really work...
EDIT: There's a better HIMYM/Targaryen joke here somewhere.
enlightenedbum on
Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
If I had a choice between creating a satisfying ending to a wildly popular epic series of novels with an utterly brain scrambling storm of characters and plots and occurrences to reconcile and weave together or doing literally anything else besides die of starvation I'd probably go with the latter
syndalisGetting ClassyOn the WallRegistered User, Loves Apple Productsregular
As popular as his books are, they were never as popular as the show, and I think ever since he knew that the winds of winter was going to be told on TV first his drive just went out.
Why tell the less popular version long after everyone knows how it ends.
I get it, even if I am sad
SW-4158-3990-6116
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
I don’t think the show ending is going to be remotely like the book ending, but that may be because I have two very specific ideas about what the book ending will involve, and both rely on elements that the show hasn’t done.
That was my position. I got Dance of Dragons, and I just realized I couldn't remember everything that happened (and GRRM is a big fan of subtle hints that pay off/are referenced later), and figured I'd wait until Winter was at least kinda close, and then go back to scratch, and work my way through it.
And then the TV show just proved good, and I realized what a chore going through all the books would be.
I'll probably buy the hardcovers for book 6+7 (because I'm a little OCD), but I doubt I'll ever read it. Probably check a wiki to see what the differences are, but I just have so many books I either want to read for the first time, or read again.
As popular as his books are, they were never as popular as the show, and I think ever since he knew that the winds of winter was going to be told on TV first his drive just went out.
Why tell the less popular version long after everyone knows how it ends.
I get it, even if I am sad
Books and television are fundamentally different experiences. Honestly I'm actually a bit sad that the show came out.
This is similar to how the internet has fundamentally altered how we consume media. It used to be that if you enjoyed something, maybe you only saw it with your small circle of friends, if that, and between the few of you it was unlikely that you would be able to pick up on everything. Now, every single scene gets picked apart by hundreds and thousands and millions of people, so instead of experiencing something yourself, you are in large part experiencing it by proxy, via osmosis of everyone else's expressed experiences being shared simultaneously.
So even if you don't have the problem of having to "choose" between the show or the books, you still face the problem of whether or not you want the books spoiled for you unless you literally unplug from larger society. Like, R+L=J was not even a whisper of a thought to a large proportion of the readership until the internet came out and someone who put the pieces together shared their theory with everyone else. In some sense those readers were "robbed" of discovering it themselves, either through their own rereads and analyses or by having the book tell them on its own.
I bet they even reboot the TV series before GRRM finishes the books. Or the Jets win the Super Bowl which I still believe are intrinsically tethered events.
Pure speculation on my part, but do you think GRRM is bitter and is re-writing his way into making his books different and "better" than those damn TV whippersnappers who paid him a lot of money to take his IP and run with it?
It amuses me to picture this old man rage burning thousands of pages of work, just to re-write his books to somehow make Lady Stoneheart the one to ends up ruling the world.
I suspect the news that he was thinking of adding more books to the incredibly popular and bestselling series was met with big smiles at his publisher, and they're now regretting not beating him with a chair leg at the time.
It'll be done when it's done, and it'll be broadly the same ending as the TV show. We find out the important plot stuff next year when GoT ends, so that'll be that itch scratched.
I suspect the news that he was thinking of adding more books to the incredibly popular and bestselling series was met with big smiles at his publisher, and they're now regretting not beating him with a chair leg at the time.
It'll be done when it's done, and it'll be broadly the same ending as the TV show. We find out the important plot stuff next year when GoT ends, so that'll be that itch scratched.
Also it is a widely open secret that he provided the full plot outline for all PoV characters to HBO on the conditions of them making the show.
I don't know if there is anything in the contractual language keeping him from going "lol no" and completely changing the end for the main characters, but I wouldn't be surprised. HBO has good lawyers.
SW-4158-3990-6116
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
I suspect the news that he was thinking of adding more books to the incredibly popular and bestselling series was met with big smiles at his publisher, and they're now regretting not beating him with a chair leg at the time.
It'll be done when it's done, and it'll be broadly the same ending as the TV show. We find out the important plot stuff next year when GoT ends, so that'll be that itch scratched.
Also it is a widely open secret that he provided the full plot outline for all PoV characters to HBO on the conditions of them making the show.
I don't know if there is anything in the contractual language keeping him from going "lol no" and completely changing the end for the main characters, but I wouldn't be surprised. HBO has good lawyers.
I don't see why him changing things is a breach of contract; but it depends on the language in the contract itself I suppose. If he just had to give them outlines based on how he thought things would go then vs now, which could explain why this book is taking an eternity.
No. I just think he's lost control of the story and is finding it difficult to continue.
Since his books are nearly as complicated as real mediaeval history, it seems to be a bit too much for one human writer to manage. Particularly since he's getting on a bit. Every book is longer and more complicated.
I suspect the news that he was thinking of adding more books to the incredibly popular and bestselling series was met with big smiles at his publisher, and they're now regretting not beating him with a chair leg at the time.
It'll be done when it's done, and it'll be broadly the same ending as the TV show. We find out the important plot stuff next year when GoT ends, so that'll be that itch scratched.
Also it is a widely open secret that he provided the full plot outline for all PoV characters to HBO on the conditions of them making the show.
I don't know if there is anything in the contractual language keeping him from going "lol no" and completely changing the end for the main characters, but I wouldn't be surprised. HBO has good lawyers.
I don't see why him changing things is a breach of contract; but it depends on the language in the contract itself I suppose. If he just had to give them outlines based on how he thought things would go then vs now, which could explain why this book is taking an eternity.
Speculation: the contract says he can't change the plots around too much and undercut the show, so he's partially dragging his feet because he's going to do exactly that and needs to wait for the show to be finished.
life's a game that you're bound to lose / like using a hammer to pound in screws
fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
+1
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syndalisGetting ClassyOn the WallRegistered User, Loves Apple Productsregular
I suspect the news that he was thinking of adding more books to the incredibly popular and bestselling series was met with big smiles at his publisher, and they're now regretting not beating him with a chair leg at the time.
It'll be done when it's done, and it'll be broadly the same ending as the TV show. We find out the important plot stuff next year when GoT ends, so that'll be that itch scratched.
Also it is a widely open secret that he provided the full plot outline for all PoV characters to HBO on the conditions of them making the show.
I don't know if there is anything in the contractual language keeping him from going "lol no" and completely changing the end for the main characters, but I wouldn't be surprised. HBO has good lawyers.
I don't see why him changing things is a breach of contract; but it depends on the language in the contract itself I suppose. If he just had to give them outlines based on how he thought things would go then vs now, which could explain why this book is taking an eternity.
Speculation: the contract says he can't change the plots around too much and undercut the show, so he's partially dragging his feet because he's going to do exactly that and needs to wait for the show to be finished.
This makes sense - especially because he has been writing this whole time, just not the stuff we want him to write.
There might be some "one year after the conclusion of the show" thing going on here regarding him saying stuff like "they got it wrong"
SW-4158-3990-6116
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
I suspect the news that he was thinking of adding more books to the incredibly popular and bestselling series was met with big smiles at his publisher, and they're now regretting not beating him with a chair leg at the time.
It'll be done when it's done, and it'll be broadly the same ending as the TV show. We find out the important plot stuff next year when GoT ends, so that'll be that itch scratched.
Also it is a widely open secret that he provided the full plot outline for all PoV characters to HBO on the conditions of them making the show.
I don't know if there is anything in the contractual language keeping him from going "lol no" and completely changing the end for the main characters, but I wouldn't be surprised. HBO has good lawyers.
I doubt anyone involved in creative work will sign a contract that says "this is exactly how it will go and where it will end up." The very nature of creative work is that you don't know ahead of time where it will end up. You have a goal of course, but unexpected things always happen.
No. I just think he's lost control of the story and is finding it difficult to continue.
he needed editor(s) to desperately to tie him down on the last two books, or at least say "okay, these ideas are good, but save them for later"
I mean, people keep saying that, but the whole story behind why it took him so damn long to write the last couple of books is that he kept re-editing and re-writing. Like the whole time skip that never was.
GRRM is the opposite of the author who just writing more and more book and can't bear to cut any of it.
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
No. I just think he's lost control of the story and is finding it difficult to continue.
he needed editor(s) to desperately to tie him down on the last two books, or at least say "okay, these ideas are good, but save them for later"
I mean, people keep saying that, but the whole story behind why it took him so damn long to write the last couple of books is that he kept re-editing and re-writing. Like the whole time skip that never was.
GRRM is the opposite of the author who just writing more and more book and can't bear to cut any of it.
Which is why I said he needed other editors, not him, to keep him focused instead of letting him put himself into an intractable knot...
Posts
Considering he'd originally agreed with his publishers to a deadline of Spring 2016 for WoW, the fact it's now not coming out until 2019 is.. well I'm not mad, just disappointed.
All the same, and with as much kindness as possible, yes, fuck.
Yeah, I had zero faith that Winds of Winter was going to be released in 2018.
I'm actually at the point where I'm not going to believe that the book is ever getting published until I actually have a physical copy in my hands. Even then, I'll be skeptical.
It was a dream Emelia Clarke had, while Kit Harrington was in the shower!
It's Earth, hundreds of thousands of years ago, and the final notes will be a minor variation of a Jimi Hendrix song!
After burying his half-sister at sea, he becomes a lumberjack!
The main cast are sitting in a diner, and it fades to black!
Jon Snoww never returns home!
Jon Snow gets full immunity and has to take a soul-killing menial office job!
There, that's seven I know, therefore it won't be any of those.
I do expect the finale of the books (if not the TV show) to be disappointing in it's conclusion, but that's just because I've become so used to it happening over and over.
Most of them are infamously bad while one is debatable and another inarguably incredible.
Come Overwatch with meeeee
"Jon Snow was really just telling his kids this story about Ygritte so he could get their permission to fuck their (literal) aunt" doesn't really work...
EDIT: There's a better HIMYM/Targaryen joke here somewhere.
I'm assuming that last one is the inarguable incredible one.
I will burn it all down like a crazy Lannister if I'm told otherwise.
The Shields finale was perfect.
Come Overwatch with meeeee
If an author doesn't care about finishing their story, there's no reason anyone else should care either. There are lots of other things to read.
Let's not say things we can't take back.
but frankly I just don't give a shit anymore
Why tell the less popular version long after everyone knows how it ends.
I get it, even if I am sad
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
And then the TV show just proved good, and I realized what a chore going through all the books would be.
I'll probably buy the hardcovers for book 6+7 (because I'm a little OCD), but I doubt I'll ever read it. Probably check a wiki to see what the differences are, but I just have so many books I either want to read for the first time, or read again.
Books and television are fundamentally different experiences. Honestly I'm actually a bit sad that the show came out.
In one sense the show has been great because it's exposed a lot of people to something that previously I had only shared with a few random people on the internet. In another sense it has essentially "killed" the books for me, because if I read them now, I will never experience what it would have been like to read them as a naive viewer.
This is similar to how the internet has fundamentally altered how we consume media. It used to be that if you enjoyed something, maybe you only saw it with your small circle of friends, if that, and between the few of you it was unlikely that you would be able to pick up on everything. Now, every single scene gets picked apart by hundreds and thousands and millions of people, so instead of experiencing something yourself, you are in large part experiencing it by proxy, via osmosis of everyone else's expressed experiences being shared simultaneously.
So even if you don't have the problem of having to "choose" between the show or the books, you still face the problem of whether or not you want the books spoiled for you unless you literally unplug from larger society. Like, R+L=J was not even a whisper of a thought to a large proportion of the readership until the internet came out and someone who put the pieces together shared their theory with everyone else. In some sense those readers were "robbed" of discovering it themselves, either through their own rereads and analyses or by having the book tell them on its own.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
It amuses me to picture this old man rage burning thousands of pages of work, just to re-write his books to somehow make Lady Stoneheart the one to ends up ruling the world.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
he needed editor(s) to desperately to tie him down on the last two books, or at least say "okay, these ideas are good, but save them for later"
It'll be done when it's done, and it'll be broadly the same ending as the TV show. We find out the important plot stuff next year when GoT ends, so that'll be that itch scratched.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
Also it is a widely open secret that he provided the full plot outline for all PoV characters to HBO on the conditions of them making the show.
I don't know if there is anything in the contractual language keeping him from going "lol no" and completely changing the end for the main characters, but I wouldn't be surprised. HBO has good lawyers.
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
I don't see why him changing things is a breach of contract; but it depends on the language in the contract itself I suppose. If he just had to give them outlines based on how he thought things would go then vs now, which could explain why this book is taking an eternity.
Since his books are nearly as complicated as real mediaeval history, it seems to be a bit too much for one human writer to manage. Particularly since he's getting on a bit. Every book is longer and more complicated.
Speculation: the contract says he can't change the plots around too much and undercut the show, so he's partially dragging his feet because he's going to do exactly that and needs to wait for the show to be finished.
fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
This makes sense - especially because he has been writing this whole time, just not the stuff we want him to write.
There might be some "one year after the conclusion of the show" thing going on here regarding him saying stuff like "they got it wrong"
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
I doubt anyone involved in creative work will sign a contract that says "this is exactly how it will go and where it will end up." The very nature of creative work is that you don't know ahead of time where it will end up. You have a goal of course, but unexpected things always happen.
I mean, people keep saying that, but the whole story behind why it took him so damn long to write the last couple of books is that he kept re-editing and re-writing. Like the whole time skip that never was.
GRRM is the opposite of the author who just writing more and more book and can't bear to cut any of it.
Which is why I said he needed other editors, not him, to keep him focused instead of letting him put himself into an intractable knot...
You can't help where the muse takes you, right?