I’m in the first stages of grief, I think, slowly moving from denial into anger. With the announcement of his latest book, “House of the Dragon” it’s become clear that he has simply lost interest in the project. I strongly suspect that if he does write it, his disinterest will be apparent in the product.
Somewhere, I read that his first writing jobs, and indeed his first love, was writing for television. So it’s not surprising that between the money and the format, HBO has captured his attention. I just wish that he would come out and admit it so we could all grieve once and for all.
Along with the announcement, and HBO’s new prequel development, Martin promises he’s not going to write any episodes until Winds of Winter is finished. Mmmmmhmmm, He’s listed as a producer though. And what about Song of Spring?!? A decade ago I was the first to jump on anybody who made a comment like this, or acknowledged the mortality of the man, but he is what, 71 years of age?
I’m calling it. I’ll be thrilled if I’m wrong, but I’m not going to hope any more. This is his unfinished symphony.
If he’s not inspired to write it, then he is better off not writing it; that’s his business. Had he felt like it, he would have long since locked himself in a room with nothing but pen and paper (or whatever he uses).
In fact, he actually uses an old DOS-based computer, running the 1980s-vintage word processing program WordStar 4.0. It’s apparently a point of pride for him that his setup isn’t in any way connected to the internet.
I don’t know where his love lies but his career definitely started in print not television. Martin was a well-established author when he took his first screenwriting job.
I don’t think it would be that much of a loss. I thought the first three books of the Ice and Fire saga were wonderful, but the last two IMO were meh. I don’t see why the quality wouldn’t continue to decline when it’s so obvious that he considers them a chore.
At this point, why not let Sanderson finish it, like he did for Wheel of Time? I’ve also read fanfic on Harry Potter, Honor Harrington, and Miles Vorkosigan that I enjoyed as much or more than the originals.
I can only assume he’s telling a completely different story from the TV Series. With a lot lot more to do. For me the solution would be “Lean into it George, five more books like you need to do to tell your story, but kick them out fast now, time is limited”. I think his struggle is fitting all of it in, when clearly the last two were full universe expansion…
In a way, some real fan needs to turn up at his house and discuss some of the more interesting theories. Catelyn knowingly sending Ned to his death, to prevent the reveal of Jon Snow being Ned’s trueborn, first marriage son, making her lineage all bastards. Turns a whole set of the assumptions on their head, chuck a lot of sea creatures in there, and make the three eyed raven a bad guy, and it’s all set for the type of twists and turns he likes to write. As far as I can tell we’ve got Hold the door and that’s it for any surprises.
But I assumed the next announcement would be George’s terminal illness or death. Not the next book. I long since abandoned the last book, once you’ve done that, the next book doesn’t really matter…
It’s been apparent for decades that he wouldn’t finish, just as a matter of simple calculation of number of books, interval between the ones so far, and life expectancy. The hope has just been that he at least has good notes, that he passes on to a competent writer with instructions to finish it after his death.
He could be like almost all other authors and write shorter books, 500 pages or so. I guess he’s too stubborn to do that. I read a book , Magician, by Raymond Feist that started out at 900 pages but now it’s in 2 parts, 450 pages for each one. All the rest of his books are around 500 pages. If you like fantasy Feist is a top notch author. He just recently started a new series of books.
Yeah. I haven’t read “Game of Thrones” yet but I enjoyed George’s work in the first phase of his career (Tuf Voyaging, Armageddon Rag, Sandkings, Two Kinds of Loneliness, Portraits of His Children, etc.).
If I’m not mistaken Sanderson has slowed his writing pace over the last few years. As a result I would much prefer he spend time wrapping up Mistborn and Stormlight than trying to bale out Martin.
At this point I have put Martin in the same “never gonna finish” category as Patrick Rothfuss and Jim Butcher. Butcher might be allowed out of the dog house in July if I find the wait to be worth it.
I wouldn’t put Butcher in the same category as Martin and Rothfuss; he didn’t slow down, and the quality of his books didn’t deteriorate (the last two were IMHO among the best of the series). He wrote 12 books in 15 years, and then just stopped. That seems to indicate some external reason, and not that he grew tired of the series or that he doesn’t know how to finish it.
I loved the last two books. But in my world, you don’t get to turn Waldo Butters into a Holy Jedi Knight of the Sword and then just walk away without me complaining about it!
If I have given you the impression that my little rant is based on anything having to do with logic or reason then I must apologize cuz’ that ain’t what this is…
Believe me, I’m pissed off too - especially as I discovered Butcher just 4 years ago myself, binging the entire series over the course of what felt like two weeks. The experience of waiting *years *for a Dresden book is utterly unacceptable to me, too.
I prob started a few years earlier but that’s pretty close to my experience as well.
Peace Talks is due out on July 14th if that makes you feel any better. If it’s any good then I will put Butcher back on probabtion and I might even consider reading some of his other stuff…but no promises.