Uh, the complaint is that he’s not publishing, not that he’s dragging it out.
I’ll give it a try, then.
I didn’t know you had an interest in fantasy. How can you possibly be knowledgeable about so many topics? Do you have a recipe for sleep-suppresant pills or something?
Neil Gaiman had a rather famous quip in his blog: “George R.R. Martin is not your bitch!”
Fuck that. If GRRM wants my money, he’d better get typing or editing or whatever stage he’s currently on.
The “if he dies someone can take it up from his notes” theory doesn’t work, either, if Martin is telling the truth. He’s said several times that he’s not keeping notes, specifically so someone can’t come along after he dies and pull a Brian Herbert on his world. Well, he didn’t actually cite the Brian Herbert travesties, but that’s how I interpret it.
I don’t see the Ice and Fire novels as his career. They’re his focus for now, of course, but the guy is very talented and I think/hope he’ll keep writing, whether it’s more novels or something for TV. He had to be surprised at how popular the books have become. I found the first one on a bargain table for $3.99. I was a Martin fan and didn’t even know he’d written it.
Martin has admitted he has a terrible record of finishing series. He cited about ten series he started and said he only finished one (the Haviland Tuf series). The problem is that he thinks of an original idea that could form the basis for a series and he starts writing. But actually writing the series to completion involves several months or years of work past the time of that initial inspiration. And during that time he comes up with new ideas. And these new ideas seem more appealing to him as a writer than going back to rehash old material.
Wonderful. He’s Bastian Balthazar Bux in real-life form…
I’m waiting for this one too. I’ve been meaning to reread the first two, but I suppose that would make me even more impatient.
I’m a fast reader ;).
But really when it comes to a lot of fiction, I don’t hold a candle to some of our other regulars around here. I first heard of both Erikson and Scott Lynch ( who I also like ) from threads in Cafe Society.
Since someone already mentioned Robert Jordan. I’ll just add
FUCK TERRY GOODKIND!!!
Yeah, yeah. I know HE finished his series, but I didn’t finish his series and he’s still a hack bastard.
Besides, there should be a law. Every morning every person that awakes should start the day with a hearty FUCK TERRY GOODKIND!!!
I blame the mania for series novels, especially in epic fantasy. Fans love 'em, publishers love 'em, so writers are padding and dithering and taking their damn sweet time.
I’m not gonna buy any more series books until the series is finished, or mostly finished.
Amen. Shit, those books took a turn for the crazy.
Speaking as someone who did finish the series, trust me, you’re far better off than I am.
It’s one and the same, really. He’s obviously dragging out the story, and as a result, it’s become a chore for him to write. He’s spent the last ten years writing books about a 5 year gap he never intended to write about.
And the thing is, when The Name of The Wind first came out, word was that he’d already written the whole trilogy. He was just waiting a year between books for marketing reasons. If I’m remembering this correctly, that makes it a double whattheheck.
Agree with the OP. I actually liked the series until the latest book, and now that it’s been delayed and delayed I’ve almost totally lost interest at this point and will probably not bother getting the latest book, assuming it’s ever actually released.
I loved Robert Jordan, however, and am pretty psyked that THIS series (WoT) at least is on track for completion. I’m totally looking forward to the next book, and am actually a bit torn that there will only be one book remaining after that, and the long journey will finally be over (hope it ends better than the Dark Tower did).
-XT
I don’t think it was marketing reasons, actually. I think both he and the editors/ publisher felt that the book really needed some revision. They got carried away, in my opinion. The parts he added to the original didn’t add much to the story, in my opinion.
It is rather amusing to see his die hard fans trip all over themselves in an attempt to excuse the fact that they’ve been lied to for over two years.
If he just wanted it as a cash cow, he could’ve published three or four books of crap filler and a fair amount of fans would’ve bought them and made him far more money then publishing the, well, zero books that he has over the past five years.
I think he’s just lost interest in writing. He seems to like going to conventions and stuff and talking about sci-fi and fantasy writing more then he likes putting pen to paper these days. Glancing at wikipedia, it doesn’t look like he’s done very much writing of anything during the latter half of this decade, he’s supposed to have a third part of the comic book series based on Ice and Fire due out this year, but the gap between that installment and the last has been seven years.
I am never going to start an unfinished fantasy series again.
Yeah, but like I said, Tolkien only published the finished books.
I didn’t like the Song of Ice and Fire. I bought the first, read it, and thought it was OK, I guess. I couldn’t get into the second, and ended up gving them to a local charity shop. I suppose I could borrow them from the library, but somehow I don’t think they’re worth the effort (even with free reservations, the fee having been removed this financial year).
I’m partway through book three of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, and it’s pretty good so far.
One of the problems with theWheel of Time is that Jordan did suffer from a bit of authorial distraction, in that he produced one of three planned “prequel novels” in 2003. I can forgive him this though, since the second quarter of the book was something that he hasn’t told (and will now never tell) in the main book -the rite of passage from Accepted to Aes Sedia. By the device of the prequel, he was able to show the test and acceptance from the point of view of Moiraine Damodred, very much the quintessential Aes Sedai of the early books.
I’m going to nominate Katherine Kerr for a place on this list. SHe has actually finished her Deverry series, the fifteenth and last book being published last year. I’ve been reading that series since I acquired Daggerspell in 1984, so it took 25+ years. I have to say, though, that the last book was a serious disappointment in the way it wrapped everything up. It didn’t feel like the last book in an epic. Things just sputtered out.
Still, at least she did finish.