It's a shame he won't be the one to finish the story he started. That said, he knew this was a very legit possibility when he signed the deal with HBO. Still a very weird situation. I can't imagine WB releasing new Harry Potter movies if JK hadn't finished them. I guess now he won't be rushed to put the next book out so the quality shouldn't be hurt. We probably won't get the next book until the tv series is over since he has nothing pushing him as deadlines don't mean anything to him.
I read all of them last year in January and I'm getting impatient; can't imagine what it's like for guys reading since 1996.
I've accepted the fact we'll never see the last book. We'll get the HBO ending. He'll die or have a nervous breakdown and never finish it and we'll just get random stories from his friends saying here's what he told me on what happens in the last book.
Fuck you, you dork ass mother fucker! If you weren't such a worthless fucking geek, you wouldn't have to base your entire life on a book series. You wouldn't have to denigrate an old man for not accomplishing faster something that you would not be able to accomplish in 10 times the span of your miserable life.
I am completely calm actually. I was just giving some of the idiots on this board a sample of what they sound like.
I've been reading this series since the first novel went to paperback (high school Grifter couldn't afford many hardbacks). I've earned my anger at this point.
I'm not upset, but I'm not sure I'll be motivated to read pages upon pages detailing 70 course meals at various feasts if I've already seen the show.
Yeah I won't rush out and buy it or anything. It won't really matter since he's said the ending in the show is the same as the books so I'll already know who sits the Iron Throne.
Unless he's trolling everyone and announces after the show that he sent D&D on the wrong path. Different ending. $$$ all around
I won't pick it up again until it's finished. I've forgotten too much at this point. If he finishes, I'll do a reread.
He acknowledged what everyone has been saying- that his side projects, appearances, and travel have had a significant impact on his ability to complete the sixth book. Personally, the deadline talk is bullshit. Imagine telling your professor that you were unable to complete an assignment because the deadline put you under too much pressure... How would that go over? Ultimately, I'm not going to let his life decisions make me angry or upset- sucks that we won't see the book and the ending won't be established in literature before the series or even at all by Martin... I've never believed he would finish the series, let alone beat the show to the finale. What sucks is that the show gets worse and worse as it ventures from Martin's material.
So basically we'd have Book 6 & 7 now if he cut back on the numerous pages describing food, clothing and nipples.
this is the issue. He refuses to write this way, but it's basically the only way a human brain could connect all the now-open-ended characters, locations, timelines, etc. that are now needing tied together.
That is interesting... I think the difference is that Rowling stuck to a schedule and got the job done... As far as pressure, I imagine she had all of it and then some. HP was on a whole different level than GOT/ASOIF
True, but that's also his fault in the sense that he wrote himself into corners that like his characters he cannot escape.
I read everything a year and a half ago. I've already forgotten so much. Last thing I remember is one of the pirates went back to his castle and some fighting happened. Dany is in some field. some kids from Dorne tried to marry her.
Just spitballing here: GRRM has written that his writing/enthusiasm for ASOIAF runs hot and cold. He admitted on his blog that he should have continued plowing through TWOW after finishing ADWD because he was in a significant hot period at that time. Instead he stopped writing to do all the things you have/get to do when you're the world's most famous fantasy author. And now here we are, thinking we'll be lucky to get TWOW in time for Season 7 of Game of Thrones. With that in mind, I hope GRRM or his publishers have considered just bearing down and cranking through TWOW and ADOS to knock out the rest of the series in one fell swoop. I think I can speak for all of his readership when I say I'd be happy -- relatively speaking -- to wait until 2018 to get TWOW if it meant getting ADOS in 2019 instead of getting TWOW in, say, 2017 and then going through the same half-decade of shit that we've seen with the last two volumes. This, of course, assumes GRRM can even finish the series in seven books.
That's assuming he actually finishes the sixth book. I drunkenly bet a dollar last night that he never finishes twow and 20 that he never finishes the series. #hgh
And also assumes he continues to write at a high level and not just write shit down to get it published.