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Except for the fact that Steven Erikson released a book a year, developing whole cultures along the way with a story that was even bigger in scope in a lot of ways. I do think AxB has a pretty compelling argument of Martin getting in way over his head, though. 

 

I also bet Brandon Sanderson could do it but not with the oomph Martin brings to the table. That guy seems like the most organized writer in the world, but sometimes to the extent that it all becomes too rote. Too much process, not enough soul.

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Except for the fact that Steven Erikson released a book a year, developing whole cultures along the way with a story that was even bigger in scope in a lot of ways. I do think AxB has a pretty compelling argument of Martin getting in way over his head, though. 

 

I also bet Brandon Sanderson could do it but not with the oomph Martin brings to the table. That guy seems like the most organized writer in the world, but sometimes to the extent that it all becomes too rote. Too much process, not enough soul.

Those are kind of different things though.  The difference between what Martin is doing and what a lot of others are doing is that most other fantasy writers either build complex worlds with a few complex characters or building complex characters with a smaller less complex world.  He's trying to do both on a scale that most other writers have even attempted.  As big as the Malazan series is, I don't think there are 1/10 of the characters to keep track of.  Who is the Malazan equivalent to Lyn Corbrey or Jason Mallister?  Those guys very well could be vital to the lives of many characters we care about going forward, or they could just be people who live in the world.  The issue isn't how big the world is, the issue is how many people populate that world in a way that could matter in the long run.  Most books have 5-10 people to keep track of, and everyone else is just there for decoration.  Martin's books for better or worse populated the world with a lot of people who could potentially be vital to the plot.  That isn't even taking into consideration how many people will be added whenever we figure out what is happening with Rickon, Dany, and the crazy conspiracy in the North.

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Am I the only one who thinks he's terrified to finish, paralyzed by the fear that people will not like or be disappointed with his ending? Listen, everyone LOVED George Lucas until the prequels and then the knives were out & it was open season. Do you think he's afraid of the backlash if he ends it on a sour note? For the first time, probably in his whole life, he's the cool kid, that can go away very, very quickly.

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Am I the only one who thinks he's terrified to finish, paralyzed by the fear that people will not like or be disappointed with his ending? Listen, everyone LOVED George Lucas until the prequels and then the knives were out & it was open season. Do you think he's afraid of the backlash if he ends it on a sour note? For the first time, probably in his whole life, he's the cool kid, that can go away very, very quickly.

I don't think that is unrealistic at all.  Writing is one of those things that I don't think anyone is ever 100% confident about.  I remember I wrote someonting in college that I was super worried about.  When I got it back from the professor it had one comment, "You write beautifully."  I honestly thought it was the worst thing I had ever turned in, and it turns out that the professor thought it was outstanding work.  The problem is that you are sitting there all by yourself with nothing but your own doubts and insecurities to critique your work.  I've never felt comfortable with any writing project I've ever turned in, despite the fact that I always seemed to do well with them.  Almost everyone I know who has ever done any writing feels the same way, it's something that I don't think ever goes away.

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Am I the only one who thinks he's terrified to finish, paralyzed by the fear that people will not like or be disappointed with his ending? Listen, everyone LOVED George Lucas until the prequels and then the knives were out & it was open season. Do you think he's afraid of the backlash if he ends it on a sour note? For the first time, probably in his whole life, he's the cool kid, that can go away very, very quickly.

 

 

Trust me on this, GRRM has been the cool kid for a very long time. This ain't his first rodeo, it may be the biggest in his career but he's had a career that most writers can only dream about. Let's see when did "Sandkings" and "The Needlemen" come out? Oh, 1979. How about his Hugo Award for "The Way of Cross & Dragon"? Oh, 1980. How about The Armageddon Rag? 1983. Songs the Dead Men Sing? 1983. Oddly enough his bio at IMDB leaves out his gig as creative director for the Amazing Stories series. So, yeah... GRRM has been a pretty big deal in the genre for over thirty years. I did pick up one little tid-bit in his lengthy gallery of quotations. "I don't use outlines, I hate to outline." Could this possibly have anything to do with his difficulties in getting these books out on time? Ya think?

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The Armageddon Rag sold terribly and nearly killed his career though (it's really good. It just failed commercially on it's release). But then he went to Hollywood to write TV, made a shitload of money from scripts, and put together the Wild Cards book series and wrote some of his best short stories at the same time.

 

He's had a bit of a habit of landing on his feet if you think about it.

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The History or Westeros podcast is doing a reread if anyone wants to follow along.  They started 3 or 4 weeks ago and are doing 7* chapters per episode.  They're taking next week off, so it's a good time to catch up.  It has been really good so far as they are going pretty deep with everything from the books and the show.  

Upon my re-listen something I don't think I ever gave any thought to is the fact that Ned is sleep deprived pretty much his entire time in King's Landing.  He gets to the city after not sleeping for 4 whole days, and is being pulled in a different direction every time he tries to rest.  It is clearly a part of the strategy to make him ineffectual as the hand.  Ned is a man of principle and he seeks justice at every turn.  It is pretty clear that Robert's Rebellion was about revenge for Robert, but was about justice for Ned.  He was hired to be a man of principle by a man who ultimately had no principles...he had no chance at all.

*The first episode is the announcement of the project and a 2 chapter breakdown.

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  • 7 months later...

My wife's New Year's Resolution is to read more, which was mine last year. In 2018 I read a total of nine books and in 2019 I tripled it! 

 

She's presently on the last ten or so pages of Fire and Blood, the history of House Targaryen. The other day I asked her how the book was coming along and she said "Very good." Then I asked how far she was into it and her reply was "You wouldn't understand."

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