Anybody got a comment about Martin's update?

[reruth0627]

Is it just me or does he sound a bit upset?

It just came across as bitter that we fans are obsessed with ASOIAF and are not paying enough attention to his other Stuff.

The way I look at it, he wouldn't even be doing those renovations if it wasn't for us.

[Werthead]

Not really. He fully understands that ADWD is what people are crying out for and it is 100% his highest priority. He sounded more bewildered because people started saying, "Don't give up on the series!" which seems very odd at this moment. He's come through the five-year hell that was writing AFFC and ADWD should be out within only 18 months of AFFC's publication. It seems unusual that people would suddenly think he'd be giving up on the series now and not, say, three years into the wait for AFFC.

I think there's also been a misunderstanding on many areas on his other projects. Dunk & Egg III (which is quite eagerly awaited in many quarters) was largely written when he was on book tour, away from his main notes which meant he couldn't work on ADWD, and editing the new Wild Cards books is a job of a few weeks, no more. Some people on other forums seemed to think he was writing these other books which would negatively impact work on ADWD, whilst this was not the case.

[Winters_Sorrow]

He probably is a little upset.
He's paying the price of having a major success and is starting to find that there are negatives as well as postives to that. Of course, it's partially his fault by having an email address which quite a number of his fans seem to know!

He seems to have a lot of "real life" stuff going on right now. He loves Con's so he goes to a lot of them, he's going through major works on his home and half of his stuff is in storage - hardly a helpful/serene environment to write in, is it?

Overall, my 2c is that after 5 years for book 4, I don't think 18 months is too much to ask for book 5.

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by Winters_Sorrow

Overall, my 2c is that after 5 years for book 4, I don't think 18 months is too much to ask for book 5.

That's a fair call, it's just a pity he's not as prolific as Erikson. *GOLLUM awaits GRRM fan outcry*

[Winters_Sorrow]

As far as I know, Eriksson isn't having his house demolished whilst editing other writers work, attending conventions as well as concentrating on novellas in addition to his 'main' body of work...

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by Winters_Sorrow

As far as I know, Eriksson isn't having his house demolished whilst editing other writers work, attending conventions as well as concentrating on novellas in addition to his 'main' body of work...

Well actually he's been writing and publishing several novellas over the period, a screenplay and a multitude of other stuff from what I remember plus focusing on his main work. His house however may not be currently in a state of demolition....

Actually as long as Mr. Martin completes his Grand Opus in the next 5 years or so I'll be happy with that as he is unarguably a wonderfully talented author (recently read Fevre Dream. WOW * 10! ) and exceptional with his fan base from what I understand.

*Time for tactical retreat*

Adieu all!

[Wil]

I got the impression he was a little rattle.

My first thought was that he had writer's block and couldn't finish ADWD the way he wanted. At to that his publishers and his fans beating on his front door with sticks and curses, demanding their next fix - It may be a longshot but I thought AFFC was his way of getting the little things out of his head and out of the way so that he could get to some dramatic story that he really liked.

His comments about rewriting some passages and liking the way they were going now convinced me of this.

Let's face it, he's human and a lot of writers hit this kind of thing. Add all the crazy fans who are compulsive and take this too seriously (myself included) chasing him around and driving him nuts...being upset is understandable.

[Wiggum]

I should probably email him to let him know I read his blog, lol.

More than anything he seemed a bit hurt that people weren't reading his whole site. Which he shouldn't expect people to do.

If the section is titled "Update" that's where most people are going to look.

How did anyone come up with the idea that he wasn't continuing on with the books?

[Werthead]

I think he's picked up a lot of new readers recently thanks to that Time Magazine article on him. Maybe some of them are newbie readers who don't appreciate that it takes a long time to write an 800-page novel and just assumed he'd be bashing them out every six months or something.

[red_temple]

Originally Posted by GOLLUM

That's a fair call, it's just a pity he's not as prolific as Erikson. *GOLLUM awaits GRRM fan outcry*

I was thinking the same thing, and I'm a GRRM fanboy.

Disclaimer: It would be nice if he churned out the novels as fast as Erikson, but I'd rather him write at whatever pace he needs to keep up his high quality standards.

[Wil]

I have to admit I'd rather have great work over 3-5 years (not counting AFFC. I consider that an appetizer to ADWD (hopefully)) than mediocre work ever 6 months.

[Werthead]

It should be remembered that Erikson's pace has slowed recently as well. The first three books came out at 12-month intervals, but afterwards at 18-month intervals, and the wait for TBH was even longer than that (although six months of that was due to a publishing ****-up). Book 7, which Erikson finished writing last week, will come out next March, 12 months after TBH (but 18 months after he finished writing TBH).

It's something that happens the longer you get into a series. Also note how the gap between publication of the WoT novels has grown from about 10 months to over three years now.

[Werthead]

Anyone checked out his new Not-a-Blog comment. He's put two up recently and switched on comments for his posts. Nice stuff.

[red_temple]

Nice to see that they will be releasing Fevre Dream in comic book form soon. Excellent novel - and if it is done anywhere near the quality as The Hedge Knight was, then we are in for a treat.

[sophocles]

Originally Posted by red_temple

I was thinking the same thing, and I'm a GRRM fanboy.

Disclaimer: It would be nice if he churned out the novels as fast as Erikson, but I'd rather him write at whatever pace he needs to keep up his high quality standards.

And i belive that Red has hit on the core issue here ...

I would rather an artist // author // musician // whatever .. take his/her time on something and make it special, long-lasting, and worthwhile.

Rather than try to bulk-manufacture it in the interest of Time and Fans sacrificing the original interest of Quality and Longevity.

GRRM, i'm sure is aware of this ...

can you imagine that now after 4 books .. the rest of the ASOFAI story flopped... the Valyrian Doom would seem like a walk along the beach compared to the Global outcry.