Comments on: George R.R. Martin update

By: Tom Grey

Tom Grey — Fri, 18 Jun 2004 15:20:54 +0000

If you liked the fighting and politics of JRRT, George R R Martin is fantastic. Better, in fact, in an adult way. But wait till the series is done (7?)! I must admit to fearing for Martin’s life before he finishes; 3 wondrous, mammoth books are done. A Feast of Crows, 4, may be as long as A Storm of Swords 3—here in Slovakia I bought “it” as a pair of big books (so already 4 big books long). And after A Feast should come … 3 more tomes? They’re great, but wait!

By: Tom Grey

Tom Grey — Fri, 18 Jun 2004 14:31:23 +0000

By: Scorpio

Scorpio — Fri, 18 Jun 2004 03:01:55 +0000

I wouldn’t even start to look for it until spring 2005. Parris said he has chapters still to go, and that it will be done when he finishes it—not before fall was the suggestion.

By: TomK

TomK — Fri, 18 Jun 2004 00:30:53 +0000

Reading through that website I have a book buy him thats a first edition worth 200-600 dollars. Heh. Thanks Crooked Timber!

By: Charlie Stross

Charlie Stross — Fri, 18 Jun 2004 00:25:27 +0000

“Regardless of how long Tolkien worked on the Rings trilogy, he published them within a year of each other.” Tolkien wrote the whole damned thing, intending it as one book. Took him more than a decade (after the publication of The Hobbit). His publisher broke it into three installments. And, lest we forget, Tolkein had tenure, a steady income, and demands upon his time other than writing. LOTR was a hobbyist’s magnum opus: an impressive achievement, but not a suitable yardstick for the performance of full-time novelists. A full-time novelist who scribbles for a decade then publishes a trilogy in one year is a full-time novelist who starves—modern publishers just aren’t that patient.

By: Sebastian Holslcaw

Sebastian Holslcaw — Fri, 18 Jun 2004 00:24:04 +0000

I like Martin’s books much more than most of the recent King novels. But that is probably just a matter of taste. But we haven’t waited that long for Martin. I’m still waiting for the third book in Melanie Rawn’s “Exiles” trilogy. The last one was published in 1997. After that and slogging through the once-enjoyable “Wheel of Time” series which I suspect will not conclude before the death of the author, I made a promise not to read a series if the last book is unpublished. I was tricked out of that rule by a friend who assured me it was finished, but I think I will be sticking to it in the future.

By: N. O. Scott

N. O. Scott — Thu, 17 Jun 2004 22:42:49 +0000

Dark Tower vs. Song of Ice and Fire? I’d call them apples and oranges. They’re two very different beasts. I like the Dark Tower, and I think Martin is OK but not fantastically amazing, but I doubt that one has anything to do with the other. You’d have to compare it with traditional doorstop fantasy. I’m not too well read in that area, but I believe it comes across as “grittier” than most, whatever that means. I’d call it cynical. A good portion of the story deals with political and military maneuvering, I believe the 100 Years War is the most common comparison.

By: TomK

TomK — Thu, 17 Jun 2004 21:38:54 +0000

So is this guy any good? Stephen King finally got the sixth book of the Dark Tower series out the door. Is Martin’s series as good as the Dark Tower series by King? (For people who have read both).

By: Donald A. Coffin

Donald A. Coffin — Thu, 17 Jun 2004 20:41:52 +0000

sidereal writes: “Regardless of how long Tolkien worked on the Rings trilogy, he published them within a year of each other.” Tolkien wrote the whole damned thing, intending it as one book. Took him more than a decade (after the publication of The Hobbit). His publisher broke it into three installments.

By: asg

asg — Thu, 17 Jun 2004 20:25:20 +0000

Well, I think part of the purpose of Davos is to provide a direct look at important characters (Stannis and Melisandre) without giving us too much insight into why they are doing what they do. I guess that’s exposition, but it seems to me a more worthy & necessary sort of exposition than the sort e.g. Robert Jordan habitually engages in.

By: sidereal

sidereal — Thu, 17 Jun 2004 20:23:41 +0000

“and Tolkien were much slower sequel-writers than he is” Kind of. Regardless of how long Tolkien worked on the Rings trilogy, he published them within a year of each other. So there were no hordes of impatient fans howling on bulletin boards.

By: maria

maria — Thu, 17 Jun 2004 20:21:17 +0000

Good point – it wouldn’t be at all typical of Martin to simply serve up the expected. Though I wonder if he’s using Cersei simply for exposition, and not out of affection for or much interest in her character like I think he does with Davos. Time will tell!

By: asg

asg — Thu, 17 Jun 2004 20:17:33 +0000

Also keep in mind that Jaime certainly didn’t come off all that well in his first couple of chapters in ASoS.

By: sidereal

sidereal — Thu, 17 Jun 2004 20:17:07 +0000

My wonderful wife informed me yesterday that Amazon hath moved their publication date up from August to late June, which looked promising. Judging from the state of Martin’s site, it sounds like nothing but tricksiness designed to create pre-orders, which I nearly fell for.

By: asg

asg — Thu, 17 Jun 2004 20:15:33 +0000

I thought the most interesting part was the introduction of Qyburn,the de-chained maester. Scary sounding guy.