HOTD In The Media: News From The Citadel

[Affogato]

58 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

"One thing that I've gotten a little bit of controversy in lately is my insistence that dragons only have two legs," he said during a talk at the Oxford Writers House. "These four-legged dragons are a creation of medieval heralds who had never seen a dragon, because they don't exist. And they decide dragons have four legs and wyverns only have two legs, and people constantly correct me on that, and of course they're wrong."

This is a quote from the article I linked.  It very clearly does not sound like he's just talking about his own creations, which he can decide are whatever they are even though, by every accepted understanding of the difference between fictional creatures centuries before GRRM was born, they would've been wyverns.

Honestly GRRM needs to get his head out of his own ass, stop obsessing about shit like this that no one else cares about (seriously, does anyone actually care about the legs on the sigil?) and get back to writing the damned books.  If he finished them, we'd have something else about which to obsess and argue.

They are science fiction books, with strong fantasy type trappings, based on parts of history. Of course he is concerned with that sort of thing. And there, that is why he calls them ‘deagons’ and therefore what is the problem. 
 

since the books are so much like history I think it is okay of they have no clear end, and i am okay with the many gifts I’ve received during his career. I don’t feel as if he owes me closure, unless he wants to provide it. I think personally that the works stand without it. Also he is an old man and should do as he pleases, within the confines of law and morality. 

[proserpina65]

1 hour ago, Affogato said:

They are science fiction books, with strong fantasy type trappings, based on parts of history. Of course he is concerned with that sort of thing. And there, that is why he calls them ‘deagons’ and therefore what is the problem. 
 

since the books are so much like history I think it is okay of they have no clear end, and i am okay with the many gifts I’ve received during his career. I don’t feel as if he owes me closure, unless he wants to provide it. I think personally that the works stand without it. Also he is an old man and should do as he pleases, within the confines of law and morality. 

I'm sorry but I think he does owe the readers whose interest has supported him over the years closure to ASOIAF.  The work absolutely does NOT stand without an end.  He needs to either stop farting around about stupid shit like legs on a sigil and work on it or stop stringing fans along and tell us he's never going to finish the series.  One or the other.  I'd be satisfied with either.  Just don't keep saying "it'll be done next year" over and over and over.

Clearly we disagree about this so I'm leaving it with my opinion that he's being an asshole about the wyvern/dragon thing, and moving on.

[AnimeMania]

[surfgirl]

Well that was far more interesting than the actual season episodes were.

[proserpina65]

On 8/26/2024 at 6:19 PM, AnimeMania said:

That was cool but too heavily weighted to Team Black scenes,  I would've like to have seen how Vhagar was done, or the battle at Rook's Rest.

[baldryanr]

For those hoping GRRM works on finishing Winds of Winter, there's something else he wants to get to first

Namely, he's planning to write a blog post laying out everything he thinks has gone wrong with HOTD.  Presumably he'll have more than just complaints about how many legs a fictional creature that breathes fire (among other science defying feats) should have.

Edited August 30 by baldryanr

[surfgirl]

I have always felt that this writer cares more about his fame and adulation than he does about actually finishing his series, and here he is proving me right:

He seriously cares more about people idolizing him when he's dead, than he does finishing his own book series. That's really a sad way to live life. *SMDH*

[Shrek]

24 minutes ago, surfgirl said:

I have always felt that this writer cares more about his fame and adulation than he does about actually finishing his series, and here he is proving me right:

He seriously cares more about people idolizing him when he's dead, than he does finishing his own book series. That's really a sad way to live life. *SMDH*

Yet every time I see anything he's said or written lately he seems to alienate his fans or contradicts something he said previously thereby alienating more people.

Tolkien didn't have the internet to contend with & therefore didn't have to answer the type of questions that Martin does.

Seems to me that the worst thing that happened for the book was the tv series as nothing he does to finish the book would be right as far as half of the readership is concerned.

[surfgirl]

@ShrekAs someone who will never be a reader because reading an unfinished series holds zero interest for me personally, and as someone who does not hold this particular writer on a pedestal, I can say that the amount of years he has had to finish his series is substantial, and I would doubt that even Tolkien himself would hold in high regard a writer who leaves his readers hanging and does not finish his own books. There is a reason Tolkien is held in high esteem by readers and writers around the world, but I do not put these two writers in the same category, though it appears this guy does assume he is in the same category, which in itself speaks volumes, none of which helps to finish said books!

And while I am not, nor ever will be a reader, I agree with you that the worst thing was the TV series because it lured him into the spotlight, where he seems to have gotten drunk on adulation, rather than finishing his series. I mean, what was it, eight or so years between the GoT TV premiere and the final series finale? Surely that's enough time to wrap up your last book. I realize there are strong feelings about this so I will leave it at that. He has done a disservice to his readers because now they will forever compare the TV ending with whatever he writes, if he ever finishes this thing at all.

Edited September 1 by surfgirl

[proserpina65]

On 9/1/2024 at 2:59 PM, Shrek said:

Seems to me that the worst thing that happened for the book was the tv series as nothing he does to finish the book would be right as far as half of the readership is concerned.

I'd agree with this IF he was actually doing something to finish the book, but he seems to be doing everything he possible can to avoid working on it.  GRRM is the reason I've made it a rule to never start an unfinished book series ever again.  Or at least not the sort with an overreaching arc which requires the next book to wrap up the story.

[Shrek]

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

I'd agree with this IF he was actually doing something to finish the book, but he seems to be doing everything he possible can to avoid working on it.  GRRM is the reason I've made it a rule to never start an unfinished book series ever again.  Or at least not the sort with an overreaching arc which requires the next book to wrap up the story.

Not sure I said he was doing anything to finish the book, because he's not. I said nothing he does would be right which is a good reason why he might not want to finish it or he might just be lazy & never had an ending in mind anyway. 

My whole point was that the tv series, or the popularity of it was maybe the reason why the book never got finished even though he had years to do it or it may be that he was just going to keep going with book after book after book without ever ending it for as long as people would buy it but now he doesn't need to.

He doesn't strike me as a nice guy either way and I've already spent more time discussing him than I ever thought I would need to.

[proserpina65]

21 hours ago, Shrek said:

Not sure I said he was doing anything to finish the book, because he's not. I said nothing he does would be right which is a good reason why he might not want to finish it or he might just be lazy & never had an ending in mind anyway. 

My whole point was that the tv series, or the popularity of it was maybe the reason why the book never got finished even though he had years to do it or it may be that he was just going to keep going with book after book after book without ever ending it for as long as people would buy it but now he doesn't need to.

He doesn't strike me as a nice guy either way and I've already spent more time discussing him than I ever thought I would need to.

My angle was that anything he did would be okay with most fans because at least he'd be working on it instead of farting around with sigil legs and crap like that.  But we still mostly agree.  And yes, I never thought I'd be discussing him this much either.

[Oscirus]

George RR out here dropping season 3 spoilers (for those that didn't read the book). I kinda see his point and the showrunners were clearly telling him things he wanted to hear to get him out of the room, but still lolz.

[baldryanr]

He removed his blog post so someone clearly had a few choice words to say to him.  That being said, since this is the internet it has been archived and is fairly easily found.  I don't remember him being quite this publicly unhappy during the last couple of seasons in GOT.

A summary here (spoilers, of course)

[surfgirl]

I could barely read half of that sniveling diatribey whingefest from the writer, but what I did read left me with 'meh, who cares?' And that's because this guy's ego is way over inflated. Fir someone who can't be bothered to finish his now book series he sure thinks he's today's Shakespeare. Newsflash: he's not.

[Shrek]

21 hours ago, surfgirl said:

I could barely read half of that sniveling diatribey whingefest from the writer, but what I did read left me with 'meh, who cares?' And that's because this guy's ego is way over inflated. Fir someone who can't be bothered to finish his now book series he sure thinks he's today's Shakespeare. Newsflash: he's not.

I think the newsflash is only a newsflash to him & one or two of his most ardent fans.

[surfgirl]

4 hours ago, Shrek said:

I think the newsflash is only a newsflash to him & one or two of his most ardent fans.

It seems the rapidity of his taking down the post most likely was a very strong email from HBO offering to kick him in his nuts wallet if he doesn't stop talking shit about the hand that feeds him. So much bluster, yet so little integrity if it hurts the bank account I guess. 

[baldryanr]

He had to have known his post would be archived instantly, so it's not like taking it down means his criticism vanishes from the world.  He also knows HBO is going to be very reluctant to really come down hard as long as content from his world remains profitable, so as long as he doesn't go nuclear he can poke the bear without real consequences.

That being said, he and Ryan Condal probably won't be grabbing a beer together anytime soon. 

[Affogato]

On 9/6/2024 at 2:53 PM, baldryanr said:

He had to have known his post would be archived instantly, so it's not like taking it down means his criticism vanishes from the world.  He also knows HBO is going to be very reluctant to really come down hard as long as content from his world remains profitable, so as long as he doesn't go nuclear he can poke the bear without real consequences.

That being said, he and Ryan Condal probably won't be grabbing a beer together anytime soon. 

I assume he wants to tell the showrunners something about how they should script the show and feels like his private statements are not be heeded. 

[proserpina65]

https://people.com/matt-smith-reveals-one-thing-thats-hard-about-shooting-house-of-the-dragon-8732440

Ewan Mitchell shaved his head for the wigs he wore for both seasons.  Knowing that (and TGC must've known because they hung out together while filming season 1), I'm a little perplexed that the notion of doing so didn't cross his mind at least.