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George R. R. Martin's reputation as a literary genius is greatly overstated. Yeah, the Song Of Ice And Fire books are NOT as trashy as the TV show, but if anything they are nastier. The scene of Ramsay Bolton's wedding night with Reek and Jeyne Poole was the most disgusting thing I've ever read. And Martin still goes out in public after having openly written something like that. If I had read that paragraph on the internet I would have cleared my cookies and deleted my browser history. It was absolutely sickening that Martin came up with a scenario so gross, and thought it was cool to put it out there for everyone to see. Ideas like that do not even OCCUR to most people. That is NOT a dark thought anyone should be sharing with the world.
Also I would think that in order to judge somebody's quality as a writer you might need to actually see how they end a book. Martin has NEVER paid off anything in five books and the cliffhangers in each book feel exactly as random as the ones in the previous novel. I do NOT think somebody who does all of these things setting something big up later and never delivers is a good writer. I give Weisman cr*p about this ALL THE TIME. Why is it any different when Martin does it? Answer: it's not. It's bad storytelling and not playing fair with your audience.
Martin is in his mid-sixties, morbidly obese, and seems to put out these books at a snail's pace. I fully expect him to die before he finishes the thing, and that is something that is entirely his own fault.
I'm writing something too, and I swear to God I will NOT let myself fall into the traps Martin has. I'm finishing the entire thing before I show anyone the first book. That's not what most writers would do, but Martin spends so much time dawdling between books we'd probably be better off if he spent less time on the talk show circuit and writing adaptations for the pornographic TV series, and more on doing right by his characters. But if there is one thing Game of Thrones and A Song Of Ice And Fire have taught me, it is that readers care far, FAR more about his characters than George R. R. Martin does. And that has been pretty clear since at least the third book. I admire all of the hard work Martin did in building the mythology of the universe. That is nothing to sneeze at. But there have to be other considerations in judging whether a book is actually good or not.
I'm a little ticked off to be honest.
Also I would think that in order to judge somebody's quality as a writer you might need to actually see how they end a book. Martin has NEVER paid off anything in five books and the cliffhangers in each book feel exactly as random as the ones in the previous novel. I do NOT think somebody who does all of these things setting something big up later and never delivers is a good writer. I give Weisman cr*p about this ALL THE TIME. Why is it any different when Martin does it? Answer: it's not. It's bad storytelling and not playing fair with your audience.
Martin is in his mid-sixties, morbidly obese, and seems to put out these books at a snail's pace. I fully expect him to die before he finishes the thing, and that is something that is entirely his own fault.
I'm writing something too, and I swear to God I will NOT let myself fall into the traps Martin has. I'm finishing the entire thing before I show anyone the first book. That's not what most writers would do, but Martin spends so much time dawdling between books we'd probably be better off if he spent less time on the talk show circuit and writing adaptations for the pornographic TV series, and more on doing right by his characters. But if there is one thing Game of Thrones and A Song Of Ice And Fire have taught me, it is that readers care far, FAR more about his characters than George R. R. Martin does. And that has been pretty clear since at least the third book. I admire all of the hard work Martin did in building the mythology of the universe. That is nothing to sneeze at. But there have to be other considerations in judging whether a book is actually good or not.
I'm a little ticked off to be honest.
