Quote:
Originally Posted by keg in kc
It's just a gut feeling, but I don't think the last three seasons are going to spoil all that much. I think they're going to be a complete departure from the books.
Although...
With book 6 likely coming out early next year, it's possible that season 6 will be brought back in line with book 6.
I don't really fault Martin with taking a long time between books. I've been trying to write a book for (literally) sixteen years, and have so far gotten exactly nowhere with it. It's an extremely difficult and time consuming thing to do. And this isn't some hack thriller or mystery series coming out with the next braindead 300-page part of a series every year or two. We're talking about a 1000-page behemoth. So while I would've liked three or four years per book and the the whole thing being done already, I can certainly understand it taking five years between ADWD and TWOW.
Hopefully we get word of a publication date this summer and the book just before season 6.
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As someone who has spent the last four years writing a novel, I understand
most of that sentiment..... but.
Martin has spent countless hours at different comic-cons, press events, and writing OTHER material between the release of ADWD and TWOW. Before last year, every time he was asked about the possibility of the series catching the books, he brushed it off and said they could "make a prequel season" or make a "couple of movies" while he caught up.
HBO made it clear from the beginning that a prequel season was not in their interests, and DD have said since season 2 that they didn't imagine going past 7-8 seasons.
So the show continues to go full steam ahead, and it seems like EVERYONE sees the series catching up to the books except George R.R. Martin. While he continues to do press tours, travel, and work on other projects, he openly admits that the only time he's comfortable writing TWOW is when he's in his basement two finger typing on an 80's era Wordstar app. In spite of these insane conditions, the man continues to travel with reckless abandon. If he had written 300 words a day from the launch of the show, TWOW would be on store shelves now.
Now Martin is screwed, and he knows it. If I had to guess, the man got catapulted into stardom and got caught up in the accolades and recognition that goes along with it. This could have happened to a lot of people... but since he had book readers who have been devoted to his works for the past 20 years, I think it was his responsibility to continue working on the books since he sold off the rights to his show.
Personally, I feel like the man has created a albatross with the last two books in the series. Lately, he and his publisher have even insinuated that an
eighth book may be inevitable to complete ASOIAF. I believe it's becoming clear that the problems that he's created with his novels has pushed his passions elsewhere, and DD interpretation of ASOIAF may be the only ending we'll ever get to see.
This is a horrific possibility to ponder, but GRRM has said that he's instructed his wife to torch all of his uncompleted outlines/manuscripts if he passes before the series is over.