My grandpa told me similar things as he aged, no one can be ready for everyone they know to start passing away. It’s tough no way around it, and I hope GRRM has all the support he needs.
Of course I always hoped he’d finish asoiaf, but honestly at this point I couldn’t be mad of he stepped way back and focused on preparing someone to continue his legacy.
Once you hit your 40s it really starts hitting you and the realization kicks in that you maybe have a handful of years left with those that you love that are older. And it doesn’t help that the days go by faster. days and weeks mean nothing anymore, it’s just one big blur.
Childhood heroes seem to drop one week after the next. old family friends gone. Seems like my Mom calls me every week and lets me know who has passed. Just have to try and value and appreciate the time that’s left.
Yeah hitting 50 and realizing that you’re going to funeral after funeral and still there’s some that you’re not aware of and learn about later…
Always let those you care for know, prepare yourself for today being your last. Sing your death song like a warrior coming home…
I don’t think I would give a shit about being in my 40s except for the long term illnesses that magically happened.
I’ve spent decades creating a very durable body, otherwise. Probably why I’m still moving.
I listened to a deep dive on GRRM relatively recently and came away from hearing his life story with the same opinion - I can’t be mad if he doesn’t finish the series himself.
Personally I don’t think that individual artists and authors can hand over the ‘legacy’ to someone else. If the art is a product of one person’s mind, anyone else’s vision won’t cut it.
I wish for him to spend his time doing whatever he loves. If that’s finishing the books or not, it doesn’t matter. If I were him, I would just write Dunk and Egg and enjoy every minute of it. I think he loves that series more than any other.
A Game of Thrones changed my life, upon even reading that prologue chapter. It doesn’t matter where the series ends.
I’m in my early 30s and I’ve had most of my immediate family pass away in the last two years. And it’s absolutely destroyed me. I don’t know how I’d contend with that and aging at the same time. Jesus. I feel for GRRM here.
I wouldn’t want to walk in GRRMs shoes. Having to deal with his fans’ expectations seems to be demanding. You can’t really control these.
But then again he decided to remain a public figure. He knows the circus rules and still didn’t turn to woodworking or writing in private or whatever instead.
I think he owes nothing. Fans of his work are allowed to be disappointed. But they shouldn’t mock him for being old and depressed.
I get it, but Martin HAS set fan expectations. We’ve been teased by Martin about how he’s so close multiple times. He insists he’s furiously working on ASOIAF, but then he’s writing other books, working on multiple TV shows, etc. Again, all this is coming from Martin’s own my mouth. If he enjoys those other projects and wants to work on them, that is his choice to make. That is where he doesn’t owe us anything. But he doesn’t get to lie to us either. And it is pretty clear he has.
My headcannon is that they are done but won’t be released until after his passing.
I hope not, I want him to get his full accolades while alive. I have no doubt he will come up with a great ending. Though I do wonder if he got spooked by the TV Show ending.
The tv ending is probably the ending.
The problem with the show’s ending was less the ending itself than that they didn’t put in the necessary work to get there in a satisfying way.
Yeah, season 8 had three separate season-sized story arcs. If winter was S8, Dany going nuts was S9, and dealing with her was S10 then you probably had the exact same plot but everyone loves it.
I have no doubt they got the major beats right, but their execution to get to those points was horrendous. After watching season 8 I realized why the fAegon plotline was important. GRRM can get there in a more satisfying way.
Self knowledge is a separate thing from intelligence, I find - and far more rare.
He did an interview where he trashed Tolkien. Bashed his stories and story line. Bragged about his own. Placed his work as the pinical of the genre.
Fuck him
I mean I’d agree with you if he wasn’t playing so fucking Coy for the last decade. Lots of people abandon their books and then just fuck off. That ain’t what he’s doing.
Very surprised by all the unsympathetic comments in this thread. These authors are humans not machines built to write books for us
Well, then Martin should just be honest and say he’s never going to finish the books
He’s already made like two dozen of these posts already.
I, too , am sad and depressed that A Song of Ice and Fire will never ever be finished.
Do what makes you happy, George, we’ve all had to move on since the stilted HBO ending is the closest we’re ever going to get.
If I was George, that ending would have killed my drive to write the story
paging Patrick Rothfuss
smarmy lying asshole. fans showed up, he bitched out.
i gave up on martin
I don’t understand. What does rothfus have to do with this?
He also has a book that is greatly anticipated that he will never finish despite saying he will.
Ah the third book. I gotcha
I’d say Rothfuss is worse. He ran fundraisers promising content from the upcoming book, raised a significant amount then… Vanished into the ether and never provided the promised chapter people paid for as a reward!
GRRM, Rothfuss and Lynch are why I now wait for series to be released in full before reading them. No question on if the next book will come out that way.
He’s gonna die and his estate is gonna dump his books into an AI and have it finish the last two.
Sadly nothing interesting in this update. All well.
What a disrespectful and self centered take.
Wow. Rereading what I wrote I guess there is a cynical way of looking at it but that wasn’t at all what I was going for. But I admit it is insensitive, so for that I apologize.
I was just trying to summarize from a larger story/progress point of view and wasn’t focusing on the person.
I do feel for George. ASOIAF is his magnum opus and not something I expect he’ll be able to finish. He’s getting older (or as he points out, just is old at this point) and maybe he’s only just now realizing the same. But I am absolutely a fan of his works, both actual and adapted.
Again I apologize for my quick summary focusing on the product, not the person.
I also read your comment in a manner that seems to be much harsher than you intended it. I think that perhaps my perception was influenced by the sheer mass of vitriol towards GRRM that I’ve seen from some fans over the last decade or so. It always makes me sad, because I can imagine that if I were in his position, the pressure and the hate would just make me spiral all the more.
I appreciate you leaving this comment to clarify your position. It sounds like you’re not one of those assholeish types.
Sadly nothing interesting in this self-centred, lukewarm take. All well.
Should have gone full Hemingway and just drank through it
it seemingly has been always depressed.
He should announce that Winds Of Winter is finished, and then publish 1000 pages of AI slop cos he lost all interest in it long ago.
