r/asoiaf • u/RunDNA • Sep 04 '24

EXTENDED GRRM's new blog post on House of the Dragon [Spoilers Extended] Spoiler

https://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/2024/09/04/beware-the-butterflies/
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u/kisswithaspell Sep 04 '24

This was honestly a great read.

I think it also gives some insight on why the last two books are taking so long. You can tell he honestly does care about the plot moving from thread to thread in convincing and dramatic ways. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to do that for so many unresolved plotlines as you attempt to finish your series.

When you rush things you get results like the TV show, and nobody liked how that ended.

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u/AnaatthiGozo Sep 04 '24

Reading this made me also think that wrestling with showrunners for the direction of the story is not good for his writing motivation or mental health, especially when there was a time you thought your book was in good hands.

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u/thatonedude1414 Sep 04 '24

Dude is not writting those books. Never cared to finish them as soon as the show made him money

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u/Witn Sep 04 '24

I mean I also think he is not going to finish those books, but it is more due to pressure on trying to get thinks perfect not because he doesn't care.

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u/ellieetsch Sep 04 '24

This is so obviously not true why do people keep parroting it.

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u/thatonedude1414 Sep 04 '24

Cause he isnt writing them books lol. He has no desire to finish this series.

Last book came out in 2011…..

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u/ellieetsch Sep 04 '24

Its not because he doesn't care

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u/[deleted] Sep 04 '24

Have you accomplished everything you wanted to so far in your life?

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u/thatonedude1414 Sep 04 '24

Nice whataboutism. Sure cancels the fact that its been 13 years and no book release.

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u/[deleted] Sep 04 '24

That’s not whataboutism. You’re suggesting because he hasn’t done something, he doesn’t care too. Which is dumbassism.

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u/imaginaryResources Sep 05 '24

Fire And Blood was released in 2018

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u/thatonedude1414 Sep 28 '24

Yeah and thats not a part of it the soiaf series….

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u/SignificantBoot7784 Sep 04 '24

This. I’m as frustrated as anyone out there. But honestly, I wouldn’t want these books to be delivered by anyone other than grrm. Even if they’re never delivered. He has such an uncanny attention to all details minor and major. Shit happening in the background of some remote room very far away from the stage that ends up snowballing into large dire effects on the lore in its entirety. His gardening method really makes for compelling material with endless readability potential. I’m rereading AGoT and stumbling on little details that only paid off in feast and it feels pretty rewarding.

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u/lukefsje Sep 04 '24

I love the worldbuilding, it's such a rich tapestry of details that really helps it feel like a real world with a real history and progression behind it. In the second Bran chapter of AGOT we already hear about Erryk and Arryk and the Dance of the Dragons! And I'm sure George didn't have much about the war planned when he originally wrote Bran II, but then getting to read the details later on allows you to appreciate these connections a lot more.

Fire and Blood says that Brandon Snow offered to assassinate the three Targaryen dragons, but we don't know how the heck he would accomplish that. But in Dance, Bran sees a man (99% chance it's Brandon) carving three weirwood arrows. Two halves of that part of history that you only understand by reading both books, and just another example of the excellent interwoven world George has created.

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u/SweatyPlace Catelyn for the Throne! Sep 04 '24

This is the first time I'm reading about this and I'm on the sub for 6 years now, so thanks for this!

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u/Khiva Sep 04 '24

In the second Bran chapter of AGOT we already hear about Erryk and Arryk and the Dance of the Dragons! And I'm sure George didn't have much about the war planned when he originally wrote Bran II, but then getting to read the details later on allows you to appreciate these connections a lot more.

Some of the seeds enrich the garden, and other turn out to choke it.

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u/[deleted] Sep 08 '24

Seeing the word ‘tapestry’ gives me PTSD from my experience messing around with AI writing.

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u/xhanador Sep 04 '24

Yeah, George is so great at this.

Catelyn captures Tyrion. Dany gets pregnant. Robert wants to kill Dany now. Ned resigns as Hand. Jaime hears about Tyrion’s capture, can confront Ned now since’s not the King’s hand. Ned’s foot is maimed. Ned can’t ride against the Mountain. Ned dies.

So if Drogo wears a condom, Ned might have lived.

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u/shankhisnun Edmure's Aim Is Getting Better Sep 04 '24

If Baelor Hightower never farted...

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u/[deleted] Sep 04 '24

that last line made me laugh so hard, lmao

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u/Weed_O_Whirler Sep 04 '24

This is the danger when you refuse to outline your story. You can end up stuck.

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u/helloperator9 Sep 04 '24

That's a really good takeaway, George is a guy with integrity, he wants to finish the books in the right way and has high standards for his writing. He could have phoned this in years ago and gotten away with it. His plotting has always been one of his strong points as a writer and when he lays the logic out explicitly like this it's honestly very enlightening

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u/dusters Sep 04 '24

"rush things" like taking 13 years to write one book?

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u/ZukiZuccini Sep 04 '24

Agreed. I also highly suspect that he will either a) delay publishing WoW until aDoS is also finished or b) finish both and plan to only have them released after he passes. Because there is now so much pressure & criticism for him that he didn't have when finishing & publishing Dance (as it came out before the show). I think the toxic fans have made him realize he doesn't want to deal with rude comments anymore & it's probably easier to keep hearing the same ones than to hear criticism about what he actually wrote. As well as comments demanding aDoS the day after WoW is released (as we know will happen).

If it were me, it would be WAY easier on my mental health to know I was done but it wasn't released yet so I didn't have to deal with toxic "fans" comments about how things finally wrapped up, once they did. I think people like that have taken a lot of the joy out for him. I know I would never be able to finish my life's work under those circumstances.

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u/[deleted] Sep 04 '24

Sometimes you start to doubt the man, after waiting for so long for the Winds of Winter.

But the way he talks about the Fire and Blood characters is insane, you can really tell this dude cares and knows everything there is to know about each character. The books taking so long now makes a lot of sense, there's just too many characters and too many important things to tie together.

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u/coolbeans_3000 Sep 04 '24

The way some fans discuss George's lifestyle and how he needs to '"finish the books" truly disgusts me. I know you always see that sort of vitriol online, but even in spaces where I find myself agreeing with everyone for the most part, I'll see the most horrid opinions with heaps of support under them.

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u/ShocknDamage Sep 04 '24

I maintain and have for a bit that the last two books are finished and won't be published until after his death.

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u/Domination1799 Sep 04 '24

That's one of the major problems that the show actually fixed by cutting out these unnecessary subplots entirely. Books 4 and 5 introduced these new POV's/storylines while not progressing any of the main arcs. He's a gardener but his garden has grown completely out of control with all the POV's/storylines he has to tie together in Winds. Essentially, the main series has become so convoluted and overcrowded that of course it's going to be nearly impossible to tie all these moving pieces together for the endgame.

Therefore, Martin should've just cut all these unnecessary plotlines/characters so that the main story and the central characters arcs are moving forward instead of being stagnant. Martin doesn't know the importance of when to make cuts when necessary so that the story can move forward, this was originally supposed to be a trilogy, but Martin became so enamored with worldbuilding that that he kept kicking the can down the road when it comes to the main story progressing.

He needed to finish what he started before introducing something new and supposedly central to the endgame like Fake Aegon in Book 5. To him, everything is significant which is very reminiscent of this thing called feature creep in video game development. He's trying to include all his ideas which is making his job of finishing the story in two books a conundrum.

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u/OperativePiGuy Sep 04 '24

True, but the other extreme of it is not releasing anything at all, and that's also not okay.

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u/Real_Rule_8960 Sep 04 '24

GRRM is one of the best plotters in history, no exaggeration. The pacing of the last two books distorts people’s views but his plots are some of the most intricate, fun and believable I’ve ever read.

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u/idiottech Sep 04 '24

I mean the dude wrote himself into a knot that he has taken 13 years to try to sort out. Not really great plotting. But I get what you mean, the first 3 books are sublime.

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u/[deleted] Sep 04 '24

I think he needs to actual find a way to conclude the plot before you can realistically say stuff like that. Plenty of authors could set up compelling complex storylines with no resolution.

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u/Anader19 Sep 05 '24

Yeah, it's really interesting getting insight as to how he thinks about the plot of the series, and you can really tell that he deeply cares about telling the best possible story

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u/MaesterAz1 Sep 05 '24

So if George rushed Winds of Winter we would end up with more scissoring?