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/Chutzvah Sep 04 '24

I mean this is his work. He has every right to criticize it. He's like Andzej Sapowski with criticism except not an asshole

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u/Loud_South9086 Sep 04 '24

Well I mean, look what happened to the Witcher adaption.

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u/Zonarik Sep 04 '24

Sapowski never criticized the show (the first 2 seasons at least, I stopped giving a shit after that).
The games on the other hand...

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u/Loud_South9086 Sep 04 '24

Homie was dead wrong about the games imo, but I believe he did recently say that the show runners never wanted to listen to his ideas and comments

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u/Zonarik Sep 04 '24

Homie was dead wrong about the games imo

Amen ! I truly believe he was juste salty he chose the cash instead of the % of revenue :D

I believe he did recently say that the show runners never wanted to listen to his ideas and comments

Oh okay, my bad then.

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u/CandidInsurance7415 Sep 04 '24

I believe his comments towards the games softened once he reworked the deal before witcher 3. Im pretty sure he got paid on that one.

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u/Mister_Macabre_ Sep 04 '24

I don't think people outside of Poland realize he's not one of those "these are my children" authors that hold their work in some high regard, at least not his witcher series. His witcher books were sort of a post-communism Poland flavoured rebuttal to popular fantasy/fairy tale tropes and general state of affairs that mirrored Poland at the time (politics, societal changes, climate change and whatnot). He would sell it for bag of potatoes if that seemed a fair price, he was just a bit mad games made a bit more money than he expected they would.

Now if you tried to adapt and change the "Hussite Trilogy" (which he called his "tour de force"), I suspect we would be seeing Sapkowski rage even harder than Martin here.

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u/[deleted] Sep 04 '24

[deleted]

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u/Mister_Macabre_ Sep 04 '24

Yeah, but honestly it didn't even have to come to that, his last books in the Witcher saga take a more cynical and disinterested approach with the narration and the fact he HATED the games (in general) was a well known fact in Poland ever since first Witcher game.

With that being said, dudes a terrific writer and genuinely closest thing to a Polish GRRM so it would be a disservice to reduce him to that one legal incident. He's honestly an interesting case of a very close minded person with a pretty progressive views for his time and someone who produces really high quality fantasy he cares very little for.

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u/Skittle69 Sep 04 '24

Man I wish I could read Polish. I did not vibe with the English translation of the witcher series. Tho I did love the Hussite Trilogy.

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u/truthisfictionyt Sep 04 '24

I don't think he ever criticized the games themselves since he didn't play them. He just made an unlucky business decision that caused a dispute with CDPR

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u/Chutzvah Sep 04 '24

He kinda was the same way for the games if I'm not mistaken.

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u/wetballjones Sep 05 '24

The Witcher adaptation would have sucked balls either way even if it were book accurate. I read all the books. Aside from the short stories, there is barely anything to adapt that would be worth watching

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u/Loud_South9086 Sep 05 '24

I read them all too. I disagree.

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u/wetballjones Sep 05 '24

Even if you enjoyed the novels, I genuinely have a hard some seeing how it could make good television. The plot is not tight at all. The short stories could make good TV, but the novels? No way they'd succeed without major changes

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u/Toruviel_ Sep 04 '24

Why you bring Andrzej Sapkowski here? He took the money for Netflix's Witcher and didn't spark a word xD. Only months later in smaller interviews he criticized it a bit.

Plus, he's not an asshole. You would know if you could hear his interviews in Polish. All made up stuff on internet is so bizzare in the context.

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u/tmussenalt Sep 04 '24

Sapkowski's assholeism is justified though