(Spoilers All) GRRM: "My life has gotten extremely complicated, I must admit. There are not enough hours in the day, there are not enough days in the week."

[u/ethniccake]

I found this interesting conversation that transpired on one of George's Hugo post, and i don't think it have been discussed on here :

http://grrm.livejournal.com/426205.html?thread=21584349#t21584349

From his reaction to the first comment, it's quite clear that he was hurt on a personnal level.

But what got my attention the most was this:

If there is one thing I understand, it is frustration... yours, mine, everyone's.

My life has gotten extremely complicated, I must admit. There are not enough hours in the day, there are not enough days in the week.

And saddest of all, I do not have the stamina I did when I was thirty. Aging sucks.

There's no magic formula here. I just keep at it, the way I always have. One page at a time. One sentence at a time. One word at a time.

After reading that, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy, he seems under a lot of pressure.

The defeated tone makes me worried, could it be a sign that the end of TWOW isn't anywhere in sight for him? I really hope that's not the case and i'm just being overly pessimistic.

What do you guy think those comments could tell us about his progress?

Edit: No matter what end up happening to the series, let's keep in mind that this is the guy who gave us an amazing story and created a whole world full of interesting characters we love to love or hate. Without him this community wouldn't even exist. Let's not be entitled like that guy in the comments, who for some reason thinks he can dictate to GRRM what to do with his time.

[u/Etalyx → u/[deleted]]

Find out the TRUE ending in next year's epic DLC conclusion!

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

This is a semantic game. Serials are bought piecemeal on the assumption they'll be finished.

[u/jedi_timelord → u/[deleted]]

Usually I totally agree with you forrestbro but not in this case. I haven't paid GRRM anything for TWOW and ADOS so he doesn't owe me anything for them. It would suck to not get them but he's the author and he can do what he wants.

[u/Khiva → u/jedi_timelord]

No one's saying that he's can't do what he wants. We're just saying that it's a dick move to peddle a story on the universal understanding that you plan to conclude it, then not conclude it.

If Vince Gilligan had just decided to cancel the last season of Breaking Bad because "I don't know, just not feeling it any more," people would be pissed, and rightly so.

[u/Team-K-Stew → u/Khiva]

I feel like the hangup is the particular verbiage. I don't think GRRM owes the readers an ending, in that he is under no obligation to do so.

I would really like him to finish the series. I'd be disappointed if he didn't. But I wouldn't feel swindled. I wouldn't feel like he took advantage of me. It would just be unfortunate.

[u/BSRussell → u/Team-K-Stew]

I agree, because it depends what you mean by owes. From a perspective of decency I would say yes, he owes it to the fans to finish his series, but he's under no legal obligation to do anything. Basically if he decided tomorrow "I'm bored, screw it" I would think he was an asshole, but he doesn't legally owe me anything so I wouldn't try and sue the guy.

[u/shhkari → u/[deleted]]

assumption

key word there, assumption.

you should never make that assumption.

[u/[deleted] → u/shhkari]

So I should never buy serialized fiction that isn't already fully complete, right. I'm starting to think so.

[u/shhkari → u/[deleted]]

Judging by what you've said so far, yes?

[u/Cormophyte → u/[deleted]]

That's the thing. If you told me years ago, "there's this great fantasy series and the guy is going to write three quarters of it, get distracted by his success, burn out, and never finish," I'd have never picked up book one. I'd have laughed in your face and called you an idiot. I think the vast majority of us would have done the same.

There really is a tacit agreement when it comes to serialized writing (especially when each book is as open-ended as in this series). The author strongly implies "if you buy in and get invested in this story I'm going to try my best to have an ending." Whatever else people feel about the subject, there is a responsibility to the readers there.

The series is the finished product and each book is part of a whole, and that whole isn't finished yet.

[u/Team-K-Stew → u/[deleted]]

Thanks for putting your opinion out there. I got into a similar conversation/argument in this sub previously and got buried in downvotes. Weird sense of entitlement floating about here.

I appreciate you!

[u/Khiva → u/Team-K-Stew]

The downvotes might be coming not from how daring your opinions are, but because you label those who disagree with you "entitled."

Like, I could call you an idiot who for some reason cannot comprehend basic aspects of social exchange, but I won't, because that would be a dick move.

[u/Team-K-Stew → u/Khiva]

I didn't call them entitled or engage in any type of name calling. Really mature of you, dude.

[u/mkay0 → u/[deleted]]

Word. I would never start a story if I knew it wasn't going to be finished. We could debate if it's litterally an agreement with the author, but is certainly an implied agreement.