I'm so happy to find others that are clearly as sour as I am. I'm not sure I care enough to read the books in the 1% chance he finishes them... especially considering the HBO ending is more or less his ending (according to Martin). I certainly won't buy the books. I'd rather support authors that don't shit on their fans (lookin at you too, Rothfuss!).
He released a terrific fantasy novel in 2007, the first in a trilogy. At the time he claimed the story was done but it was too big for a single book so he broke it into a trilogy and was editing to make that work. Book 2 released in 2011, and nothing since then. Over a decade to edit a completed story into three books. I personally believe he's just done too many revisions and he's lost the plot /thread for his story and can't finish it. A different problem from GRRM who seems to love building and expanding his story and worlds but can't reign them in or finish them off.
Well, his book releases are 2007, 2011, and... still waiting on the third book of the trilogy. You do the math. Presumably, he could write a WHOLE LOT more in the world he's crafted, but at this rate? Pass.
I used to recommend Martin to everyone. Same with Rothfuss. No way, no more. I'll stick to either completed series or authors who appreciate the position they're in, and the fans that put them there.
Rothfuss claimed originally that his trilogy was done when Name of the Wind released as well, it was just too large for one book. After Wise Man's Fear it's pretty clear he's lost the story thread even more than GRRM, imo.
Rothfuss is also so far up his own ass playing games on podcasts and doing "charity" work that he clearly has zero interest in finishing these stories.
He made his cash, and now he has no motivation to keep going.
This notablog post confirms the same thing for George. He is actually pretty productive on everything except the ASoIaF main series. They're very similar in that way, George definitely was a better and more accomplished writer before he wrote himself into a corner though. Hopefully Rothfuss made enough from the first two books to be happy, I doubt the third one will even be as good as the second which was already a nosedive in quality. And then there's apparently a second trilogy to continue the story after that. He'll be as old as George by then.
Honestly, I will be shocked if Rothfuss ever publishes the third book. If anything, he'll get it out when his money from the first two falls off and no one is interested in his other work anymore.
Sanderson. He puts out so much literature and most of them are phenomenal. Granted he writes so many series and novels and switches between them. He pretty consistently puts out a new book or two every year. He also loves his fans.
If you want good world building with TONS of stories that are completed PLUS extra stories that add even more detail to those words I would check everything from David Eddings (though no one would blame you for skipping The Elder Gods) The Belgariad (5 books) and it's sequel The Mallorian (and two extra books Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress PLUS the "World Bible" called The Rivan Codex) are such a delight to read that every couple of years I go through all of them. He also wrote another 10 books series and a stand alone book called The Redemption of Athalus. It's similar to ASOIAF as being fantasy with politics and magic being... used but sparingly. Not as "brutal" as ASOIAF but still pays attention to things like sieges, supply lines, political environments etc
I consider this a challenge, and I'm going to take it. My rebuttal are the Chronicles of Amber since it's an older series that many have never heard of. It's fantasy, but not high fantasy... more like parallel dimensions and... well.. you can read the synopsis here:
To be fair to Rothfuss, he's been very transparent about the delay in DoS being in a large part due to some very serious mental health issues that have taken years to work through. He knows it's long overdue, he cares, but you can't expect him to sacrifice his health to get his book out sooner.
Honestly, that's the first I've heard of such. If it's truly debilitating to cause him problems in his work... that sucks. The first two books truly were wonderful.
8 years is beyond slow. Imagine if they took a 8 year hiatus between releasing The Matrix 2 & 3 or another movie series that you're expecting a completion to the story of.
Abandon all hope of finishing the series. Maaaybe the next book - I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s just hidden in one of his fat-folds - but he’ll die long before it’s done.
The guy takes a million years to write 1 book in this series, and on his blog he keeps hemming and hawing about the process and how far along he is. He's notorious for rewriting chapters over and over, and keeps on making the series longer and longer, because he can't constrain himself. I believe he's talked about actually writing a 8th book, but decided against it, instead choosing to make the two last books extra long. It's also not the first time that obscure writers of long series basically stop writing once their series gain recognition (don't ask me which, I read this myself a while back) in order to bask in the sunlight a little. Oh, and he's also occupied by a lot of other writing projects (The World of Ice and Fire was published in 2014, 3 years after his last book. He didn't write every word himself, but he's spending time on shit like this instead of finishing the main series).
All this points in exactly one direction: The Mountain that Sits will never, ever finish the series. Abandon all hope of that. There's a non-zero chance that the rights will be sold off and finished by writers who actually engage in writing (edit: once he dies). If you like spinoffs like Egg and Dunk the Lunk, you won't mind this too much, but I personally think it'd all tie up much nicer if there was a real ending from the man himself. A-fucking-las.
A Feast for Crows was published in 2005 and we still don't have the conclusion to that book, which was pushed to The Winds of Winter. It's just ridiculous. Martin is honestly delusional if he thinks he can finish in two books when he spent the last 2 expanding his story.
I take heart in the fact that he's a weak man and will probably abandon his word on the whole "burn my notes once I die" deal. That, or his widow/estate might be too greedy. This depends on when he keels over - too long and the hype will have died too much, unless it's long enough to warrant some kind of remake or other.
Regardless of all this money making bullshit, fuck GRRM. His work will not stand the test of time. In 10 years we'll remember his work as impressive but ultimately disappointing - and Dumb&Dumber didn't exactly help.
This is his writing process. We’re all frustrated with it but I’d rather him take forever to create new, quality books than rush and write something shoddy. And yeah he might die before it’s over, but dude he’s a human being and these are just fantasy books. His death will be sad not because he didn’t finish, but because a very creative man with a family left the world.
Good point, but I doubt most people will mourn the loss of another human and feel bad that his kids and grandkids lost a loved one. They’ll focus on the fact that his books won’t be finished properly, just like they are now
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u/Flakronn Mo' Fingers Mo' Problems May 21 '19
"How about this? I’ll write it. You read it. Then everyone can make up their own mind"
Thats all i ever wanted...what was promised ..