I try not to feel smug that I saw major problems with the series after reading the first book without ever having heard of it or having any expectations beyond "looks like a fantasy book, nice creepy prologue, I'll try it." But it's so nice to be right.
At least it's given us some good commentary, like this military historian's analysis of elective monarchy and the future of Westeros: "Ironically, almost anyone at the meeting in the Dragonpit, probably including Grey Worm, would have been a better choice for first elected monarch, over Bran." And it has one possible outcome as, "The wheel breaks at last, beneath the boot of an Empire of the North." Sounds all too likely.
I think whoever said the series couldn't ever really come to a satisfying conclusion because it's really a soap opera with extra stabbing might be onto something, too.
I find it kind of fascinating how discussion of the show and books has gone from 'disappointment at the TV show's ending' all the way through to 'Perhaps the flaws in the show were present in the books from the beginning' - even as the books remain unfinished!
If Winds of Winter ever comes out, I expect it to sell well enough - but I'm getting the impression nobody's expecting much from it anymore or for it to solve the problems of the show's ending.
It will be kind of hilarious if the book series ends very differently from the show but is just as unsatisfying. "See, the details might be different but the show was channeling the right spirit!"
But at this rate A Dream of Spring will be published in about 2040, perhaps with Martin writing as a literal ghost writer, so we won't know for a while yet. I hope there aren't any fans left living in hope that the final book will solve all the problems of the series, because it's so cruel for them to live with that tension for so long.
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At least it's given us some good commentary, like this military historian's analysis of elective monarchy and the future of Westeros: "Ironically, almost anyone at the meeting in the Dragonpit, probably including Grey Worm, would have been a better choice for first elected monarch, over Bran." And it has one possible outcome as, "The wheel breaks at last, beneath the boot of an Empire of the North." Sounds all too likely.
I think whoever said the series couldn't ever really come to a satisfying conclusion because it's really a soap opera with extra stabbing might be onto something, too.
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If Winds of Winter ever comes out, I expect it to sell well enough - but I'm getting the impression nobody's expecting much from it anymore or for it to solve the problems of the show's ending.
Reply
But at this rate A Dream of Spring will be published in about 2040, perhaps with Martin writing as a literal ghost writer, so we won't know for a while yet. I hope there aren't any fans left living in hope that the final book will solve all the problems of the series, because it's so cruel for them to live with that tension for so long.
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