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[zenmasterzeno]

Alright! I can't take it anymore! This post has been percolating inside me for weeks. I can no long keep it in. You may have heard that the epic fantasy author George R. R. Martin has announced that he has completed and will be publishing the next volume, A Dance With Dragons in his series A Song of Ice and Fire this summer. Additionally, the HBO

Comments

[psychopeg]

OK THEN LET'S ARGUE! :D

tl;dr response PART 2, SINCE I EXCEEDED THE COMMENT LIMIT

[psychopeg]

Going in without particular expectations for High Fantasy (since I haven't really read any, other than The Hobbit, which I hated BOTH times FUCK YOU ANDREW BEAN) probably helped. If I went into a book expecting Romance Novel and got this, I would probably also be put off.

I'm interested to see how the TV series handles this--the POV thing and the Ned tragedy and the complicated/disconnected plots and the lack of GOOD vs EVIL all seem like things that could fuck up a TV show, since, again, people are coming in expecting an arc.

By killing off the only character who has been acting according to some kind of an ethical code, and particular by killing him in such a capricious fashion, Martin solidifies the fact that the universe in which his story takes place is essentially amoral and random.See, I would argue that it's not capricious--well, fucking Prince Assholeface is capricious, but I think it fits into the universe that Martinis building--"When you play the game of thrones, either you win, or you die." And Ned didn't bring his A-

[psychopeg]

Also (you started it!) something I find super interesting about the fandom for the series--it's rabid, but weirdly silent! There's hardly any fanfic that I've found, not a ton of fan communities, not much fanart even. I know part of that might have to do with GRRM *hating* fanfic (I'm not convinced that I like him at all on a personal level; he's kind of a dick), but while the fans are crazygonuts into the series, they don't seem to produce much set in its world. And as much as I love the characters and their complexity, I don't have much desire to play with them myself, either. Maybe it's that they're already so deep/complex--I mean, I write fanfic about Jonny Quest, which has a fascinating premise that's really very badly explored, especially in terms of relationships/emotions, and these books are all very heavy on exploring interpesonal relationships & how they shape the action, so maybe that's why

[ninja_turbo]

I think Ice & Fire fandom may skew older, with many being readers of Martin's other work. I think much of the following are fans who are not inclined to fan-ficcing for a variety of reasons.

It's also a world that's so rich and complcated that it's very hard to just pop in and do your own thing.

There have been several Ice and Fire tabletop RPGs, a collectible card game and a strategy game -- so there's plenty of performance of love for the series without necessarily involving fan-fic.

[psychopeg]

True--and the calendars, the miniatures, etc. etc. are all what I think of as a different "kind" of fandom. I just remember going looking for ASOIAF fic/art and being like, "whaaat? No Stannis/Renly? No Renly/LORAS? No Jon/Sam? NO FANFIC AT ALL???" I mean, I know there *is* some, but still.

I know that as I get older even though I feel more creative I have sooooo much less time on my hands to actually follow through with ideas... so anyway.

[zenmasterzeno]

I can't speak to the internet fandom as a community, but there have been at least ten people who I've met who have read the books, and while our conversations had been going great up until that point, as soon as I mention that I don't really care for this series, they have completely changed their tone and started talking to me like they think there's something wrong with me