posted
Looks like Martin and company are going to be putting out an A Song of Ice and Fire encyclopedia. At Westros.org they're taking submissions for things that people would like to see in it (in Martin's words). As Martin puts it, "this book is for the fans, so tell us what should be in it."
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
Oh, hallelujah. I'm reading A Feast for Crows, and I didn't reread the other ones before starting. It's been years since I read the other ones, so I only really remember the stuff with the Starks and with Daenarys. In A Feast for Crows I'm meeting new people in every chapter. I have no idea how they relate to each other or why I'm supposed to care about them. They are interesting characters with clear motivations (usually) so this isn't awful, but I'm starting to feel like the guy in Momento.
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I love GRRM, but he needs to get off of his butt and get working on the next book. None of his time should be devoted to anything else. Encyclopedias and the like are best published either when the series is done or the author is dead.
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Well, it looks like he's going to be a collaborator on the project rather than sole author.
My only problem with this is that it's necessarily going to be incomplete, since the series is still ongoing. That was the case with the Dune Encyclopedia, and as a result of it there was information in it that flatly contradicted stuff in the last few books (what I can't say, since I haven't read either the encyclopedia or the Dune series in quite a while).
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quote:Originally posted by Primal Curve: I love GRRM, but he needs to get off of his butt and get working on the next book. None of his time should be devoted to anything else.
I really disagree with this sentiment. I really, really want Martin to finish A Song of Ice and Fire, but I can't believe that authors do their best work out of obligation, either contractual or to their fans. I want him to work on whatever projects most catch his interest, and I hope that those are books five through seven of the series, but if they're not, too bad.
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Oh, if I had any sort of influence on Martin, I certainly wouldn't put that kind of pressure on him. I'm just speaking out as a fan frustrated by the too-short and too-rare Arya chapters in A Feast for Crows.
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quote:Originally posted by Primal Curve: Oh, if I had any sort of influence on Martin, I certainly wouldn't put that kind of pressure on him. I'm just speaking out as a fan frustrated by the too-short and too-rare Arya chapters in A Feast for Crows.
Cool. In that respect I completely agree.
Somehow the long wait for #4 and somewhat lackluster result has cooled my interest just a bit. I'm still excited about the series, but I'm not gnawing on the furniture anymore.
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I just finished reading Storm of Swords. I'm debating whether to read Feast for Crows now or just to wait until Book 5 comes out.
Does Feast for Crows answer any questions about what/who it was that rescued Samwell Tarly? I mean, I have my thoughts, but they are pure speculation. And I don't want any more than a yes or no answer to that, please!!
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quote:Somehow the long wait for #4 and somewhat lackluster result has cooled my interest just a bit.
Same here.
When he wrote his fourth book it ended up so big that it had to be published in two volumes, and he was unable/unwilling to edit it down into a on-volume size giving us a book completely devoid of some of our favorite characters.
This was the beginning of the end for Robert Jordan as well. Robert Jordan got rid of his editor for book 7, which was the first time he pulled the same stunt, giving us an entire book that didn't deal at all with one of the favorite characters.
I don't know any specifics about Martin's situation, but I'm afraid that he's falling into the Jordan/Lucas trap -- he's become so powerful that nobody can tell him "this is a problem -- fix it".
These sort of fears have really distanced me from his story. I'll still read them as they come out, but, like Noemon, I'm not nearly as emotionally invested in them anymore.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Uprooted: So (SPOILER WARNING) . . .
I just finished reading Storm of Swords. I'm debating whether to read Feast for Crows now or just to wait until Book 5 comes out.
If you can manage it, waiting's probably what I'd recommend.
quote:Does Feast for Crows answer any questions about what/who it was that rescued Samwell Tarly? I mean, I have my thoughts, but they are pure speculation. And I don't want any more than a yes or no answer to that, please!!
Nope. Characters from earlier books who are focused on include Sam, Arya, Sansa, Littlefinger, Cersei, Jamie, Catelyn, and Brieanne. Pretty much everyone else is offstage for this one.
I'm not as concerned as Porter is about the Martin going the way of Jordan--I trust Martin more than that as an author. Book 4 fell a bit flat, but I can believe that when the series is sitting complete on my bookshelf I'll be able to see it as a necessary thing that allowed for book 5 to be what it will be.
I could be wrong, but I'm fairly sure that book 5 is going to be the heart of the watermelon, so to speak, with all my favorite characters (except Arya) given relatively lavish treatment. He says that splitting the story into two books has allowed him to devote a lot more space to fleshing out Jon's story, and that's definitely a good thing in my book.
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I know in this book I've read three chapters on Brienne, and so far she's walked down the road and asked if anyone's seen a little girl. I don't know if I can take this kind of intensity.
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quote:I'm not as concerned as Porter is about the Martin going the way of Jordan--I trust Martin more than that as an author.
I haven't read all that much of him -- only two short stories besides SoIaF.
quote: I could be wrong, but I'm fairly sure that book 5 is going to be the heart of the watermelon, so to speak, with all my favorite characters (except Arya) given relatively lavish treatment. He says that splitting the story into two books has allowed him to devote a lot more space to fleshing out Jon's story, and that's definitely a good thing in my book.
By "book 5" do you mean the book that was originally intended to be the fifth book, but will now be the sixth because of the splitting of book four?
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quote:Originally posted by Kama: I e-mailed you. or well, i e-mailed someone
That was me. Unfortunately I can't access my email until I get home tonight. You can't believe how tantilizing it is to see that you have interesting looking email but not be able to open it.
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quote:I'm not as concerned as Porter is about the Martin going the way of Jordan--I trust Martin more than that as an author.
I haven't read all that much of him -- only two short stories besides SoIaF.
Right, I was forgetting that, even though we were just talking about it on GC. I was going to mention it there, but you should check out Fevre Dream. It's my favorite of his non-ASoIaF novels.
quote:By "book 5" do you mean the book that was originally intended to be the fifth book, but will now be the sixth because of the splitting of book four?
Nah, I mean the expanded other half of what he'd originally intended to be book 4.
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posted
OK. I think I'm going to take the advice of the crowd and wait for the next book before reading A Feast for Crows.
[SPOILER]
Catelyn showing back up in the epilogue of A Storm of Swords was . . . I dunno. Cheap? I just sort of rolled my eyes. It made me not care so much what is to come. I've started to dislike Arya, Sansa was always silly but has just barely started to get interesting. Jon and Bran are the only ones I really care about from the original Stark Clan.
That said, I still think Martin is pretty brilliant. This is the first fantasy series I've been willing to stick with in years.
(sorry for the derail from the original encyclopedia theme of thread)
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I don't see how you can say that, Noemon. He took book for and plit it up by characters. The stories of half the characters were put in book 4.1, and the other half in book 4.2. What makes you think that the 4.1 stories are necessary for book 4.2 to be what it needs to be?
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Uprooted, I disagree--I loved the reintroduction of Cat. One of the things that was I was frothing at the mouth to see was how Martin handled her in book 4.
Then again, I also continued to really like Arya, so our tastes aren't exactly the same.
Don't worry about the derailment; threads meander.
Porter, maybe I misspoke. What I meant was that it was possible that book 4 would in retrospect be a necessary bridge book for events in books 6 and 7.
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See, I was under the mistaken impression that ASoIaF was a trilogy, so when ASoS came out I happily dug into the first book. I can remember becoming increasinly confused as to how he was going to wrap up all of the loose ends in the last 400 pages or so. I think that I came to grips with the fact that he had no intention of doing when I was down to the final 200 pages.
posted
What value would this encyclopedia give to anyone who can already get online and check out the fan sites which have already one pretty much the same thing?
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I'd be interested in it for the artwork and for the additional maps, although I like Martin's original rationale for not providing the maps.
I imagine that there is quite a bit of world building that Martin has done that he hasn't shared with the outside world, and I would be interested in having a look at that as well.
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posted
I use my encyclopedia of everything Tolkien all the time. A Song of Ice and Fire encyclopedia should get almost as much use.
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quote:Originally posted by Primal Curve: I love GRRM, but he needs to get off of his butt and get working on the next book. None of his time should be devoted to anything else. Encyclopedias and the like are best published either when the series is done or the author is dead.
He's got a livejournal and if you go look at that he mentions that he's working on it... Username is grrm.
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I trust Martin. The most recent book had a lot of good action and character development. It really feels like things are building to a frenzy toward the end. Lots of threads are coming together.
I can't wait to read the rest of the story, but I'd rather give him some time to finish things the right way, instead of expecting him to rush it when it's not done.
By all means, GRRM, do it right. Just don't make us wait FOREVER!
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I want the encylopedia for the pretty pictures and the maps. The info will be most excellent gravy. however I hope/expect it will take years and years to finish. Maybe we'll even have book six by the time it comes out ( the Winds of Winter)
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quote:Originally posted by MightyCow: I trust Martin. The most recent book had a lot of good action and character development. It really feels like things are building to a frenzy toward the end.
Okay, okay... I agree with you here.
quote:Originally posted by MightyCow: Lots of threads are coming together.
Did we read the same book? He added more character POVs and scattered them even further to the winds (some quite literally). I'm not sure how this is bringing threads together.
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quote:Originally posted by Carrie: I miss Jon Snow.
Accckkk!!! Is that a spoiler w/o a spoiler warning? Don't answer that, I don't want to know. I'm really willing to wait on reading A Feast for Crows if GRRM killed off Jon. *pouts*
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Jon Snow does not have a point of view in A Feast for Crows. Basically, we only get half the characters. Two of them are Jaime and Arya, which is good, but none of them are Jon or Tyrion or Danearys, which is bad.
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