George RR Martin on Why He Split Books 4 and 5

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A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones Author George R. R. Martin Interview

[@wertyuioman]

That guy in the background does a good Gyles Rosby impression

[@michelmorio8026]

Lol, Lord Cough 🙈

[@AeCouperin]

Gyles Rosby... The Toby Flenderson of ASOIAF.

[@wertyuioman]

@@AeCouperin except Gyles eventually shut up. Toby is just the worst

[@smotp]

lmfao

[@felipefuenteslizama1762]

😂😂😂

[@210SAi]

How does George sit so still and throw his voice for that long?

[@Mateo12485]

@@mugenspiegal7415 wooooooosh

[@nIhIl34]

@@Mateo12485 not enough justification for a woosh, seems he was just jesting wholesomely

[@jasetitan2959]

you prolly dont give a shit but does anyone know a method to log back into an Instagram account?? I somehow lost my login password. I would appreciate any tricks you can offer me

[@treyjimmy3589]

@Jase Titan instablaster =)

[@affordablecareactof]

​@@mugenspiegal7415💀💀💀

[@NaveenKumarErroju]

Give some milk of poppy to the guy behind...

[@mijalibarbagallo4124]

Best comment I’ve seen on internet. Still laughing after 5 min.

[@jonstark153]

😂

[@ernestogodo3282]

some boiled wine and leaches will sufice

[@sabrinabenitezsalazar6481]

Thanks George, for letting me live a Song of Ice and Fire

[@OverLordthe1st]

Im so glad i read the books as late as I did (after season 8) because i would be in literal hell is i had to wait as long as some of you. Iv consumed anything that is song of ice and fire and god knows how many times iv re- read them. I hate the wait but knowing how complex and incredibility detailed this story is, i understand.

[@williamwhitfield6225]

I couldn’t help myself I skipped straight to Dance of Dragons lol

[@George.Giokas]

@@williamwhitfield6225 honestly you missed tons of stuff if you skipped the first four . The story is sooo much better in the books .

[@williamwhitfield6225]

@@George.Giokas I went back and started with Game Of Thrones, once I got beyond a certain point it was much easier to read. As great as I thought the first season was the book still outshines it by a lot.

[@Restorection92]

And 2 years later, you wait with us. One of us, one of us.

[@OverLordthe1st]

@@Restorection92 duuuude!

[@nukie2743]

Not gonna lie these two books are my favorites in the series. The pace may be slower, but some of Martin’s best writing is in here.

[@christos49]

@travis lassa i agree

[@lordblkfyretully8867]

ASOIF FACTS😜❄🔥!

[@DA-nk6gx]

Great to see these books getting some love as many fans hate them with a passion.

[@Kyoko1411]

4 is my fav by far!

[@Samuel-ut7mj]

@@lordblkfyretully8867 Asoiaf*

[@Josh-go1bz]

I hope the coughing guy got better lol

[@Sheild401]

Sadly, he passed away on May 12, 2018...or least I hope he did for being so disruptive.

[@mojosodope45]

He did. Cause of death was coronavirus.

[@steelgray789]

Gyles Rosby

[@Maniakatus]

@@Sheild401 Passed away or got passed away, as long as the date remains. It's *close*, but not quite, to when somebody has an endlessly crying shitbaby in the room and refuses to take it out.

[@mr.raslyon6626]

Pre covid behavior 🤣

[@ashleyofnaath]

For me, AFFC is my favorite book. I had hoped the show would've followed suit w/the books and broke from the main story/cast for 1 season to cover the AFFC plots. Except instead of Arya's training I would've subbed Bran's training w/Bloodraven. Between that, Dorne, the Kingsmoot, the Harry Potter riff at the Citadel, and Cersei's self-inflicted misfortunes I think that would've been a kick-ass season that held it's own compared to the others.

[@playermartin286]

Agreed. Some parts of Feast fell a lot like a horror novel, the lady stoneheart chapter for example

[@bakthihapuarachchi3447]

I completely agree. I specially loved the Cersei, Greyjoy and Dorne stuff. The only parts i disliked were Brienne chapters

[@jrm371]

Absolutely.

[@KingBowserVlog]

@@bakthihapuarachchi3447 funny to see so many differing opinions. Dorne and Greyjoy were the low points for me but Brienne's chapters get good later on (gotta admit they do start out pretty boring)

[@ashleyofnaath]

@@bakthihapuarachchi3447 I personally enjoyed the Brienne chapters. To each their own I suppose lol.

[@Overton_Windows]

I truly hope these novels are that thing that keeps him alive until they’re finished. That the universe simply won’t let him go until the work is complete. We don’t want it rushed. We don’t want him to pull a “lost” like he’s said himself. It’s a tough spot for him and those of us waiting.

[@Frawt]

The only options aren't "rushing it" and "what George is doing". Not everything is binary, and though this might be hard for you to grasp, there is nuance and degrees to things. He isn't writing them; he's busy writing everything else BUT The Winds of Winter, and doing interviews and convention appearances and other shit.

[@nyxi6689]

@@Frawt Exactly, its not WoW that's the issue, it's him doing anything but it.

[@collaborativelearning1]

Agreed, if he is to finish it, it must be done right and better than books 4 and 5.

[@jonq8714]

I've finished these books so long ago I really don't remember much. When Winds of Winter finally releases in 2024 I'm going to be so lost.

[@thewanderingartists]

We had been told that it will be july 2020

[@210SAi]

The story’s so complex you can’t just read the books once through and catch it all.

[@williamreich963]

Optimist

[@williamreich963]

@@thewanderingartists LoL

[@thewanderingartists]

@@williamreich963 lol yeah delayed again for a year, 10 times in a decade I've lost my faith.

[@kngoepe4200]

Its been 11 years since Dance and we are still waiting

[@julil3021]

I just loved that he left the original authors note in AFFC because I got to check the copyright and see how far apart the books actually were even though the authors note said it would be a year. I couldn’t imagine the frustration that caused but I got a good laugh from it

[@IronDogger]

The details are the flavors that linger and makes you crave the story deep in your soul. He is so personal in his answers and rich details make everything he says so incredible to listen to. The passion he has for writing in beautiful details is so fascinating and rare. Not to compare him with King but King doesn’t have the patience for the art of details and that is why King’s books tend to have exhausting long and boring details. When King explains the sky for 60 pages and how George can make you feel the sky and taste and tickle all your senses is absolutely an art form few writers have.

[@refoliation]

getting buff holding the full book up above my eyes in bed

[@aegonthedragon7303]

Him talking about the page count but barely even starting the story for certain characters is likely why Winds has taken so long. I guarantee that manuscript has been redone multiple times and is easily 1000 pages.

[@arthurdayne8029]

“Well you know there are two types of writers: there’s the architect and the gardener...”

[@balabanasireti]

Okay, like beggar.

[@JetConvoy]

If I had a nickel… 😂

[@samwisegamgee4659]

George deserves the accolades for what he's done so far. Monumental stuff. However now he's discovered he's the man on the tiger: To scared to get off and too scared to stay on; he doesn't want to botch his literary legacy.

[@GeraltOfArabia]

Truly. The expectations are through the roof.

[@Iza56]

No, he's just bored

[@balabanasireti]

@@Iza56 Nah.

[@benaugustinmcconnon377]

You can’t think like that as a creator, at that point, you’re writing for others and not yourself. People like his work because he went with what he wanted to do, it was different and immersive. He’s a very good writer, but, he overthinks certain things, I feel.

[@TheMabinogimaster]

Who is blowing their nose

[@siljapeters2836]

Me, while crying over how the Winds of Winther haven’t been released yet.

[@imgay4gore159]

A guy with corona

[@PatrickTouma]

I'm gay 4 gore wow very funny so funny haha so creative

[@BlackHand531]

@@PatrickTouma🤣😂

[@suffern63]

It's the extra details that make his stories alive so the nose blowing and coughing will make this easier to remember,you know,when you talk to a friend and say George RR Martin said this,I heard him on youtube in a video which had someone blowing their nose a lot.

[@Go.to.horny_jail]

Someone is dying in the background

[@masongarrod6681]

Gyles Rosby's dying moments

[@masongarrod6681]

Gyles Rosby's dying moments

[@jerrywhoomst1116]

Gyles Rosby's dying moments.

[@QueenDaenerysTargaryen]

Gyles Rosby's dying moments

[@ognjengaric2687]

Gyles Rosby's dying moments

[@giannimanzano9266]

He needs not split his books ever again. He is the greatest living Fantasy author and the true fans of ASOIAF will read his books even if they are 1200-1500 pages long. If no one else has proven that, Brandon Sanderson with Stormlight Archive has.

[@henryruston9572]

He won’t split the final ones geographically, as everything is starting to come together now. Plus, characters will drop dead from the get-go of TWoW

[@williamreich963]

Louis Bujold is alive and much better than Martin.

[@zireael4440]

@@williamreich963 mmmm...no.

[@kevinmendoza1255]

At this point George is coping hard. He would have made it easier on himself not by delivering a book but by giving himself more space to write. A story so complex that it should be 12 “big books” .

[@kylenetherwood8734]

I reckon the final novel will be three volumes if it ever makes it to print

[@adamtideman4953]

Feast really suffers from the fact that it's supposed to be the same story as Dance with Dragon. It could have had so much potential if GRRM hadn't split the books in the last second but instead planned on splitting the stories from the beginning and executed it better. You know the Cersei chapters where she attended the small council meetings learning what was happening in the rest of the world with the Golden Company or that ser Davos was beheaded by the Manderlys? I absolutely loved those parts of the book because they gave us readers a window into what was going on with the other main characters that was missing from Feast. I felt as if I was Cersei in this moment wondering if Tyrion had something to do with the Golden Company breaking their contracts or if the the Manderlys actually beheaded ser Davos. This is also why Briennes chapters were so boring to read because by having access to Sansas chapters we all knew that Brienne was just wasting time trying to find Sansa. Imagine if GRRM had taken greater advantage of this by putting small hints and details that foreshadows what is going on with the rest of the cast only to have this answered in the next book. For example, in Feast there were reports about wolves growing bolder which I assumed Bran was behind in his training with the three-eyed raven. Or imagine if Sansa has her chapters in Dance instead of Feast and that we never learn that Sansa was in the Vale until Dance. That would've made Briennes chapter so much more interesting to follow because now we truly don't know if Briennes is going to find Sansa or not. I like the idea of splitting a story into two books, just not the execution in the case with Feast/Dance.

[@noahwen-li]

Brienne's Feast chapters are more about showcasing the effects the war had on the Riverlands than it is about her finding Sansa. Perhaps not exciting narratively, they're profoundly important thematically. Some of my favorite moments in the series are in those chapters, particularly the stuff with Meribald.

[@SkulkingSkullKid]

I always assumed the “wolves growing bolder” occurrence was due to Arya, not Bran, and her near-nightly Wolf Dreams in which she became Nymeria, who was noted as leading a pack of 200 or so wolves around the Riverlands. Or so I recall.

[@aishah7730]

@@SkulkingSkullKid yeppp thats what i thought. maybe nymeria is leading her pack to attack freys etc as revenge for the red wedding

[@collaborativelearning1]

Thanks for posting this, very insightful.

[@Carlos-ln8fd]

Love those books so much

[@yeshs4399]

No-one asked, but my ranking of the books: 1. Dance with dragons 2. Feast for crows 3. Storm of swords 4. Clash of kings 5. GOT P. S I feel like AFFC is a terribly underrated and an overlooked book in the series. People say it lacks the action that SoS had, but if you ask me AFFC had the most progressive and an intriguing plot than the other books

[@diegoolivaresgonzalez42]

I prefer "A Feast for Dragons"

[@jarnobrofelt1891]

Storm of swords Dance whit dragons Got Clash of kings Feast of crows

[@jarnobrofelt1891]

For crows *

[@anonakkor9503]

My are 1. Storm of Swords 2. Feast for crows 3. Dance with dragons 4. A Game of Thrones 5. Clash of Kings

[@siljapeters2836]

Martins writing just gets progressively better! Though I think it’s hard ranking the books, I love all of them so much!

[@mrr7634]

I love that in most interviews he says he reads books and he's taking his time to finish what everyone has been waiting for. When it comes out he's gonna make soooooo much money.

[@MissPopuri]

When in doubt, you can Red Wedding them out.

[@tanadarko6991]

This makes so much sense now!

[@dominicwyartt3598]

George your books just fill me pleasure I am currently trying to find a series to take the place of ice and fire but I’m struggling to find it. Recommendations people need help

[@erickmedinavillanueva7600]

What about the kingkillers chronicle I guess the last book will be released not longer than the nextt year. Pd this is my next book after quarantine ends

[@michelmorio8026]

Give Dune a try... you make it just in Time till the Movie airs in December 😅

[@legrandliseurtri7495]

Louise Cooper's star shadow trilogy is pretty great(so are the sequel trilogies, master of time and chaos gate, but I feel like the prequel trilogy is the most similar to game of thrones).

[@dominicwyartt3598]

Thanks guys :P ordered the first book to all your suggestions started king killer chronicles and it has taken me away just like GOT gas :)

[@archivesoffantasy5560]

Stormlight Archive, First Law Trilogy, Dune

[@JohanHerrenberg]

Excellent. Martin pinpoints exactly the problems he has been facing in organizing his massive story and enormous cast of characters. I sincerely hope he solves them and unties that knot.

[@zachthecool4321]

On my 2nd reread of the series I read FfC and DwD at the same time. Making sure to finish FfC before the first Cersei chapter in adwd. It was actually really fun

[@tns4]

This is what I want to do. Any advice? How would you do it differently if you did it again?

[@mackfarlainethebarenakedau5113]

I think anybody who thinks writing is easy really doesn't understand what work actually goes into it. It's something that takes a lot of work, a lot of dedication, time, research, multiple rewrites and editing. You don't know that if you've never written. Something like a Song of Ice and Fire or Stephen King's Dark Tower are not easy series to write. It took SK thirty years to get Roland Deschain to his destination.

[@balabanasireti]

Nah.

[@pcharl01]

He wasn't writing for years.

[@borysvengerov3398]

That background cough certainly didn't age well.

[@Iron-Bridge]

I don't mind a 1500 page count in a book. As long as the print isn't too small.

[@rolandluth2098]

A man is going to get the gift.

[@cesarcastillomaldonado8762]

So, when did this happen?

[@zackthezabarak739]

10:45 I’m guilty of both honesty. Sometimes I hate the details and want the story and other times those details are so engrossing I can close my eyes and smell it. Never change George! We can always skip detail but only a true artist can make such vivid descriptions!

[@9pastnoon680]

Listened to this in my car and I gotta say... for better or for worse that coughing gent really made me feel like I was in the room!

[@connorp8408]

I used to really not like Feast. Then I went through book 4 and 5 in the All Leather Must Be Boiled chapter order (it combines both books) and now I can't seperate the two in my head. And now I actually like the Brianne story in Feast

[@BTBAM819]

Brienne's plot pays off so much at the end. Starts off pretty slow but by the end I started devouring her chapters.

[@jobowisheshewasnomo4171]

those brienne chapters were a very long build up that i believe was well worth it in the end.

[@JbodMC]

Splitting this novel in half was a precursor to the wait you have been suffering for over a decade. The story flung off the handle, much of these two books is meandering and wheel spinning on Martin's part. The plot is too large and sprawling for Martin to do it justice, I don't even know how a book that would need to contain as many POV's as it will inevitably need to do would function. Dance with Dragons already began to feel largely disjointed, that will only be exacerbated moving forward. Not to mention, that by the time Dream of Spring finished, he'll need to wrap up character arcs for all these 20+ pov characters it just does not seem feasible.

[@josh043p6]

Someone in the background has the Rona

[@robmccoy5207]

It would be easier to read the two books simultaneously if reading the digital formats. Where could we find the correct chapter order of the combined book?

[@edwinsoto6932]

There are various proposed orders. Boiled Leather (/All Leather Must Be Boiled) arguably has the best one, maintaining GRRM's own order (for each book) for the most part while combining them (and depending on whether you want to keep certain reveals - be it because you're reading for the first time or because you prefer to keep the narrative reveal -, there are different orders for certain chapters).

[@SpaghettiToaster]

Honestly, if Robert Jordan got away with it, why shouldn't GRRM? Jordan's books, the way they were original published, were massive. And the way they're published now (broken into up to 5 books each), there are stretches of several full-sized books in the story where barely anything happens. Granted, wheel of time is often criticized for this and it takes a certain kind of reader to put up with this kind of pacing, but still, it got published and was massively successful. So I think with his current fame and the hype around the last books, he should just pace it the way he feels is right and lay it all on. If the books are 2000 pages long, so be it. Sell them as two physical volumes, special edition bound folios, ebooks, whatever, the technology exists and the demand is there.

[@balabanasireti]

Mr. Martin is too much of a perfectionist to do that.

[@SpaghettiToaster]

@@balabanasireti But if he expects that everybody who reads one of the books is going to read all of them, he doesn't have to worry about single-book pacing or even to give a proper ending to each book. He can just write it as one 3000-page manuscript and then have the publisher deal with it. My point is, he should feel free to write the story the way he wants to tell it, without any restrictions and concerns over length, because he will get published no matter what. Manuscript size restrictions because of print are a legacy problem and shouldn't matter anymore in this day and age, especially not if you're as successful as GRRM. In fact, he's probably going to make more money from audiobooks and e-books than from printed copies, and most certainly from merchandise, so who cares if the print is profitable? Either produce it at a loss and pay for it with audiobook sales or make it expensive, it's doesn't matter. People will buy it.

[@pretendtheresaname9213]

The answer was as simple as waiting more (maybe up to 2007-08), even with the pressure, and releasing book 4 as it was meant to be, one full book sold in two bindings. I'm still surprised there isn't any edition like that nowadays. Putting out pieces of a story like Jordan did was a horrible idea. WOT already suffers from pacing and editing issues from 1-6 and the slog is that but worst, it's a 9-10 book series bloated to 14, at least the man was able to pull himself together on a last book good before passing out because it would've been even sadder if book 10, that atrocity against literature, was his final piece for the series.

[@dachitronmagnus5755]

Damn everybody thoughts 5 years was bad here we are a decade and still waiting on Winds Of Winter.

[@sillyhead5]

Hey does this mean that I can read book 5 before book 4? I'm excited to start on the books and I'm such a slow reader that by the time I get to the end of the current works, TWoW will surely have been published. It might be cool to be one of the only people who read like 1235467 instead of 1234567 like everyone else, something unthinkable for other series but potentially workable for this one.

[@manishkumardivekar4836]

In second half of book 5, story again becomes linear rather than parallel when GRRM introduces chapters of Jaime & Cersei..... So, No! Don't do 5,4.....

[@luandesouza282]

i see a Feast for Crows is the most important book because the 1st to 3rd he ended a cicle and starting Fourth he started or showed us new ones which will impact so much in fifth, sixth and to finish the seventh.

[@ArtieLuv27]

yo is the guy in the background okay?

[@martinrheaume5393]

In hindsight, this is where it all went wrong. By choosing to expand the scope, when he would've been winding down, he damned his story to purgatory

[@zaprese]

He means the ‘plains of Mordor’

[@QueenDaenerysTargaryen]

While Martin separated two books. D&D were only 2 episodes off from making one season because they killed and rushed the show because they did not care anymore and wanted to move on.

[@tk423b]

At least he’s consistently late.

[@williamcecil7173]

At least we know he’s not a wizard 😂

[@batman-gu7pm]

In a storm of swords there was a few aryia and tyrion chapter that could've been cut

[@RacinZilla003]

I FOUND THE HERETIC

[@PatrickTouma]

Arya I agree, but not Tyrion (yes I’m biased)

[@batman-gu7pm]

@@PatrickTouma could've skipped the one where tyrion talks about feeding people symon silver tongue. That was the only thing that happened in one of his chapters

[@balabanasireti]

Nah.

[@jaimelannister1797]

Alot of the chapters with Lem, Tom, and Anguy were a bit slow and could've been condensed

[@WillRock07]

Hearing here that the way he works is to write a bunch of chapters from the same pov character in one go... No wonder it took him so long when he realised the timelines of the different stories weren't matching up... Could have been as bad as him having to rewrite multiple chapters to make sure the timelines were correct. Plus when you factor in his distaste for having to rewrite things (he doesn't like doing outlines)... Starts to paint a picture into why it's taking him so long.

[@BlackHand531]

Wow, a story I've never heard before.

[@balabanasireti]

Then just leave.

[@Overton_Windows]

I’m thinking fuck it: release winds of winter in two books. Hold us over while he completes it. If he could do it with these, why not. Really, I’m actually asking...

[@MEGAyognauts]

was it not 3 and 5 which was too parts or am i just wrong about that

[@jakehopkins6989]

Nope, how would that work?

[@ewanwatson5732]

Yeah they were both two parts, but books 4 and 5 were originally going to be one book until GRRM split them geographically into two (or three) books, AFFC being set mostly in south westeros and ADWD being set at the wall in the east. That make sense?

[@junespoesy]

His 90% of talks have a mention of Lord Of the Rings... great

[@renaigh]

best decision he ever made.

[@PaytonsOwnProductions]

Someone was SiCK

[@QueenDaenerysTargaryen]

Epic Dragonstone 🎬📚 🔥🔥🐉🐉🐉🔥🔥

[@SugerSprinkledFun]

If only he'd just cave and release winds of winter into two books. He has enough material for two books easily.

[@manishkumardivekar4836]

He has surly!!! But I think he really wants to accommodate story in 2 books only.... If he cave now, story will completely go out of his hands 😔..... I wish he was bit younger 😅

[@jobowisheshewasnomo4171]

probably the same thing that's happening with wow and ados

[@JeremyHelm]

Folder of Time

[@JeremyHelm]

8:51 a reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, the man who does not read lives only one

[@JeremyHelm]

8:33 So which of these is really part of my life? I think it's the things that we incorporate, the things we remember.

[@JeremyHelm]

8:48 When we live our lives and when we reflect (upon) our lives, vicarious experience can be just as important as real experience

[@JeremyHelm]

12:15 monetize this

[@jakehopkins6989]

@@JeremyHelm Did you just reply to yourself four times?

[@madnes1991]

Dance with Dragons is the best book in the series.

[@VenomousStare]

Still waiting for Winds lol

[@alfredosauce4476]

When ur watching all the interviews but ur still only barely past half way with the first book

[@siljapeters2836]

Hehe I remember being like that when I started reading. Once you’re in the fandom you’re in, and there’s no way out.

[@henrychinaski5938]

I just started the second one lol

[@alfredosauce4476]

Yea i really liked the show and people always told me the books were way better and since quarantine i got nothin else to do ive been reading and i got to say the books really are so much better i love a got and I heard the books only get better

[@henrychinaski5938]

@@alfredosauce4476 I heard the same thing. The second one is where the differences between the show and the book really show and it's awesome. I will adapt them into an animated series one day.

[@thomanas287]

That’s how the red wedding got ruined for me😪 I just read the actual scene but I knew it was coming

[@jaykay5811]

Here, then “Ya know I could feel my readers getting impatient and that was justified.” Here, now “I’ll finish it when I finish it!”

[@igorchistyakov8876]

Man just got tired of our shit.)

[@Dogboon-]

Has Grrm ever actually confirmed any of the theories about what readers speculate are supposed to mean something? Such as Mormonts Raven being controlled by bloodraven.

[@jrm371]

To my knowledge, he hasn't confirmed any specific theories, but has stated that some of those he has seen are correct. There is a quote somewhere where someone jokingly tells him that Hodor just wants someone to hold the door (or something like that). GRRM laughs and says that is closer than that person thinks. That's as close to confirming anything that I've come across.

[@PatrickTouma]

Nah man, give up, George is REALLY careful with his words...

[@wertyuioman]

If that's true then Bloodraven is VERY hungry

[@patwalsh1045]

biggest mistake in the series in my opinion. After reading the 3rd book it was such a let down and by the time the 5th one came out i basically had to re-read book 4 to have a clue how anything intertwined

[@luizfernandomle]

I remember having the same feeling. Also, when the 5th book came out I was starving for Dany's, Jon's and Tyrion's chapters, and when the book endend I was still hungry for more. Nowadays, rereading the books with patience, I could enjoy the last two books better.

[@wserthmar8908]

He should have included at least one of DwD chapters into FfD, that would be better

[@thatboi5415]

Maybe he needs to do this with winds of winter. AFFC was very difficult to stay engaged throughout no lie.

[@210SAi]

I felt the same way but it greatly expands on the universal story, some would say to GRRM’s detriment.

[@zeiters2055]

It’s really why’d he split book 4

[@JM-ok3uf]

*cough*

[@shinluis]

I don't understand how difficult could it possibly be to just have the two books as AFFC Vol 1 and AFFC Vol 2 and that be that. AFFC and ADWD are amazing if you do the side-by-side reading jumping between books, and literally zero dragons dance at all in the book named dance with dragons. I love both books but I the split as it was made wasn't great

[@biozelink6086]

I think he really screwed himself. The hype is almost gone in most people. I will read it, but most people seem to have moved on. And another thing is that after waiting so long, there's absolutely no way people won't be disappointed, even if it's amazing.

[@gilgabro420]

I was disappointed by the TV show and I just stared reading the books. :P There is no way I'll be disappointed because I don't really have a standard now. I just don't know how I'm supposed to read that much till the book is published. I'm very hyped!

[@Setheth]

The hype will return when he announces the release date. I would say he gained readers who were disappointed with the finale of the tv show.

[@gilgabro420]

@@Setheth he said that it will be published till the end of the year (at its latest) and that the he'd allow the fans to imprison him if it isn't ready.

[@michelmorio8026]

Bartimaeus 666 that was last summer... during a convention in Australia I believe, now with Covid-19 and not going to Australia, he has the ‚sorry, guys, still working on it‘ he needed so much...don‘t see him finishing it in the near future with all the other stuff he is involved that gets more attention

[@gilgabro420]

@@michelmorio8026 Corona might have helped... at least one positive thing because of this crisis

[@claws811]

I am 13 and have been watching so many interviews with him. I don’t know if I’m allowed to read them though.

[@claws811]

Gmail com Yeah I know. He’s not the fastest writer 😄

[@claws811]

Gmail com Have you read them?

[@AmazingJCCatWithFear]

I tried reading them at 13 but I just couldn't enjoy it It wasn't the right time for me, ASOIAF isn't the best series if you're just getting into adult high fantasy now They're great, just not the best start (I feel like)

[@claws811]

JC Reading Books They seem like my kinda thing. I’ll try them and see how they are.

[@claws811]

JC Reading Books But I’m also a big Tolkien fan. I read the hobbit, the Silmarillion and the lotr. I really enjoyed them. So it wouldn’t really be a start. I’m just worrying the title will put my parents off. ‘A Game of Thrones’ will remind them of the show (which everyone knows) and they’ll say no.

[@joncarpenter-smith9801]

I thought A Feast for Crows was a single book but A Storm of Swords and A Dance with Dragons were the split ones. (Edit) ok I just realized it meant the stories in A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons take place at the same time with the characters split between the two🤦‍♂️

[@JesusCheeseburger]

Kind of. The first half of Dance takes place at the same time as Feast. The second half is after and it touches on some characters from Feast again, like 2 chapters for Cersei and Victarion and a single one for Jaime and Areo.

[@alphagamer9505]

He should have diveded the books chronologically

[@KarstenOkk]

Disagree. That would leave AFFC with either non-endings or unsatisfying smaller endings.

[@alphagamer9505]

@@KarstenOkk no it wouldnt,you simply try to divided the number of chapters equally in the too books,the result would be two books that bigger than affc but smaller than adwd,with that the battle of ice and fire maybe could have been in adwd

[@andregordon2599]

give the man a break, people harassing him to finish these books. He has made an incredible complicated but fascinating series so far and i love every second of it. Reread the books, i guarantee you will pick up on stuff that you missed the first time. Fire and Blood is also super interesting too. I'm willing to wait as long as needed.

[@armyofninjas9055]

Just remember: Frank Herbert never finished Dune... As a huge Dune fan, it disheartens me still...

[@enman009]

@@armyofninjas9055 God Emperor might be consider by many to be the last Dune book worth reading since it's a satisfying conclusion to Atreides's legacy and human expansion.

[@jamescarrot2813]

I don't care how long the wait for tWoW and aDoS is, I'd gladly wait another 10 years for winds if it maintains the quality of its predecessors. I'm just worried about the man dieing before the series is concluded. He's like 72 or something and not exactly a triathloner

[@XoldnewsX]

I'm gonna be honest, AFFC was such a chore to get through. Not for me.

[@peterjoyfilms]

Didn't you like the Cersei chapters? For me being inside her head was endlessly fascinating. And the kingsmoot was epic

[@XoldnewsX]

@@peterjoyfilms The Cersei and Jamie chapters were just about the only redeeming factors for me. I did enjoy those. Really the Brienne chapters were a slog to get through

[@macmiller1678]

Hurry up and write your damn books! Just finish that shit, wrap it up man! You don’t start some shit then not finish it, just make some shit up that’s what you did with the other books. Jk Rowling finished her books! What’s the problem man??? Just wrap it up idc if it sucks.

[@CadaverJunky8]

I don't dislike Feast, but it's by far the weakest book. It has some very good ideas, it's just a book in DESPERATE need of heavy editing and trimming. And that's really the issue with the Feast/Dance split, isn't it; nobody was there to tell George "hey, we don't need a whole chapter for Arys Oakheart who's about to die anyway and adds nothing to the plot."

[@peterjoyfilms]

It objectively doesn't add nothing to the plot - it's an essential part of Arianne's story, seen through his eyes.

[@CadaverJunky8]

@@peterjoyfilms Not really. Arys' chapter only serves to be an introduction to Dorne through the eyes of a foreigner, which is extremely superfluous as 1. We've already had a previous chapter about that (Hotah) and 2. Arys dies almost immediately right after. That chapter should have just been an Arianne one or not at all.

[@210SAi]

GRRM has said in another interview that he maybe should have switch Okenheart’s POV chapter to Arienne exactly because he dies shortly thereafter

[@matth8603]

I actually loved that chapter just for the simple fact that it displays the power a female can have over men. It’s definitely not a groundbreaking idea, but seeing that power through the perspective of someone who is so devoted to their honor and duty, and seeing those moral pillars collapse under a pussy pedestal was very satisfying to me. I also definitely think that Dany will have this effect on many characters to come, of course.

[@erikcribley5271]

Didn't watch, but the answer is it had been 5 years since he published a book, publishers got tired of waiting and published half of a book (Feast) then 6 years later, he still hadn't finished writing the second half of the book, but the HBO series had just come out and they wanted to cash in, so they published what he had left. Now, 9 years later, he hasn't written shit, if he had even half a book they would have published it while the TV show was hot.

[@GhoulishGwyn]

@7:00 Still can’t believe one of the artists from The World of Ice and Fire straight up lifted concept art from Skyrim and LotR for that illustration. Those dragons are just Alduin copy-pasted in, and some of the architecture is from Mordor.

[@dalecooper2232]

What is that even supposed to be? Dragonstone?

[@manishkumardivekar4836]

When first time I read A Feast for Crows, I thought it was slow and boring. I was glad to finish it off and move to A Dance with Dragons.... But when I started to re-read the books, I realized, Feast for Crows has some of the best writing of GRRM ......

[@thereccher8746]

Not to denigrate his talent, but you really see the cracks and faults when it comes to writing like a gardener with George. I think all novelists and screenwriters need to find that balance or they'll take thirty years to write their next story.

[@cosmiccomedy7394]

It's his strength and also his weakness now that it's the back end of the series. I feel for George because the expectations are enormous and he has so many balls up in the air. Hopefully he can pull off a satisfying conclusion. Either way it's gonna be way better than the show so I'm stoked to read it when it's finally released.

[@marcosfernandes1457]

I read all the first 4 books in about 4 monhts but I'm taking the same time just to read A Dance of Dragons... man, this shit is boring!

[@jonstark153]

What? Dance is ma fav book or atleast tied with storm

[@marcosfernandes1457]

@@jonstark153 Nah, dog. Good that you like it. I am half the way and thinking about giving up.

[@jonstark153]

@@marcosfernandes1457 u should read it it's good nothing like the shit show

[@joshuadrew5223]

So because Bran is too boring lol.

[@sayan7912]

Other authors write books. George writes 'Bõøks'.

[@loriannwhite8384]

So doesn’t that mean that Martin owe fans 3 more books not 2?

[@quiddity131]

Splitting was the biggest possible mistake he could make and has caused the big mess the series is in now. If it was me, all the Dorne chapters are cut. All the Iron Born are cut. Brienne chapters are gone Nettie cut to 25% of their length tops. Trim what you can for the remaining. Stick to the core characters rather than introducing countless more that do little more than add massive bloat to the series.

[@jomckellan]

I'm glad he didn't listen to you.

[@simgingergirl]

George, get off the internet and start writing!

[@hansouth2355]

why the hell is he doing so many of these interviews?

[@jaimeKeigh]

hes not, these are years old

[@callumfitzgerald9964]

@@jaimeKeigh good because I thought this guy had corona lol

[@KTChamberlain]

Plains of Moria? Dafuq? I know Martin's an old man, but wow. Next thing you know he'll say: "The Pilgrims landed at Fraggle Rock."

[@balabanasireti]

Calm down, kid.

[@theguywhoplaysgames7604]

Who even cares about his books anymore?

[@balabanasireti]

Most people, kid.

[@serban8298]

Me,my reader friend,many people,so stfu!

[@SpamCoo]

More people than you can imagine I'd say. If you don't care about his books anymore, that's fine. Read something else. Your time could be better used than to make pointless comments.

[@210SAi]

You cared enough to watch the video and comment

[@zireael4440]

Me too, kid.