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To answer that question: Yes, I am and I’m not alone. GRRRM is free to not give a thing about this anger (look up the response to someone asking if he was going

by wjnc 5y ago

To answer that question: Yes, I am and I’m not alone. GRRRM is free to not give a thing about this anger (look up the response to someone asking if he was going to do a Jordan) but I came to the conclusion that in buying and reading fantasy series I feel there is an understanding of fans that we expect authors to finish series. Obviously that is naive and there is no contract or obligation but there is ample precedent for authors being happy that their series take of and finishing them especially for the early fans. If you start a series still being written you are supporting the authors ‘live’. Could have sponsored the Tolkien estate instead.

Irongirl1 5y ago
Actually, I'm with you up to a point. The Publisher obviously gave him an advance for the last two books. Not finishing them...and not returning the money (which tbh we don't know if he did or did not) is theft. Plus it undermines trust and causes issues with the Publisher being able to deploy those funds elsewhere. He obv. no longer cares about the fans; he sold us off to HBO as soon as he could and has insulted us left, right and sideways. He is correct; he doesn't owe us anything, but we gave him millions collectively with the understanding that we would be receiving a conclusion to our series. No problem; I'm never going to give him another cent, but if the Publisher cares about being taken seriously from now on, then they will find an author to finish the last two novels. They should have no difficulty. I'm quite sure that there is an author in Germany or The Scandies with the skill and lyric talent to do the last two books justice. We have probably never heard of them because a great many books are never translated for the US audience. It is thought that fantasy doesn't sell well here enough to make it worthwhile. Meanwhile, HBO maybe in for a painful experience. Because yes, we are all still very angry at not only not having a completed series, but about how badly the TV series ended. Hollywood seems to have forgotten the books that they used to read when they needed to escape from things going badly. I am quite sure they all have favorite books; at the same time, they treat our Worlds badly and then wonder why we refuse to support the crap they produce at the levels they want/expect us to...hmmm, seems a no-brainer to me. Peter Jackson found success with a difficult and dangerous (life-threatening) project because he had enough sense to treat Tolkien's World respectfully...and he sold Weta for $2 Billion. By my reckoning, HBO has left Billions on the table by abusing Westeros and they won't make it back by making new spin-offs. But that's just my half penny...which matters not at all.
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  > The Publisher obviously gave him an advance for the last two books. Not finishing them...and not returning the money (which tbh we don't know if he did or did not) is theft. No, it's not. If it was planned when he got the money, it might be false pretenses. Otherwise, its (at most, depending on the actual terms) civil breach of contract. > if the Publisher cares about being taken seriously from now on, then they will find an author to finish the last two novels. The publisher doesn't own the copyright and can't contract out derivative works of the existing novels without the permission of the copyright owner (Martin).
  - Irongirl1 5y ago
    You are correct. I should have been more clear. It leaves a bad impression and all parties should want to clear it up. The issue of copyright isn't insurmountable. They would simply license the the works from Martin on a limited basis. Obv. it is short-term because we are only talking about the two missing books which were originally promised. No extensions to fatten the publisher's pockets. And I did say that we don't actually know the terms of his deal...but the perception is pretty ghastly. And yes, that is just my opinion....and matters it not a whit. For an industry that constantly complains about how poorly it's doing, you'd think they would be more careful. Things like this have a tendency to leave a permanent stain. Look at journalism....it may never recover from the reputational damage done by the Buzzfeed era...and you have no idea quite how much it pains me to say/think/type that....but I believe it to be true. Publishing is facing the same Rubicon...and this the Vanguard.

by wjnc 5y ago

Irongirl1 5y ago

Actually, I'm with you up to a point. The Publisher obviously gave him an advance for the last two books. Not finishing them...and not returning the money (which tbh we don't know if he did or did not) is theft. Plus it undermines trust and causes issues with the Publisher being able to deploy those funds elsewhere. He obv. no longer cares about the fans; he sold us off to HBO as soon as he could and has insulted us left, right and sideways. He is correct; he doesn't owe us anything, but we gave him millions collectively with the understanding that we would be receiving a conclusion to our series. No problem; I'm never going to give him another cent, but if the Publisher cares about being taken seriously from now on, then they will find an author to finish the last two novels. They should have no difficulty. I'm quite sure that there is an author in Germany or The Scandies with the skill and lyric talent to do the last two books justice. We have probably never heard of them because a great many books are never translated for the US audience. It is thought that fantasy doesn't sell well here enough to make it worthwhile. Meanwhile, HBO maybe in for a painful experience. Because yes, we are all still very angry at not only not having a completed series, but about how badly the TV series ended. Hollywood seems to have forgotten the books that they used to read when they needed to escape from things going badly. I am quite sure they all have favorite books; at the same time, they treat our Worlds badly and then wonder why we refuse to support the crap they produce at the levels they want/expect us to...hmmm, seems a no-brainer to me. Peter Jackson found success with a difficult and dangerous (life-threatening) project because he had enough sense to treat Tolkien's World respectfully...and he sold Weta for $2 Billion. By my reckoning, HBO has left Billions on the table by abusing Westeros and they won't make it back by making new spin-offs. But that's just my half penny...which matters not at all.

dragonwriter 5y ago
> The Publisher obviously gave him an advance for the last two books. Not finishing them...and not returning the money (which tbh we don't know if he did or did not) is theft. No, it's not. If it was planned when he got the money, it might be false pretenses. Otherwise, its (at most, depending on the actual terms) civil breach of contract. > if the Publisher cares about being taken seriously from now on, then they will find an author to finish the last two novels. The publisher doesn't own the copyright and can't contract out derivative works of the existing novels without the permission of the copyright owner (Martin).
- Irongirl1 5y ago
  You are correct. I should have been more clear. It leaves a bad impression and all parties should want to clear it up. The issue of copyright isn't insurmountable. They would simply license the the works from Martin on a limited basis. Obv. it is short-term because we are only talking about the two missing books which were originally promised. No extensions to fatten the publisher's pockets. And I did say that we don't actually know the terms of his deal...but the perception is pretty ghastly. And yes, that is just my opinion....and matters it not a whit. For an industry that constantly complains about how poorly it's doing, you'd think they would be more careful. Things like this have a tendency to leave a permanent stain. Look at journalism....it may never recover from the reputational damage done by the Buzzfeed era...and you have no idea quite how much it pains me to say/think/type that....but I believe it to be true. Publishing is facing the same Rubicon...and this the Vanguard.