3 ms·

> when someone starts telling a story that the story is going to come to some kind of conclusion at some point since that's how stories work Yes, but you bough

> when someone starts telling a story that the story is going to come to some kind of conclusion at some point since that's how stories work Yes, but you bought the start of the stories. You didn't buy the conclusion. There's no cheating involved.

tsimionescu 5y ago
The start is only valuable if there is an end, especially for a novel built on mystery and intrigue. When George RR Martin will, sadly, die without having finished A Song of Ice and Fire, all its parts will be forgotten by history (except, perhaps, A Game of Thrones), as they only work as scaffolding for a future ending (save a few extraordinary moments here and there, like the Red Wedding). But if by some miracle he finishes them (and it would be a miracle by this point, given he has spent more than a decade writing the next book, with no end in sight), and if the finale holds up to the quality of the mysteries he has built up, then it may be remembered right next to Lord of the Rings as one of fantasy writing's greatest masterpieces.
- Beldin 5y ago
  > The start is only valuable if there is an end I don't think Game of Thrones lost money. I would guess HBO paid George Martin well. Moreover, I think that in the eyes of most, GoT would have been better without going beyond Martin's published works. In other words: finishing that story significantly reduced its value. In case you think this is an exception: Matrix, Terminator, Coupling, How I Met Your Mother, Battlestar Galactica reimagined: all stories whose value was diminished greatly by their ending.
  - mcphage 5y ago
    > Coupling Are you talking about the 4th season with Oliver? I mean, he was no Jeff, but it wasn't all bad—and Jane got a bit more depth, which I appreciated. Or do you mean the actual series finale with Susan having the baby?
imgabe 5y ago
If you bought the beginning based on the implicit (and explicit) promise that the story would be finished, because A. stories usually have an ending, and B. they've both said many times that they are going to finish them, then yeah you did kind of get cheated, you bought them under false pretenses. If George R.R. Martin wrote 5 books and told everyone "Hey, here's half a story, I'm never going to finish it", most people probably would not have bought it and HBO probably wouldn't have spent millions of dollars producing a TV show about it.
- mcphage 5y ago
  > and HBO probably wouldn't have spent millions of dollars producing a TV show about it But they did. I don't think HBO had any confusion about what they bought, and the series being unfinished was either not a problem for them, or possibly a plus.

tsimionescu 5y ago

The start is only valuable if there is an end, especially for a novel built on mystery and intrigue. When George RR Martin will, sadly, die without having finished A Song of Ice and Fire, all its parts will be forgotten by history (except, perhaps, A Game of Thrones), as they only work as scaffolding for a future ending (save a few extraordinary moments here and there, like the Red Wedding). But if by some miracle he finishes them (and it would be a miracle by this point, given he has spent more than a decade writing the next book, with no end in sight), and if the finale holds up to the quality of the mysteries he has built up, then it may be remembered right next to Lord of the Rings as one of fantasy writing's greatest masterpieces.

Beldin 5y ago
> The start is only valuable if there is an end I don't think Game of Thrones lost money. I would guess HBO paid George Martin well. Moreover, I think that in the eyes of most, GoT would have been better without going beyond Martin's published works. In other words: finishing that story significantly reduced its value. In case you think this is an exception: Matrix, Terminator, Coupling, How I Met Your Mother, Battlestar Galactica reimagined: all stories whose value was diminished greatly by their ending.
- mcphage 5y ago
  > Coupling Are you talking about the 4th season with Oliver? I mean, he was no Jeff, but it wasn't all bad—and Jane got a bit more depth, which I appreciated. Or do you mean the actual series finale with Susan having the baby?

imgabe 5y ago

If you bought the beginning based on the implicit (and explicit) promise that the story would be finished, because A. stories usually have an ending, and B. they've both said many times that they are going to finish them, then yeah you did kind of get cheated, you bought them under false pretenses. If George R.R. Martin wrote 5 books and told everyone "Hey, here's half a story, I'm never going to finish it", most people probably would not have bought it and HBO probably wouldn't have spent millions of dollars producing a TV show about it.

mcphage 5y ago
> and HBO probably wouldn't have spent millions of dollars producing a TV show about it But they did. I don't think HBO had any confusion about what they bought, and the series being unfinished was either not a problem for them, or possibly a plus.