5 ms·

I can only say that I was very glad that Robert Jordan had time to plan out and pass on the whole of his story to another writer. I know it's entitled - but I

by Ntrails 12y ago

I can only say that I was very glad that Robert Jordan had time to plan out and pass on the whole of his story to another writer. I know it's entitled - but I really expect GRRM to make considerations to ensure that the whole story will be told. I don't think he owes me the story now, I don't mind waiting for him to do the writing as he envisions it - but I do kind of feel that he owes me a complete tale.

mikeash 12y ago
Why do you feel he owes you anything at all? Unless he held a Kickstarter in which he promised to finish the series if he got enough money, or something like that, why is there any obligation of any kind whatsoever? I feel you owe me a reply, so get to it. (Kidding, but I hope you see how absurd that is.)
- lmm 12y ago
  There's a convention, when you sell a book, that it's a complete story. An implicit contract, if you like. If you sold a book that was half a book - just stopped mid-sentence and you had to buy a different book to finish the story - most people would consider that a dick move. Likewise a book that's advertised as part of a series can be understood to come with an implicit promise that the rest of the series will exist. Why do I feel he owes me anything at all? Well, I did pay him for it. If I bought some software and the author refused to fix bugs, I'd feel cheated. An unfinished story is somewhat like that.
  - mikeash 12y ago
    Clearly there is no such convention that books are complete stories, because then series wouldn't exist. And clearly there is no such convention that a series will be finished, because then there wouldn't be permanently unfinished series out there, and there are a lot of them. You paid him for the book, which you received. Transaction complete. Debt paid. He no longer owes you more.
    - Shamanmuni 12y ago
      I feel this kind of reasoning is weird. If an author writes a book as a part of a series he's clearly telling you "this book is part of a bigger story which I have my most sincere intention of telling and reaching its conclussion, eventually". There's clearly a convention here, which doesn't necessarily translate into an actionable obligation (which is what you wanted to say). You don't want to get into that implicit contract? Then don't write a series, or write it for yourself and don't publish it. I don't agree with those who whine because Martin doesn't finish the series, but I also don't agree with those who say that we should expect nothing from him. When I started reading this series (about 15 years ago) they were supposed to be 4 books to be released at 2-year intervals. Then he added more books, took a lot of time to write them (between 5 and 6 years for the last 2) and now I can't even say "could I at least expect that you will finish the series sometime?".
      - mikeash 12y ago
        Many series simply go on forever without any plan for a conclusion. Many series plan for a conclusion but it doesn't work out for a variety of reasons. What's the point of declaring an "implicit contract" for something that is so frequently unfulfilled?
    - LanceH 12y ago
      There is an implicit understanding that Game of Thrones is Book One in the ongoing ASOIAF series. Not Book One in the not being worked on AOIAF series.

by Ntrails 12y ago

mikeash 12y ago

Why do you feel he owes you anything at all? Unless he held a Kickstarter in which he promised to finish the series if he got enough money, or something like that, why is there any obligation of any kind whatsoever? I feel you owe me a reply, so get to it. (Kidding, but I hope you see how absurd that is.)

lmm 12y ago
There's a convention, when you sell a book, that it's a complete story. An implicit contract, if you like. If you sold a book that was half a book - just stopped mid-sentence and you had to buy a different book to finish the story - most people would consider that a dick move. Likewise a book that's advertised as part of a series can be understood to come with an implicit promise that the rest of the series will exist. Why do I feel he owes me anything at all? Well, I did pay him for it. If I bought some software and the author refused to fix bugs, I'd feel cheated. An unfinished story is somewhat like that.
- mikeash 12y ago
  Clearly there is no such convention that books are complete stories, because then series wouldn't exist. And clearly there is no such convention that a series will be finished, because then there wouldn't be permanently unfinished series out there, and there are a lot of them. You paid him for the book, which you received. Transaction complete. Debt paid. He no longer owes you more.
  - Shamanmuni 12y ago
    I feel this kind of reasoning is weird. If an author writes a book as a part of a series he's clearly telling you "this book is part of a bigger story which I have my most sincere intention of telling and reaching its conclussion, eventually". There's clearly a convention here, which doesn't necessarily translate into an actionable obligation (which is what you wanted to say). You don't want to get into that implicit contract? Then don't write a series, or write it for yourself and don't publish it. I don't agree with those who whine because Martin doesn't finish the series, but I also don't agree with those who say that we should expect nothing from him. When I started reading this series (about 15 years ago) they were supposed to be 4 books to be released at 2-year intervals. Then he added more books, took a lot of time to write them (between 5 and 6 years for the last 2) and now I can't even say "could I at least expect that you will finish the series sometime?".
    - mikeash 12y ago
      Many series simply go on forever without any plan for a conclusion. Many series plan for a conclusion but it doesn't work out for a variety of reasons. What's the point of declaring an "implicit contract" for something that is so frequently unfulfilled?
  - LanceH 12y ago
    There is an implicit understanding that Game of Thrones is Book One in the ongoing ASOIAF series. Not Book One in the not being worked on AOIAF series.