GRRM Responds

Now, I’ve generally avoided all the discussion, ranting, and vitriol that surrounds George R.R. Martin’s rate of writing. I’ve said it before, and I’m saying it again – I just don’t care. There are far too many good books out there for me to get worked up about the delay of the next volume in his landmark A Song of Ice and Fire series. I’ll read the series when he finishes, until then, it can wait.

Since I apparently enjoy occasionally inflicting needless pain to my psyche, I do keep up with some of the discussion I reference above (however, I have no desire to search out the latest crap and link it here). And I also follow GRRM’s blog – so I not only saw his latest update (which matters little to me), I saw his response to his detractors. While part of me strongly believes that Martin shouldn’t have bothered, another part of me can understand how infuriating all this likely is for him – especially since he apparently can’t take a leak without someone thinking he should be writing A Dance With Dragons.

Martin doesn’t (exactly) say FUCK YOU – he is a bit more subtle and relaxed about it, but he certainly makes his point – Ricky Nelson style!

And I thought it was awesome! Good job George – write as you are able, finish when you’re done, and live life along the way.

My Name in Actual Print (sort of)

So, apparently a comment I made in a book discussion over at the SFX Magazine Forums made into an article that Joe Abercrombie wrote about George RR Martin’s A Game of Thrones for SFX Magazine. Of course it’s my SN that gets the credit – kcf – so my name isn’t actually in print (I guess I’m not legit yet). Since it’s an actual print magazine and I don’t subscribe, I have to trust others that I said:

"Wolves, kids, incest, politics, secrets, midgets, betrayal, kings and queens, stark landscapes, past wrongs, feudal misgivings, secret keeper, rotten heirs, cold, noble knight, naive hand, vague threats from the north, dragon mother, bastard child...oh, did he just die?"

Of course I made this comment very specifically in the hopes that it would make it into the print version (shameless, I know). Anyway, I thought it was pretty sweet.

George R.R. Martin Answers Questions Five

Well, he hardly needs an introduction – George R.R. Martin is a best selling author who has won most of the SFF awards out there at some time or another throughout his long career. He has become most well known for his epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire and his rabid fans eagerly await the arrival the next book in the series – A Dance with Dragons. The newest book in his bibliography is Hunter’s Run, a collaboration with Gardner Dozois and Daniel Abraham that was expanded from the novella Shadow Twin (my review).

I am very pleased that GRRM has taken the time to answer Questions Five.

As a resident of Santa Fe, I imagine you have an opinion on a uniquely New Mexican issue – do you prefer red, green, or Christmas chili? Why?

GRRM: Xmas, of course. Red and green both have their own unique flavors, so why not get both? (“Red or green” is the Official New Mexico State Question.)


If someone was forced to make a decision between reading Hunter’s Run and watching a Cowboys vs. Giants football game, what would you advise?

GRRM: Xmas! I mean, why not get both? That’s why god invented (1) bookmarks, and (2) TIVO.


Please describe one reason Hunter’s Run would inspire a reader to strip naked and run screaming into the forest?

GRRM: Uh… to get away from the cupacabra? Actually, trying to read while running naked through the forest is dangerous.


What other peculiar qualities of Hunter’s Run should readers be aware of?

GRRM: We’ve been working on it since 1977. So it’s bound to be really good.


Why should Hunter’s Run be the next book that everyone reads?

GRRM: Dreamsongs won’t be out until this fall, Inside Straight not until January, and A Dance with Dragons… uh… later. Hunter’s Run will help with the wait.

Crossing Over to the Dark Side

Mixed emotions often follow ‘big’ announcements, and my emotion is in the minority (or seems to be) for one of the latest. As anyone who is familiar with the name George R.R. Martin has surely heard by now, it has been announced that HBO has picked up the rights to film Martin’s landmark A Song of Ice and Fire series – and it seems that things are progressing rather quickly in terms of production. Translation: this sounds like it’s for real. So, what’s the reaction from Martin fans – shouts of joy, unintelligible glee, proclamations that HBO is the only place that can do it ‘right’, etc.

My reaction – irritation, some anger, and now disappointment. While there are loads of good arguments for why it’s good when a work of one media crosses over to another, I’m ignoring them all and concentrating on how I feel about this. It saddens me that what people are treating as the greatest thing to happen to this series is its cross over to visual media – it will be watered down, loose its magic, and ruin my imagined interpretations and people scream in joy. What is it saying about books and the written word when such a reaction occurs? Is this indicative of people believing that a work is ‘incomplete’ if it’s only in the written form? Has imagination been monopolized by the huge, visual media conglomerates? Could these joyous revelers survive a week, or even a day without their TVs and video games?

As most of you know, I’m a regular poster at several message boards. One – Wotmania OF, where I’ve been a member for a long time now is the perfect example of how the written word seems to be fading in significance. Over the past 5+ years that I’ve been active in some form at that board I’ve seen it regress from a place of great discussion to one where a forum originally intended for book-talk has the majority of its activity talking about TV shows. What the fuck is up with that! TV shows? Come on, even the best TV show can’t stack up against a merely mediocre book. It seems that the visual media market has made the imagination an endangered species, and is working hard towards its extinction. I know there are others who think the same – speak up. Write, talk – be more intelligent and eloquent about it than I am (or less – whatever works).

I think I'm starting to get a handle on why the internet and such scares the publishing industry so much.

Saddened has grown to real anger, so I’ll stop here. /rant

PS – These related posts talk about books that just can’t be made into movies.

Related Rants: Can’t a Book Be Just a Book?