Spoilers to A Song of Fire and Ice ahead! This has to do with A Song of Fire and Ice. Don't get me wrong I love all the books in the series and I think George Martin is brilliant. I am, however, feeling increasingly apprehensive about the ending. I'm currently half way through A dance with Dragons and keep wondering...how the hell is he going to finish this series? He's introduced this MASSIVE world with 1000's of characters and arcs of the plot seem to appear constantly. I mean, we have the war in Westeros with like 10 different armies/kingdoms fighting each other. We have the white walkers, Dorne, Highgarden, Kings Landing, Stannis, the north in its separate parts etc etc. Then in Essos there's Daenerys, her nephew has suddenly appeared and all her enemies she has to deal with. So basically there's about a million possibilities of who will win what will happen etc etc. To me the scope of the world George has created seems to large to finish in 2 more books. I think to properly conclude all the parts there probably need to be another 3-5 books. I dunno, I'm probably wrong and this is all mumbo jumbo, but is there anyone else that reading the series and thinking "how the hell will he wrap up this series?"
I'm afraid I packed in reading the series after book 4 - can't remember the name of it now. I began to feel Mr Martin was losing control of his story, and just wandering off in all directions. Nothing I've read or seen since pertaining to the series has convinced me otherwise, including interviews with the Man Himself. He seems very confused about where he's going, which is apparently why his writing has stalled so badly. I got totally fed up with investing in characters who then got killed off, to no real purpose; I stopped reading when I realised I no longer give a rat's ass who sits on that Throne.
The consensus from my friends was that the first three books were good, but the series turns to shit after that. Not surprising; it's very difficult to keep an expansive epic going for so long before it inevitably becomes repetitive and runs out of ideas. The manga Berserk is another fine example of this.
I dunno. I wouldn't say it's getting repetitive, I just worry that he's created a way to large story to finish in the next 2 books. I feel like the ending is gonna suck.
Wrapping it up actually is going to be pretty simple. The white walkers will come south, sweeping through and killing off plenty of storylines in their wake. The dragons will come and wipe out enemies all over as well. Characters, some we care about a lot, will die. They will fall. An epic conclusion will happen, involving dragons and zombies at the capital gates. Of course, fans will be upset, because with this much build up, no conclusion will make everyone happy (see: Lost, X-files, any other show with lots of build)... Killing off people is going to be the main method of ending stories, which may make us upset, but will help to nudge the series to a conclusion. Plus, death can happen to anyone, so why not keep that spirit up?
This actually reminds me of Lost a little. Lost became super-popular while still midway through its planned storyline. To take advantage of its popularity, the writers stalled for as long as possible, spinning out the intended three series to a rather more awkward and unwieldy six. I wonder if something similar is happening with Game Of Thrones. I'd be very disappointed, as I've enjoyed greatly what I've read and seen so far.
Can I suggest a spoiler tag of some kind? You've given away a fairly major detail that many who have started to read the books may not have encountered already. And to answer your original question, I haven't a clue how he's gonna pull it off. He's created a monster, and one that, if the difficulties he encountered putting out the last two are anything to go by, he's lost control of. (He has been quite upfront about his errors of judgement.) It is a massive undertaking.
I put spoilers ahead in bold. Do you mean in the thread title? Not sure how to edit that >< About the Lost thing. I agree that he's created this huge story that needs some epic ending. But like Lost I reckon it will be a disappointment. BUT I don't think he's stalling. Like I said I think he needs to make the series longer as there's just way to much top wrap up in 2 more books.
I did indeed. I wasn't sure what I was in for when I clicked the link, and I actually saw the spoiler before my eye made it's way up to the block text. I know on other forums it is standard to include a spoiler tag in the title, just to be sure.
