A Song of Ice and Fire Is 20 Years Old

Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/08/02/a-song-of-ice-and-fire-is-20-y.html

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So, since HBO has announced that GoT will end after 8 seasons…

What are the odds that The Winds of Winter will be published before the GoT finale?

(I’m not even going to ask about the odds A Dream of Spring will be finished before then; I’d give that about the same odds as Justin Trudeau getting elected as POTUS this November).

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I waited 22 years for the last three books of The Dark Tower, so SoI&F fans are entitled to start truly complaining only in 2019.

(Admittedly, King published over 20 other books during those 22 years.)

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I’m more concerned about him living long enough to finish “A Dream of Spring”

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It’s going to be a great big value deal in shops buy this book get a free copy of half life 3.

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Yes, Author Existence Failure sucks. (Warning: TVTropes link)

As long as he doesn’t fucking die before finishing it.

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Its obvious precursor is even older:

Anyway, it is gratifying that Ralph Bakshi has lived long enough to see his great animated film redone as live action.

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The show is enjoyable, but the books are worth the wait.

The books are not perfect, but there’s not much out there in fantasy literature that’s remotely comparable in the last ten years let alone twenty.

I’m happy for someone to prove me wrong on that statement, as I’d gladly read any quality scifi and fantasy I can get my hands on.

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I almost feel sorry for the predicament Martin is in now, except that he is wholly responsible for that predicament.

Now that the show has surpassed the events of the books he can either:

  1. Resolve events in the same way, so the books just feel like a wordy novelization of existing material, or
  2. Use a whole different series of plot twists, any one of which might be greeted with “ugh, that’s so much stupider than the way it played out in the TV show.”

Either way, that’s got to be totally demoralizing for an author.

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Although given the tone of the work, it would be kind of the perfect trolley.

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Everywhere always states that it was released on 1st August 1996. However I bought a copy on Saturday 29th June 1996 in the UK book chain Waterstones. It was just on a table on the second or third floor of the now closed Deansgate branch. Why do I know the date so well? It was for my wife who wanted something to read in the following weeks. We had to dash in the afternoon from there to the hospital and the baby was born about 5pm. He cried, the book was never read until he was old enough.

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Here’s a suggestion - new inasmuch as only translated to English in the last few years (the series itself dates back to the late 80s onward.)

Niiiiiice!

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His best option, I think, would be to not watch the show, and to ask the showrunners not to tell him how the show’s resolution differs from the outline he’s given them.

Good luck with THAT. It’s next to impossible for ordinary people to avoid Game of Thrones spoilers, let alone someone who travels the world attending fantasy conventions where millions of fans are dying to tell him what they think about it.

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20 years!!! That can’t be right!

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