Exactly right. In trying to subvert Tolkien, Martin has subverted good storytelling, and it shows in the show's ending. D&D used his notes for that after all, and I 100% believe the absolute nonsense we got like King Bran had to have come from him (were it just left to the terrible two, I think we'd have gotten a lame but network-safe happy ending in the vein of Jon & Daenerys sitting the Iron Throne together to lead Westeros into an age of prosperity - they patently didn't like the magical aspects of the setting and left Bran out of the entirety of Season 5). That said ending was pretty much universally loathed must have really burned his ass, and deservedly so, to the point that he still hasn't published the next book after 11 years.
Frankly I'm at the point where I'd far prefer 'boring' but sensible happy endings over subversive last-minute gotchas that needlessly wreck the setting and subvert my expectations of a good or even OK work. Although I don't think we'll have to worry about that on Gurm's part, he'll release a book all about the intimate details of Rhaenyra's affairs before TWOW and ADOS at the rate he's going.
ASoIaF is an endless series of setups with no payoffs.
Every time I criticized the story people would insist "it's all building up to something!" in spite of all evidence to the contrary. The last season backlash was the realization that I was right all along, with the diehard fans resorting to "the books were adapted wrong / Martin will fix it" cope.
We learn from Martin's writing people will read 6000 pages of rape and descriptions of food as long as you keep fooling them into believing it's leading up to something. You can keep this train rolling forever by just pilling new mysteries onto the old ones. "Audience strip mining" as I call it. You dig a massive pit harvesting your audience's goodwill, then abandon the giant wreck as you abscond with their cash. It's a talent to be sure, but I consider it exploitative. Such is the nature of the market.
The unfortunate thing is Martin not only seemed to burn his own fanbase down but everyone elses' too. Readers and editors are loath to produce or consume more epic fantasy as they become leary of these sleazy writing tricks.
Exactly right. In trying to subvert Tolkien, Martin has subverted good storytelling, and it shows in the show's ending. D&D used his notes for that after all, and I 100% believe the absolute nonsense we got like King Bran had to have come from him (were it just left to the terrible two, I think we'd have gotten a lame but network-safe happy ending in the vein of Jon & Daenerys sitting the Iron Throne together to lead Westeros into an age of prosperity - they patently didn't like the magical aspects of the setting and left Bran out of the entirety of Season 5). That said ending was pretty much universally loathed must have really burned his ass, and deservedly so, to the point that he still hasn't published the next book after 11 years.
Frankly I'm at the point where I'd far prefer 'boring' but sensible happy endings over subversive last-minute gotchas that needlessly wreck the setting and subvert my expectations of a good or even OK work. Although I don't think we'll have to worry about that on Gurm's part, he'll release a book all about the intimate details of Rhaenyra's affairs before TWOW and ADOS at the rate he's going.
ASoIaF is an endless series of setups with no payoffs.
Every time I criticized the story people would insist "it's all building up to something!" in spite of all evidence to the contrary. The last season backlash was the realization that I was right all along, with the diehard fans resorting to "the books were adapted wrong / Martin will fix it" cope.
We learn from Martin's writing people will read 6000 pages of rape and descriptions of food as long as you keep fooling them into believing it's leading up to something. You can keep this train rolling forever by just pilling new mysteries onto the old ones. "Audience strip mining" as I call it. You dig a massive pit harvesting your audience's goodwill, then abandon the giant wreck as you abscond with their cash. It's a talent to be sure, but I consider it exploitative. Such is the nature of the market.
The unfortunate thing is Martin not only seemed to burn his own fanbase down but everyone elses' too. Readers and editors are loath to produce or consume more epic fantasy as they become leary of these sleazy writing tricks.
There have been plenty of payoffs. The Red Wedding itself was a payoff, for example.
There are also a bunch of other payoffs we already know like Jon Snows origin and such.
Red Wedding isn't a payoff it's an exploding cigar. Like all of his plotlines, it's not resolved but aborted, rug pulled out and everyone falls flat.