Quote:
Originally Posted by ProfCrash
WoT was written on a silly schedule and highly repetative in many areas because Robert Jordan was allowed to get away with it. He could have wrapped that series long before he did but it was a cash cow for everyone so no one bothered to push to wrap the series. There is no reason, and I have read the entire series to date, for there to be that many books, repeating the same freaking theme without really advancing the story line.
GRRM is annoying as all hell and gone. His books are now being poorly editted, because he can get away with it. Book four and five were suppose to be one book but got to be so long that they divided them into two books. From all that I have heard, I stopped at book three because of my annoyance, book four was bad and focused on minor characters that no one really cared about about and book five was ok but to long and needed some major work. He needs a Publisher and an Editor to actually make him remove extranious crap that adds little to the books, decreases their size, and focuses on the story. My friends and family who have stuck it out through book five are seriously considering not getting book 6 due to the lack of decent editting in the last two books.
This is not a problem with just these authors. It seems to be a huge problem in the fantasy genre and is leaking to other genres. People find an author they like that starts a series. The series is well received and there is pressur to put out more books. The writing and story line slip because the emphasis is on writing more books and less on telling a good story. It is annoying. I would prefer to have a tightly written series that ends 5 books sooner but has good to great writing, a solid plot, and is delivered in a timely fashion. I find the greed drives me away from series because the focus is on more books and not good books.
It is lucky that I was turned onto Wheel of Time three years ago when the books first came to Kindle. I was travelling to Australia and New Zealand and knew I needed a good amount of reading material. I don't sleep well on planes. WoT had just been released as e-books and my friends raved about it, well up to a point. They loved the series but thought it was intentionally dragged out and would have been better had it been shorter. But I needed reading material for the plane and like the idea of a new series. It is good and enjoyable and got me through two very long plane rides. And a few long bus rides. And some shorter plane flights. Now I am waiting for the final book. I would not have stuck with the series had I started earlier.
You might not like the HP novels, not every one does and that is fine. I am not talking about series written in that same vein or by that author. I am talking about her approach to writing a series. She knew how many books she was going to write. She knew who the main characters were and had a solid idea about how they were going to grow and evolove. She knew how the series was going to end. She knew the major milestones that would be hit in each year. She wrote a seven book series in a reasonable amount of time that tied together well and was pretty well edited.
If more authors followed that formula, we would have better series delivered in a more timely fashion. Jim Butcher did it with the Codex Alera but has failed to do so with his Dresden series. Kim Harrison seems to have a good grasp on who her characters are, how they are going to develop, and where they are going. I have no clue if she has an end point in mind for the Hallows series. Robin Hobb has done a very nice job creating a series of trilogies that are all tied together, many loosely, but that develop new and old characters nicely and are released on a regular basis. You can tell that there is a plan to the novels. Heck, you can tell that Orson Scott Card used to do the same thing with his various series. Personally, I think that most of them fell apart by book four but you could see what his vision was and they were released regularly.
I'll take that any day of the week over GRRM and what he has produced of late. I know that there are people who love him and his world building. I enjoyed the first three books and got pissed off with how long it was taking to release the fourth book. I decided then that I would not buy any more of the series until he finished the books. Then I started reading the reviews and skipped over the fan boys who will say anything he writes is genius and focused on the three and two star reviews and saw a common theme. Too long, too wordy, too much crap. Slim back, get a new editor, and write on a freaking schedule.
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Can't be bothered to refute again point by point, not got the time though I am becoming increasingly convinced that posts of this length are intended to put people off replying as it takes so long... I'm just happy to say you have your PoV and overall I think you're wrong especially as you admit to criticising GRRM for books you haven't even read... undermines your whole discussion...
