The Death of ASOIAF - And Living with GOT Canon
Dec 23, 2017 4:36:11 GMT
revanstar, steelgrace, and 1 more like this
Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2017 4:36:11 GMT
So, I looked at the creased, worn spines of my ASOIAF novels on the shelf today. I remembered the day I first picked up Game of Thrones (not long a high school graduate, already living on my own and workin' 9-5, and on the recommendation of a friend).
And I solemnly said goodbye.
The sad reality is that GRRM will never finish ASOIAF. He's -not- writing, and anyone who says otherwise (even GRRM himself) is a bloody liar. Even if by some miracle he managed to fart out a half-assed TWoW someday, there would never be A Dream of Spring.
He's old. He's filthy rich. And he's been tired of ASOIAF for a very long time. That's why he worked on anything else he possibly could for years, long before D&D came along.
Yes, there will be a Targaryen history book. Yes, there may be anthologies that include a side story or two, just for fun - but for all intents and purposes, ASOIAF as we knew and loved as readers is dead.
We're in the new world now. A world where HBO GoT will become canon, simply by virtue of being -completed-. No one gives a damn about what we saw in the original work. No one cares about the cut characters, the unexplored side stories, the unanswered questions that kept us reading for over two decades. No one will ever understand why we loved Dany, with her humanity and doubt and her defiance - all they know is a one-dimensional girl-turned-warlord with some epic OP dragon firepower. No one will ever understand why we love Arya so much, with her mussy hair and grimy hands from picking flowers for her father, with her determination that she'll just be a bastard too since she loves Jon and looks like him, and her insecure frustration at not being able to be what the world expected of her - all they know is a remorseless serial killer who clings to petty vendettas as much as the many faces in her magical HBO bag.
And how can we blame them?
If the creator himself doesn't care, what room is there for our grievances?
I guess this sounds kind of grim. Sort of bleak, especially right before the holiday season.
But a new year brings a morning to wake into an honest world, no matter how grey and dim the horizon may look.
This is the future our fandom has to cope with, make some sort of truce with.
Are we ready?
And I solemnly said goodbye.
The sad reality is that GRRM will never finish ASOIAF. He's -not- writing, and anyone who says otherwise (even GRRM himself) is a bloody liar. Even if by some miracle he managed to fart out a half-assed TWoW someday, there would never be A Dream of Spring.
He's old. He's filthy rich. And he's been tired of ASOIAF for a very long time. That's why he worked on anything else he possibly could for years, long before D&D came along.
Yes, there will be a Targaryen history book. Yes, there may be anthologies that include a side story or two, just for fun - but for all intents and purposes, ASOIAF as we knew and loved as readers is dead.
We're in the new world now. A world where HBO GoT will become canon, simply by virtue of being -completed-. No one gives a damn about what we saw in the original work. No one cares about the cut characters, the unexplored side stories, the unanswered questions that kept us reading for over two decades. No one will ever understand why we loved Dany, with her humanity and doubt and her defiance - all they know is a one-dimensional girl-turned-warlord with some epic OP dragon firepower. No one will ever understand why we love Arya so much, with her mussy hair and grimy hands from picking flowers for her father, with her determination that she'll just be a bastard too since she loves Jon and looks like him, and her insecure frustration at not being able to be what the world expected of her - all they know is a remorseless serial killer who clings to petty vendettas as much as the many faces in her magical HBO bag.
And how can we blame them?
If the creator himself doesn't care, what room is there for our grievances?
I guess this sounds kind of grim. Sort of bleak, especially right before the holiday season.
But a new year brings a morning to wake into an honest world, no matter how grey and dim the horizon may look.
This is the future our fandom has to cope with, make some sort of truce with.
Are we ready?
)