A Dance With Dragons: A Rant

There are no direct spoilers about A Dance With Dragons here. I hint at some things in general terms. There are some spoilers here for previous books so beware.

Finished.

"Fuck you, Martin!"

I mean, dammit man, I've defended you and supported your vision of your story forever.

When people put down the book after the RW in Storm of Swords I said, "No, stay with it. It's part of the story arch. Yes bad things happen but that's the way of life." I said, "You are feeling the emotional tug of the book. I was heart broken too. The author is doing his job superbly!"

When people said Feast For Crows jumped the shark I stepped up to the plate. "This book wasn't part of the original plan. The story's expanded. Yes, it doesn't flow as well as it should but it'll get better when he gets back on track. Stay with it. Stay with it."

When others say your books never go any where. That nothing is ever resolved. I tell them to be patient. "The series has a long story arch. You have to let the author take you on the journey through his vision."

When one person told me that there wasn't a single character in the book he could empathize with I told him to check into the morgue.

Then you give me this book. Fuck you.

Sure, as some have complained, you haven't completed the total story arch. You've always finished the small story though. The characters finished a small part of their journey and began the next.

In A Game Of Thrones

1. Robb captured the Kingslayer and was named King of The North. Now we move on to war.
2. Dany lost Khal Drogo and her Khalasar but her dragons were born and she move.

In A Storm of Swords

1. Jon defended the wall and was named Lord Commander. Then he had to learn to rule
2. Tyrion was allowed to escape and slayed his father. Then he was off to the east.

In A Feast For Crows

1. Jamie takes Riverrun and decided to allow Cersei to fend for herself

Even in Dance With Dragons you complete the Dany arch and she is starting a new path. We're not sure what that path is but she's on it. Arya you didn't complete but we see the forward movement.

But you ended the damn book - a BOOK - with cliffhangers! We have one battle starting, another army buried in snow, and an attempted murder in progress.

This is not a daytime soap opera. Not even a weekly TV drama where we'll learn a resolution with in the week. This is a book! And you take 5 years between books. Which I've also accepted.

I'm pissed that you failed to complete the small stories in this book. And this murder-in-fucking-progress? I'm not mad at the who. I'm not. S/he might deserve it. It feels forced. You are writing books in the middle of a story arch you had not originally planned to write. The story grew in the telling. I get that. However, you're known for killing off major characters. This murder feels like you dropped it in there to just keep up the rep.