/lit/ - Literature

The Winds of Winter will be released first quarter 2021, official announcement in 10 days. The fat man actually did it.

Screencap this.

>Ruling is hard. This was maybe my answer to Tolkien, whom, as much as I admire him, I do quibble with. Lord of the Rings had a very medieval philosophy: that if the king was a good man, the land would prosper. We look at real history and it’s not that simple. Tolkien can say that Aragorn became king and reigned for a hundred years, and he was wise and good. But Tolkien doesn’t ask the question: What was Aragorn’s tax policy? Did he maintain a standing army? What did he do in times of flood and famine? And what about all these orcs? By the end of the war, Sauron is gone but all of the orcs aren’t gone – they’re in the mountains. Did Aragorn pursue a policy of systematic genocide and kill them? Even the little baby orcs, in their little orc cradles?
WDHMBT?

When some GRRM fans say "muh realism" for almost everything they don't realize it fantasy in the end, and GRRM doesn't hesitate to abandon realism in favor of narrative and fantasy if he wants to or needed.

A lot of the things are both exaggerated and simplified from actual medieval world, and not just the obvious magic and dragons and ice zombies. For example, trial by combat was discouraged by the Catholic church and right of the first night didn't really exist in Medieval Europe. Ironborn and Dothraki are based on more stereotypical perception of Vikings and Mongols when they were much more pragmatic in real life. And how did those houses went for thousands of years? Why does the whole continent speak the same language? Why didn't the Faith of Seven schism into many sects already? Or how about gold melting at that low temperature? Or just anything about people surviving long seasons?

Realism aspect is there to describe "human hearts in conflict". It's more like "realism vs idealism" instead of realism as a historical accuracy.

Why can't this ugly fat fuck finish his books?

>>11599818
*taxes your post*

*shits on the English language*

>>11543548
but what was his tax policy?