Thanks!

I’m not sure the books and show necessarily have the same shortcomings. I think the show’s have proven to be more severe for now. I think the current problem with the books is if Martin’s narrative has become too bloated to be workable — we spend a lot of pages in books 4 & 5 on things that aren’t particularly interesting, like Tyrion’s long voyage downriver — and the brisker pace of books 1–3 has been lost. Will Winds of Winter come together better or will it end up buckling under its own weight? I guess we’ll have to wait and see, and then see how the end points are reached in the final book.

I think, in contrast, the show attempted to get to certain points as quickly and straightforwardly as possible, eventually getting to the point of violating the setting’s internal logic to do so. I don’t see Martin succumbing to that. I do wonder if the next books will have great material woven through an unsatisfying whole.