My Tin Foil Hat Theory is that books 6/7 of ASoIaF are ~95% done, but GRRM would hates the franchise for what it's become and probably especially what HBO has done with it, and would literally rather die than promote it anymore. Good thing is he's rich and old enough to get away with that as a plan. Once he dies, Book 6 will quickly be compiled by Franck and released with him given a byline, along with enough material for B7 and maybe a Book 8 "written from his notes" depending on book sales.
Also, you (and others) have inspired me to start my own Substack, which will mostly be short book reviews if random books, which feels resonant with some of your material here.
My theory is similar in that GRRM is ashamed/embarrassed by the misogyny of the early books and can’t figure out how to retcon TWOW to show he’s an ally and down with the cause.
The Expanse was sold to me by a buddy as "these guys were GRRM's writing assistants, i.e. they wrote game of thrones". Not actually true but a good intro.
Dagger and the coin was a pleasant surprise, because even though the writing and world building doesn’t necessarily match a song of ice and fire, the one thing that Daniel Abraham can do is actually stay on track. It doesn’t have the issue as Game of Thrones where there’s all these characters and he doesn’t know how to end it. It’s a smooth five book series that has roughly the same point of views the entire time.
Well, it helps if you're familiar with the old testament and other "classic" texts.
Leviathan Wakes - obviously the leviathan is the protomolocule. In the Book of Job chapter 41 it is described as a beast that no man can control.
Caliban's War - (I did have to look up caliban, admittedly) This is from Shakespeare's The Tempest, and in it he is a mix of a tragic and comedic character, he is manipulated and betrays his master. So this would be a war that is both a farce and a betrayal.
Abaddon's Gate - Abaddon is also from the Book of Job where it means destruction or the place of the dead. In the New Testament in the Book of Revelation it refers to an agnel of destruction, in this case I think its effectively a loose translation for "Hell's Gate" appropriate for the exploration and first encounter of the ring space.
Cibola Burn - Cibola is one of the "lost cities of gold" in the Americas, (see also: National Treasure 2) And so could be in reference to either the hard burn towards riches, or the burning of those riches. Appropriate for the first attempt of humanity to colonize an alien world full of inscrutable artifacts.
Nemesis Games - Nemesis is the Greek goddess of revenge/retribution, so this would of course be referring to Marco's attack and the war that follows.
Babylon's Ashes - Babylon is of course the great and ancient city, but also its specifically a place of oppression and evil. So here I think it's meant to refer to the fact that earth is rebuilding after the attack and how a fairer distribution of power is being built since it's fall.
Persepolis Rising - Persepolis is the traditional capitol of the Persian Empire, which is the power than eventually supplanted Babylon. So this is of course referring to the Laconians but it's also an ironic title, as Laconia is a Greek place name (specifically it's the region where Sparta is) and Sparta and Persia famously fought against eachother
Tiamat's Wrath - Tiamat is a Mesopotamian god (though probably most familiar as a DnD Dragon god) and was the creator/mother of the pantheon. This probably refers to the loss of consciousness attacks that the beings beyond the rings use to attack humanity.
Leviathan Falls - Another relatively simple one. This is the end of the protomolecule's effect on humanity.
> The Mercy of Gods continues this dismaying trend with an absolutely forgettable title only tangentially and metaphorically related to the events of the book
Why the fuck should the title of the book be some description of the plot, as if it's a Friends episode title?
"The Sun Also Rises" -> "Expatriates in post-WWI Spain"
"To kill a mockingbird" -> "Black man falsely accused"
"Of Mice and Men" -> "Migrant workers in the storm of a tragic accident"
If you read such literature (instead of sci-fi/fantasy) by the dozens, and those were titles of new works (as opposed to major classics everyone read, heard about, taught of at school, or seen the movie), then you'd find them as little memorable and evocative as the ones you mention.
It's less about the title being memorable and evocative, and more about that the sci-fi/fantasy churn rate doesn't help with remembering what the n-th title one reads in a year corresponds to (even worse for multi-volume works).
I had had the exact same thought about those book titles. I think what it is that none of the bombastic names mean anything in the actual setting itself. Tiamat, Abaddon and co aren't ever name checked, it's literally just for the titles. This can work for some books (Brave New World, say) when the title has an extra-diagetic meaning that is at least an apt and recognisable reference.
Given how the first books came about, I think it's the impulse of a games master who loves world-building and gives his arcs names but the players themselves are oblivious.
I remember reading the synopsis when the book was first announced and realizing it's a sci-fi retelling of the Book of Daniel (researchers subjugated by aliens and taken to their homeworld in the same way the ancient Judeans were conquered by the Babylonians and taken to Babylon). Would that be a fair assessment?
I guess you could make this comparison but I don't know how useful it is. One major theme of the book is that the aliens have a totally alien value system and worldview that the humans have to figure out through trial and error. This difference is way, way beyond any sort of culture shock the ancient Judeans would have felt in Babylon.
My Tin Foil Hat Theory is that books 6/7 of ASoIaF are ~95% done, but GRRM would hates the franchise for what it's become and probably especially what HBO has done with it, and would literally rather die than promote it anymore. Good thing is he's rich and old enough to get away with that as a plan. Once he dies, Book 6 will quickly be compiled by Franck and released with him given a byline, along with enough material for B7 and maybe a Book 8 "written from his notes" depending on book sales.
Also, you (and others) have inspired me to start my own Substack, which will mostly be short book reviews if random books, which feels resonant with some of your material here.
https://substack.com/home/post/p-165627931
Nice, the book review is a dying art
My theory is similar in that GRRM is ashamed/embarrassed by the misogyny of the early books and can’t figure out how to retcon TWOW to show he’s an ally and down with the cause.
I dunno, if two goofballs ruined my magnum opus for the world I’d want to craft a proper ending. If only so people would stop bugging me about it.
Have you read the dagger and the coin series? Really enjoyed those books.
Also, interesting theory about George RR Martins assistant; didn’t know that about him lol
I haven't read those, maybe I will.
The Expanse was sold to me by a buddy as "these guys were GRRM's writing assistants, i.e. they wrote game of thrones". Not actually true but a good intro.
Dagger and the coin was a pleasant surprise, because even though the writing and world building doesn’t necessarily match a song of ice and fire, the one thing that Daniel Abraham can do is actually stay on track. It doesn’t have the issue as Game of Thrones where there’s all these characters and he doesn’t know how to end it. It’s a smooth five book series that has roughly the same point of views the entire time.
I can get on board with cautious optimism, I might just give this one a go!
I would say it’s worth it on its own even if the rest of the series doesn’t deliver.
The ending to The Expanse was not my favorite but the series is still pretty great.
Well, it helps if you're familiar with the old testament and other "classic" texts.
Leviathan Wakes - obviously the leviathan is the protomolocule. In the Book of Job chapter 41 it is described as a beast that no man can control.
Caliban's War - (I did have to look up caliban, admittedly) This is from Shakespeare's The Tempest, and in it he is a mix of a tragic and comedic character, he is manipulated and betrays his master. So this would be a war that is both a farce and a betrayal.
Abaddon's Gate - Abaddon is also from the Book of Job where it means destruction or the place of the dead. In the New Testament in the Book of Revelation it refers to an agnel of destruction, in this case I think its effectively a loose translation for "Hell's Gate" appropriate for the exploration and first encounter of the ring space.
Cibola Burn - Cibola is one of the "lost cities of gold" in the Americas, (see also: National Treasure 2) And so could be in reference to either the hard burn towards riches, or the burning of those riches. Appropriate for the first attempt of humanity to colonize an alien world full of inscrutable artifacts.
Nemesis Games - Nemesis is the Greek goddess of revenge/retribution, so this would of course be referring to Marco's attack and the war that follows.
Babylon's Ashes - Babylon is of course the great and ancient city, but also its specifically a place of oppression and evil. So here I think it's meant to refer to the fact that earth is rebuilding after the attack and how a fairer distribution of power is being built since it's fall.
Persepolis Rising - Persepolis is the traditional capitol of the Persian Empire, which is the power than eventually supplanted Babylon. So this is of course referring to the Laconians but it's also an ironic title, as Laconia is a Greek place name (specifically it's the region where Sparta is) and Sparta and Persia famously fought against eachother
Tiamat's Wrath - Tiamat is a Mesopotamian god (though probably most familiar as a DnD Dragon god) and was the creator/mother of the pantheon. This probably refers to the loss of consciousness attacks that the beings beyond the rings use to attack humanity.
Leviathan Falls - Another relatively simple one. This is the end of the protomolecule's effect on humanity.
Persepolis Rising
Tiamat's Wrath
Leviathan Falls
I don't have a problem with allusion in titles in principle, they just happen to be very forgettable. Some of them much worse than others.
> The Mercy of Gods continues this dismaying trend with an absolutely forgettable title only tangentially and metaphorically related to the events of the book
Why the fuck should the title of the book be some description of the plot, as if it's a Friends episode title?
"The Sun Also Rises" -> "Expatriates in post-WWI Spain"
"To kill a mockingbird" -> "Black man falsely accused"
"Of Mice and Men" -> "Migrant workers in the storm of a tragic accident"
Do you notice how all of titles you just named are much, much more memorable and evocative than anything by these authors
If you read such literature (instead of sci-fi/fantasy) by the dozens, and those were titles of new works (as opposed to major classics everyone read, heard about, taught of at school, or seen the movie), then you'd find them as little memorable and evocative as the ones you mention.
It's less about the title being memorable and evocative, and more about that the sci-fi/fantasy churn rate doesn't help with remembering what the n-th title one reads in a year corresponds to (even worse for multi-volume works).
I had had the exact same thought about those book titles. I think what it is that none of the bombastic names mean anything in the actual setting itself. Tiamat, Abaddon and co aren't ever name checked, it's literally just for the titles. This can work for some books (Brave New World, say) when the title has an extra-diagetic meaning that is at least an apt and recognisable reference.
Given how the first books came about, I think it's the impulse of a games master who loves world-building and gives his arcs names but the players themselves are oblivious.
That’s what I call Polished cover art
Thanks for sharing! I absolutely loved the expanse series and I enjoyed MoG.
I remember reading the synopsis when the book was first announced and realizing it's a sci-fi retelling of the Book of Daniel (researchers subjugated by aliens and taken to their homeworld in the same way the ancient Judeans were conquered by the Babylonians and taken to Babylon). Would that be a fair assessment?
I guess you could make this comparison but I don't know how useful it is. One major theme of the book is that the aliens have a totally alien value system and worldview that the humans have to figure out through trial and error. This difference is way, way beyond any sort of culture shock the ancient Judeans would have felt in Babylon.