From Curt: GRR Martin and a Patiently Waiting Fan - Some Torture for 'The Pit of the Pendulum'

I was thinking hard on what to do for 'The Pit of the Pendulum'. This one Adam had developed, and I was stumped at first, but then the 'torture' aspect resonated with me and I had an idea. 

I remembered I had a series of models from Dark Sword Miniatures depicting characters from George RR Martin's 'Game of Thrones' books. My enthusiasm for the figures had soured over the years, matching my growing irritation in waiting for him to finish the series until I finally ignored both.  That is when the idea struck: The torture of a fan waiting for him to finish his work. Perfect.

I used to be a big fan of Martin's series until he transitioned from a writer to essentially a celebrity grifter. I don't want to get into the long story of GRR Martin's inability to deliver the goods, but I'll provide a brief synopsis to explain my entry.

I, along with many other readers, waited for years after Martin's third book ('Storm of Swords') for him to complete the series. Updates on his progress turned into excuses, excuses to obfuscation, and obfuscation to, well, pure fiction, I guess. 

To put this in perspective, his first book was published in 1996, with the following two being published over four years. Pretty good pace, right? But then it took him 11 years to write the next two books (really, it's 1 and a half books). It's now been another 10 years and his suckers for punishment fans are still waiting for the next book in the series. Yep, 25 years for 5 books. Martin says there will be at least two more to complete the series. Riiiight. Suuure there will. I hope his afterlife provides for a typewriter...

As a counterpoint, JRR Tolkien completed 'The Lord of the Rings' over a 13 year span (1937 to 1949) while also working full-time as a university lecturer (and throw in a world war). Proper work ethic there.

Anyway, as everyone knows, HBO bought the rights to Martin's work and just plowed along to complete the series. They ended up filling-in the yawning gaps (over 3 seasons) which Martin had yet to complete, knowing full well that they couldn't count on him to give them the goods. After this, he has the temerity to say that the series ending was not 'faithful' to his vision. Wow, and what vision would that be precisely?! Gee, let's see. Oh, a blank page! So you have no vision Mr. Martin - shocking. What an egotistical, tone-deaf git. 

So every time I hear about GRR Martin's pathetic excuses for his delays in completing 'Game of Thrones' I just roll my eyes and wonder what new torture he's putting his fans through.

Dark Sword Miniatures did a special vanity vignette depicting Martin as (get this) a Maester writing on some scrolls. *eyeroll*

The irony was just too great, so this is why I've left the sheets of parchment on the table completely blank. It seems fitting.

Oh, and I also did up a cobblestone base with a new roller from Greenstuff World. Fun!

Modeling clay and rolling pin - it's like being in preschool...

...and these ones to still try out...

The gibbet is from Reaper and is a very nice little model (though I almost snapped my crayons getting the rope rigged through the guides and tying it off). My only real criticism is that the bars on the cage are a little too beefy, making it very difficult to see the figure inside. 

The 'fan' is a little ropey, but I like the overall pose. I popped the whole thing on a 60mm base and added some groundwork to blend it in (there's even three skulls tucked away in there Barks!).

I'm going to claim 15 for the gibbet, 10 for Maester Martin (the tw@t), the 20 point Chamber bonus and my 5th Squirrel Point. Phew!

Next up: 'The Golem's Haunt'

Thanks for dropping in!

- Curt