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You paid for a product. You got a product. That is the end of the matter in its entirety. Werthead Send a noteboard - 18/09/2009 09:03:05 PM
Gaiman's "contract" analogy is bad. There is a quasi-contract theory that is used in situations like this - reliance. Martin makes statements about a schedule of printing and we rely on them. I don't think Martin owes me the next book for my "$10" as Gaiman puts it, failing to realize that those of us who buy hardcovers pay more. However, under reliance theory he owes me a refund of the books that I bought in reliance that he would finish on time.


No, he does not. There is no contract, there is no reliance theory, there is nothing of the sort involved. It is a pure retail transaction and absolutely nothing else. The only way it could be anything else is if you somehow paid for ADWD, TWoW and ADoS ahead of time and never got them. This has not happened.

A product was produced. You bought that product. You bought that product knowing that a meteor could flatten the producer's house tomorrow and you would never get the next part. You bought that product knowing (or fully capable of finding out) that it was part of a series of products that was as yet incomplete. You chose to get invested in the series before it was completed, in a genre littered with examples of series that were never finished, or spiralled out of control and took five times as long to complete as it should have done.

This is a genre where you can have the most reliable, regular author in the world who releases a book every year for years on end, and then suddenly they're taking three years per book (Rowling, Jordan, Donaldson). You can have a very reliable and fast writer who suddenly gives up on the series halfway through for absolutely no discernable reason (Gerrold), or due to family issues (Rawn). You can have a brilliant series which simply doesn't sell, so the next book is cancelled and you're left high and dry (Kearney).

When you buy a book, regardless of if is labelled as Book 4 of 7, the only guarantee you have is that you have is that you have bought that book. The next book might never come out.

If you don't want to be in that position, then you should have waited until the series was completed before buying it.
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Now I understand why everyone has been bitching about a Dance of Dragons.... - 18/09/2009 12:36:21 AM 1208 Views
Welcome my son....welcome to the machine...... *NM* - 18/09/2009 03:06:36 AM 377 Views
lol Nice. *NM* - 20/09/2009 12:28:08 AM 337 Views
It's not just that. He split A Feast for Crows into two. - 18/09/2009 03:10:35 AM 504 Views
Re: It's not just that. He split A Feast for Crows into two. *NM* - 18/09/2009 04:04:06 AM 414 Views
Titles - 18/09/2009 04:15:24 AM 473 Views
Ok, Martin is published by Bantam...replace "Tor" with "Bantam" - 18/09/2009 05:43:51 PM 494 Views
Nope, still doesn't work. - 18/09/2009 08:49:09 PM 466 Views
Re: Nope, still doesn't work. - 18/09/2009 10:46:59 PM 360 Views
Is this the thread in which you'll FINALLY reveal... - 20/09/2009 12:31:49 AM 388 Views
Remember what The Neil said: "GRRM is not your bitch!" *NM* - 18/09/2009 07:32:47 AM 379 Views
I don't give a shit what Neil Gaiman thinks - 18/09/2009 05:35:54 PM 386 Views
Gaiman = The Most Overrated Author of the New Milennium. *NM* - 20/09/2009 12:33:10 AM 356 Views
In your opinion, of course. *NM* - 20/09/2009 01:28:33 AM 344 Views
Yes, and this entire thread deals with opinions. - 20/09/2009 01:52:21 AM 339 Views
I see the reason in that. - 20/09/2009 02:13:46 AM 525 Views
He might be a good comic book author, I don't know - 20/09/2009 03:05:15 AM 407 Views
I see where there might be a misunderstanding. - 20/09/2009 03:05:24 AM 458 Views
You're the man, Wert. - 20/09/2009 03:29:41 AM 437 Views
Still ruling WOT, I see. How's that going? *NM* - 18/09/2009 03:26:15 AM 326 Views
Very well, thanks - 18/09/2009 04:05:16 AM 407 Views
One thing I got to say about Robert Jordan... - 18/09/2009 03:40:20 AM 511 Views
Sometimes ... - 18/09/2009 05:07:18 AM 431 Views
I agree! - 18/09/2009 01:39:04 PM 421 Views
Sometimes...Neil Gaiman should be thrown into a meat grinder. - 18/09/2009 05:49:56 PM 467 Views
You paid for a product. You got a product. That is the end of the matter in its entirety. - 18/09/2009 09:03:05 PM 428 Views
Was this well out of line, by any chance? - 18/09/2009 10:25:57 PM 465 Views
damn you are rude *NM* - 18/09/2009 10:51:19 PM 338 Views
Gosh. This is pretty tiring. - 18/09/2009 11:25:51 PM 481 Views
So this guy still hasn't been banned yet, why exactly? - 19/09/2009 04:13:05 PM 436 Views
For several reasons. *NM* - 19/09/2009 10:15:38 PM 323 Views
Get off your high horse. Someone disagrees with you. Deal with it. *NM* - 20/09/2009 12:35:24 AM 326 Views
No, this guy is breaching the forum rules on attacks and insults. - 20/09/2009 02:57:20 AM 371 Views
What would you call a good start? - 20/09/2009 03:25:46 AM 357 Views
Oh please. Grow some thicker skin. - 20/09/2009 03:26:33 AM 369 Views
You think this behaviour would have been tolerated on Wotmania? It definitely would not have been. - 20/09/2009 03:31:20 AM 400 Views
That is factually incorrect. *NM* - 20/09/2009 03:38:06 AM 328 Views
"It" would have been. "It" was. - 20/09/2009 05:45:14 AM 404 Views
Depends on which section of wotmania you're thinking about - 20/09/2009 06:54:00 AM 398 Views
Precisely. *NM* - 20/09/2009 07:30:12 AM 323 Views
I half agree... - 20/09/2009 04:35:22 AM 389 Views
What's with the ad hominems, Tom? - 20/09/2009 06:57:33 AM 366 Views
Irony overdose. Again. - 19/09/2009 06:28:49 AM 371 Views
WTF? - 20/09/2009 01:49:23 AM 417 Views
- 20/09/2009 03:00:53 AM 406 Views
that would be very counter productive - 18/09/2009 10:50:01 PM 359 Views
Depends on what you want. - 18/09/2009 11:26:54 PM 353 Views
That's the most valid point of the argument. - 18/09/2009 11:54:26 PM 403 Views
Agreed. - 19/09/2009 03:02:48 AM 387 Views
Now to me that supports Tom's point about 'reliance theory'. - 19/09/2009 05:55:28 PM 406 Views
But a promise was never made. - 19/09/2009 06:04:55 PM 396 Views
I think we're hung up on the definition of "promise." - 19/09/2009 07:14:30 PM 367 Views
Who is GGK and where is his article? + my opinion on Martin - 19/09/2009 07:55:01 PM 412 Views
This is where the great divide comes into play - 19/09/2009 08:10:09 PM 394 Views
I think he should take a page out of RJ's book - 19/09/2009 08:36:55 PM 429 Views
Excellent point. - 19/09/2009 10:09:36 PM 379 Views
Re: Excellent point. - 20/09/2009 12:21:21 AM 399 Views
That would be the best policy. *NM* - 19/09/2009 11:23:48 PM 305 Views
Re: Who is GGK and where is his article? + my opinion on Martin - 19/09/2009 11:22:25 PM 448 Views
Re: I think we're hung up on the definition of "promise." - 19/09/2009 08:04:53 PM 375 Views
Exceptions prove the rule... - 19/09/2009 08:42:39 PM 357 Views
Re: Exceptions prove the rule... - 19/09/2009 10:00:35 PM 356 Views
I think we're winding down here. - 20/09/2009 07:41:15 AM 349 Views
Yeah. - 19/09/2009 11:27:04 PM 411 Views
Don't mind me, I just can't post in the right place. *NM* - 19/09/2009 07:13:25 PM 358 Views