DespiteElden Ringarriving at the start of the year, the depth of its world and corresponding lore seemingly knows no bounds. Fans are still discovering new things about it as the year approaches its end, and this will probably be the case for some time yet. Developer FromSoftware has carved out a reputation for building these complex worlds, rich with lore and mystery buried beneath their surfaces, and fans of theDark Soulsdeveloper happily spend hours trying to unravel these mysteries. Author George R.R. Martin though, despite being involved inElden Ring’s narrative design and world-building, will likely never play the sprawling open-world RPG.
Martin is a busy man these days. Theauthor of the acclaimedA Song of Ice and Fireseries, which spawned the award-winning TV showGame of Thrones, is still hard at work on the series' sixth book, titledThe Winds of Winter. Fans have been waiting for over a decade for this next installment, and for a long time some wondered whether it would ever arrive, but thankfully, Martin has confirmed that the project is now in its closing stages. Due to his confessed addictive personality though, it would probably be a mistake for Martin to dive intoElden Ring’s world while he’s in the midst of finalizing the long-awaited novel.
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George R.R. Martin Has a Good Reason For Not Playing Elden Ring
Even thoughGeorge R.R. Martin hasn’t playedElden Ringyet, he does actually have a history with video games that may surprise some of his fans. An unspecified number of years ago, Martin devoted many hours to retro strategy games likeHomeworld,Master of Orion,andRailroad Tycoon. The former two are real-time turn-based strategy games based in the outer regions of space, while the latter gives players control of their own amusement park, managing everything from gate fees to building new attractions. Martin claims to have devoted far too many hours to these games, which goes some way to explaining why he is keen to avoid playingElden Ring, lest it gets in the way of his next book.
A Song of Ice and Firerepresents the absolute best of Martin’s work.HBO’s TV adaption,Game of Thrones, catapulted both the book series and the author himself into the mainstream limelight for the first time. Indeed, the show became something of a financial juggernaut during its initial run, spawning merchandise, and video game adaptions, while scooping up multiple awards along the way. The speed at which the series progressed meant that eventually, the creators of the show were faced with the unenviable prospect of overtaking the incomplete book series' narrative, forcing them to make some creative decisions with the characters and plot.
These decisions went down horribly with both fans and critics, andGame of Thrones’final season was almost universally panned, with Martin himself confirming he was ‘out of the loop’ in terms of the narrative direction, not involved in decisions around the plot or characters. Inevitably, this adds further pressure on Martin to deliver the final pieces of hisIce and Firepuzzle, and give fans the balanced and satisfying conclusion to the epic saga that the TV show was unable to provide.
Thesuccess of HBO’s recentHouse of the Dragon, the next big TV adaptation of Martin’s works, which follows events in the latter half of Martin’s 2018 bookFire & Blood, has once again reinforced belief in the author’s immense story and world-building talents. All eyes are now onThe Winds of Winter, and its subsequent and final novel,A Dream of Spring,as fans hope they will restoreGame of Thrones’damaged legacy.George R. R. Martin’s gaze is firmly fixed on finishing hisA Song of Ice and Firesaga, so the world ofElden Ring, and the Lands Between, will have to wait for now.
Elden Ringis available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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