Originally Posted by
Endus
Y'know, I'd take that more seriously if I were still waiting anxiously for the next book. But I'm not. The first couple books were great, but 3 and 4 were a massive slog, especially given that they both cover the same time period, just separating between the continents. And there's not a huge amount that happens, that really matters, at least. Everything up to the Red Wedding, in the books and the show, is gold. After that, it starts to flag, and you start realizing that while Martin had a start to a story, he had no idea where it was ending. It's funny to give a character all the hallmarks of the epic hero, and then murder them in the face in the first half of the first book; it knocks the reader off balance. The Red Wedding was a second hit. But continuing to knock the reader off balance isn't a story, and it doesn't go anywhere.
GoT is basically Jackass: Fantasy Writer Edition. "Oooh, he's not gonna, HE'S NOT GONNA, OH MY GOD HE DID THE ABSOLUTE MADMAN". Repeat until bored because there's nothing else to it. It's a shame because that first half was great, it's just not sticking the landing, and you can't start a story with "everyone dies, brutally and without warning" and then tie it all off with a happy bow with everyone's story coming to a satisfying end.
I think that's the biggest issue; between Ned Stark's death and the Red Wedding, the first season said "no one is safe, we don't care if you think they're awesome". And lately, the only people dying are minor characters, or secondary characters whose stories are done (and really, the last few episodes, that's Theon, and that's it). Killing a character after the conclusion of their arc is lazy; you don't want to bother with the character, so you off them. The deaths that MATTER to the audience are those where they've got a story we wanted to see and now we never will. That's why Ned and Rob's deaths mattered. And it's why none of the deaths in S8 have.