As there has been the tiniest yet still significant uptick in sales very recently, perhaps it is time to encourage new readers to PLEASE READ THE MARTIN NOVELLAS. You don’t have to buy them if you don’t want–they’re all available for free on AO3–but you should read them! The most satisfying end to the series, IMO, is in A Free Choice (GQ 4.5).
I say this because people don’t usually buy the Martin stories, and I can’t be sure if it’s because they know they can read them for free online, or because they don’t think Martin’s POV adds anything. In the past, I have run across multiple conversations where people don’t think Martin can possibly add to the story for some reason, but I respectfully say they are wrong.
Martin is half the story!
I’m very aware that more or less accidentally making an 8-part quartet was a glaring, ridiculous mistake, but I swear the series is better if you read all 8 books.
P.S. I am not dead!