Book nerds have spent the year joking that a certain death-at-a-wedding-obsessed author must be writing 2016, given the rash of celebrity demises and terrible turns for the worse. But George R.R. Martin's eulogy for Carrie Fisher and Richard Adams, both of whom died this week, proves he's just as disappointed in 2016 as we are.
In a Tuesday blog post titled "A Bad Year Gets Worse," Martin dubbed 2016 a year of "[d]eath, death, and more death" that "just keeps getting worse," before begging the powers that be to "let this wretched year come to an end."
Martin didn't spend much time talking about Carrie Fisher, whose death has received much more attention than that of Richard Adams. The A Song of Ice and Fire author lamented that he did not have anything particularly original to say about the actress and writer's passing, noting that:
She was way too young. A bright, beautiful, talented actress, and a strong, witty, outspoken woman. Princess Leia will live as long as STAR WARS does... probably forever... [sic]
Regarding Watership Down author Richard Adams, whom he called "one of [the world's] great fantasists," Martin celebrated his decision to remain outside of the writerly community:
Adams was not 'one of us,' in the sense that he was never a convention-goer or part of our genre fantasy community, which may be why he was never honored with a life achievement award by the World Fantasy Convention. Nonetheless, he deserved one. I've been suggesting him for that honor for at least twenty years... in part because I wanted to meet him. Now I never will. That's sad (though not as sad as PLAGUE DOGS). [sic]
Rest in peace, Carrie and Richard. You've earned it.
