it all goes back and back

Two naive estimates are treating a book as a book as a book. Stephen King wrote a book in a month, George Martin should be able to do that too. Then you say, no, King's books are shorter, so book complexity should really be a function of word length.

But that falls short fast. There are short stories more complex to write than some novels, simply because they are pulling off more complex things with their writing, while the novel is trite and hackneyed. (More complex doesn't mean more or less good, of course--a book entirely written without the letter 'e' is pretty complex for the average human to write, but it's probably not anyone's favorite novel.)

"I was unforgiveably rude to you in the yard. You must forgive me." "Must?" She tossed her hair, took a sip of wine, made him wait. "How can you forgive someone who is unforgiveably rude? Will you explain that to me, ser?"

and

case in point:

(ACOK, Catelyn I)

flash forward and robb corrects him AGAIN:

but five seconds later:

(ASOS, Catelyn II)

The inevitable telos of technological progress in the eyes of techno-esotericists is one of two potential outcome, a heaven and a hell if you will: 1) total sublimation of humanity to the will of the Elites Controlling it All (esotericism and conspiracism have always been bedfellows in the best of times), or 2) the creation of Heaven-On-Earth, guided by the soothsayers and the tech startup CEOs, with the Singularity and AGI being instruments that will bring about this Rapture where unbelievers will see their doubts finally cast aside.

Two naive estimates are treating a book as a book as a book. Stephen King wrote a book in a month, George Martin should be able to do that too. Then you say, no, King's books are shorter, so book complexity should really be a function of word length.

But that falls short fast. There are short stories more complex to write than some novels, simply because they are pulling off more complex things with their writing, while the novel is trite and hackneyed. (More complex doesn't mean more or less good, of course--a book entirely written without the letter 'e' is pretty complex for the average human to write, but it's probably not anyone's favorite novel.)