Better Call Saul had fans guessing until the end. The finale wasn't as explosive as many expected, but it was a satisfying conclusion. 

I see a lot of love for the Shield's ending. 

Yes, the show creators supposedly had Martin's general notes and outlines, but we don't know how closely they adhered to his notes since the books aren't out, so are the most undesirable parts Martin's ideas or from the show creators? Also, while I do think Martin could get to many of the same plot points in a more believable and less obnoxious way, will the show's presentation ruin them before they even arrive?

I'm no longer optimistic the books will receive an ending at all, though, let alone worrying about whether it will be good or not. I'm not knocking the author. I can't imagine the pressure he's under, but just looking at the increasing # of years between volumes and increasing complexity of the plot, it's difficult to see how it can be brought together short of a random plague or something taking out 75% of the characters.

Martin is 75 and hardly the picture of good health...I think the tv ending is likely to be the only one we are ever going to get.

I've never actually read the books and have never been enticed enough to do so.  I have read the Wild Cards series, which is a mixture of a lot of people's work; but which I thought went off the rails about the mid-point of the original publishing run, before it switched to a new publisher.  Looking over the history of the publication of A Song of Ice and Fire; I kind of get the same impression, that the project went off the rails between books 3 and 4, regardless of the actual content.  It seems like his editor needed to put a foot in his backside to get the work done, or else George would be off doing other things; and, unlike Stephen King, he doesn't seem to be able to juggle multiple projects and hit deadlines (though King owed his publisher a Dark Tower book for quite a while, before he finally produced it).  That's all technical stuff, though, rather than a commentary on the quality of the work.  Like I say, I haven't read them and have no opinion as far as their quality.  I watched the tv and kind of felt it was entertaining, but vastly over-praised, as little seemed terribly original or that deep and it seemed like several plot threads just kind of broke off and disappeared, while they were still adapting the published material.

I kind of burnt out on fantasy literature, in the early 90s.  I grew tired of the same basic plots, over and over.  The one author I found engaging was Glen Cook, with his Black Company series.  The original trilogy was great, then he added a sequel series, which started well, then kind of stalled for several years, and what was promised as the wrap up to that storyline, turned into 3 more books.  I just kind of lost interest there, too.  Terry Pratchett became pretty much it for me, and I was a bit late in discovering Discworld, because of the burnout.  Aside from that, it's ostly been pulpier stuff and metafictions, like Kim Newman's stuff, which blends multiple genres and easter eggs.

The burnout is part of why I never tried A Song of Ice and Fire, plus my experience with the Wild Cards.

It feels gauche to say it, but I agree that the show end is likely the only one that will be published for all of the reasons stated.

I also agree the first three novels are great.

ASOIAF is also the reason I usually don’t start multipart stories that aren’t completed yet.

Did Wild Cards have a continuity, like Thieves World?

Yeah, there was a progression in the story and references back.  For instance, the character Puppetman, aka Gregg Hartmann, a senator with the Ace power to control people he touched, runs for president of the United States.  He attempts to manipulate the Democratic Convention, towards that end.  However, an assassin is hired to eliminate him and in battle, his Puppetman personality is destroyed and he loses his power.  Dr Tachyon coerces a mental breakdown, in public, to ensure he loses the party nomination.  After that, his mind is "jumped" into the body of a slug-like Joker, in an homage of Kafka's Metamorphosis (which, there was already a Joker, called Kafka, who resembled a cockroach, in the books). and is forced to hide out.

Captain Trips starts out as a square college student, in the 60s, who tries LSD and it unleashes an Ace power and personality, and he becomes a charismatic, super figure, who aids a student protest, but the power wears off, as he comes down and he reverts to his original form.  He spends the next several years trying to tap that persona and power again, resulting in several personalities, with different abilities, triggered by different "chemicals." (drugs)  He is called Captain Trips and all of his personalities manifest as entire beings, physically, and they each are an homage to a 60s song, like Jumpin' Jack Flash, who has pyro-kinetic abilities.  He ends up uncovering a new persona, which defends a new colony of Wild card victims, who have set up a community, in Vietnam.  They become a sovereign nation. by the end of that story, which continues into the next book.

For those who have never read them, the books are a series of "mosaic" novels, usually, though there have been some novels by single authors (using characters created by others).  It grew out of a role playing game, between several sci-fi and fantasy authors, with Martin acting as editor.  The premise is that an alien race, who is obsessed with pure genetic bloodlines (they have feuding "houses," ala Dune) develops a genetic weapon, which alters the DNA of a target, which is their "ultimate weapon."  They decide to test it on Earth, leading to the Roswell Event.  The ship crashes and the authorities recover technology, including the gene bomb.  It is stolen away by a nutjob scientist, who, during WW2, fought the young hero Jetboy (a pastiche of Hillman's Airboy)  One of the aliens comes to Earth to stop the experiment and he becomes known as Dr Tachyon (a pastiche of Doctor Who).  The mad scientist tries to extort the government with the bomb and Jetboy tries to stop him from activating it, but fails, leading the the genetic virus being unleashed over New York City.  It is dubbed the Wild Card Virus, because of the unpredictable results.  Most victims are killed outright.  Of the survivors, a large percentage are mutated into horrible forms, called Jokers.  A very small percentage gain beneficial super powers, known as Aces (and there is a sub-group, with very minor powers, called Deuces).

The government ends up assembling a team, called the Four Aces, to act in their behalf, in world affairs, but a failure in Communist China leads to suspicion of their activities and they are grilled by HUAC, breaking up the team.  As time goes by, the virus spreads across the globe and different cultures handle things differently.  A new generation of Aces and Jokers start appearing in the 60s, which then informs the modern stories.  For instance, a young man discovers he is telekinetic, at a very powerful level, but his own inhibitions mean he cannot be seen using his powers, or he loses confidence.  He and a friend take an old VW Beetle chasis and weld armor plate to it and he travels around in it, levitating, and uses his powers as The Great and Powerful Turtle (a bit of an homage to the Wizard of Oz, among other things).  Another character, known as The Sleeper (from HG Wells' story, "The Sleeper Awakes"), goes through periods where he falls into a catatonic sleep.  When he awakens, he is in a new form, with new powers.  Sometimes he is an Ace, sometimes a Joker.  When he has beneficial powers, he tries to prolong it by staying awake, taking amphetamines, but eventually crashes and goes into hibernation again.

The series also has an alternate history.  Cuba is still controlled by the Mafia and Fidel Castro became a professional baseball player and, then, a general manager.  Frank Zappa became an Army officer, who rose to the rank of general.

There was a mini-series, from Epic, in 1990, which was rather disappointing, I thought.  Dabel Brothers did another mini, in 2008, and Marvel published one in 2022.  Bantam put out two graphic novels and Dabel Brothers and Del Rey put out a pair..

Chris Claremont contributed at least one story, in the 90s, since there were a lot parallels to his X-Men stories (Wild Card persecution, "good" and "bad" Wild Cards, etc).  New books would have references to past events and their were subplots, that continued across books, like an archer vigilante, Yeoman, who is seeking revenge against a Triad group, from Vietnam, tied to the war.

I discovered the series about 3 or 4 books in and continued up to their first switch between publishers and then the complete interruption of the series (at Bantam, which then switched to Baen).  I picked up the first of the revived series, but I felt the series pretty much dropped off in quality around book 8, in 1991, which is the one with the Claremont story ("Luck Be a Lady"), though the 10th, Double Solitaire, by Melinda Snodgrass, focusing on Dr Tachyon, was pretty good.  I was already losing interest, when they switched to Baen and I never really regained and just stopped reading them.  The early ones were more fun and had the more interesting material, for me.  I thought they went a bit nuts when they introduced the "jumpers," a group of people who could swap minds in bodies, leading to Puppetman being placed in a Joker body and Dr Tachyon jumped into a female body.  There were some interesting ideas, but the sum was less than the individual parts.

I know others who remained fans through the longer run, so mileage varies.  I just find that the earliest stories were the better ones.  The first two books do a lot of introductory work, then they start having more of an over-arching story, in the book, with each story contributing to a larger tale, like a serialized tv show, like Babylon 5.

Star Trek's last episode "Turnabout Intruder" thoroughly dispelled any misconceived notion I may have had that this was some sort of culturally enlightened for its time series - a giant F You to anyone who might have even briefly considered the possibility that a woman should have the same rights as men.