George R. R. Martin has a new sample up!

[ssampier]

*holds breath*

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*turns purple*
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*faints*

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Right. Or if Jack Vance had taken decades to finish his "The Demon Princes" and "Lyonesse" series, that would be a good analogy.

Oh, wait. That's exactly what happened.

I believe Stephen King did the same thing with his Dark Tower trilogy, did he not? And he even wrote a lot of other stuff in between. From what I've heard, it didn't lose him any sales when he finally published the final volume...

RE: Martin, Berandor said it best, and I agree with him. I'd like Feast for Crows to come out sooner rather than later, but Martin owes me nothing. I've enjoyed the books of his I've bought greatly, and that's where our contract ends.

 

[KenM]

At this point I'm worried GRRM is over analzing his work to the point that he does not find it acceptable until HE thinks it perfect. I hope we don't get a bad book because of it. If all the book is is "Dany takes a bath." I'm getting a refund. Five years is a little too long, IMO. I got into it only a couple of years ago when A Storm of Swords first came out in paperback.

 

[Narfellus]

I'd thought about the Martin/King comparison myself, but in his heyday King was a writing monster. The Stand was longer than the GoT novels, and he never slowed down no matter what, putting out more books than most people other than his hardcore fans cared to read. Not that it's a race or anything. All writers have their own pace.

 

[Rhialto]

Vance is a perfect match however--in fact, his works are SHORTER than Martin's...

 

[ShrinkyLink]

I'd thought about the Martin/King comparison myself, but in his heyday King was a writing monster. The Stand was longer than the GoT novels, and he never slowed down no matter what, putting out more books than most people other than his hardcore fans cared to read. Not that it's a race or anything. All writers have their own pace.

Agreed. But writing a book isn't digging ditches. I tend not to have much pity for writers who are well off and still can't seem to get their books written. (This is setting aside personal tragedy or health issues, of course.) I've stopped even looking for Martin's next book, and have moved on to other writers like Elizabeth Moon (her 'Deed of Paksnarrion' is well worth your time) and have just started Steven Erikson's 'Gardens of the Moon'. Both have that 'gritty' feel Martin does so well, and have helped me scratch that itch for more 'realistic' fantasy.

Also with King: he was also suffering from addiction when some of his biggest (in terms of page count) books came out, and it's no surprise the quality dropped. ('Tommyknockers', anyone?) Now that he's clean, his books have become thinner, but oh so much better, IMHO.

 

[Digital M@]

Is Martin still alive? I thought he died. I am anxiously awaiting this book, but will probably not read it until he finishes the series. I have read the series 3 times now and am not as fond of it as I was the first time through. I don't want to burn out on it by rereading it to death. For me the only advantage of rereading is I don't have to read any chapters w/ Dany in them.

 

[talinthas]

/yawns
wake me when he has a book out.

 

[myrdden]

/yawns
wake me when he has a book out.

I'll go one further and say when the series is finished...