Song of Ice and Fire - Official Book 5 Pub Date!

[DEFCON 1]

I will definitely pick this book up right around it's release date, and if history is any indication... in the months leading up to it I'll do exactly what I did leading up to A Feast For Crows... which is go back and reread the earlier books.

I am very thankful in that the period of time after reading one of these books where I desperately wish that the next book would "just get here already"... only lasts for a couple weeks or so. After that... I'm able to put away my needs and desires for the next book and just move on to whatever tv/film/book I'm excited for next. I haven't been concerned with what happens after AFfC for years now, and thus it doesn't matter to me how long he takes to put out the next one. And once Dragons is released... by the beginning of August I won't be worrying about when The Winds of Winter might get written.

 

[howandwhy99]

Hello Everyone,

I'm curious why people won't read a series until they have all been released. From my own point of view, if I liked a series, I would read it regardless of whether it was finished because:

a) I'd enjoy reading the next "chapter" of the story anyway

b) I'd hate reading something somewhere that spoiled what was happening in a book I had not read yet.

This differs for some of you out there, I'm kind of curious why?

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

Watch the Star Wars Trilogy and stop after Empire, why go on right?

Or read books backwards first. Or randomly roll what pages to read next.

Because continuity and resolution generally hold a payoff desired by audiences.

 

[Umbran]

I appreciate that not everyone feels the same and that resolution is a big deal for a lot of folks, but it sure never stopped me from loving and sharing Firefly long before Serenity, for instance.

It isn't about resolution, it is about pacing.

I don't mind reading the last book and having plot threads ultimately left hanging. I mind having to wait so long between books that I forget the details, and have to go back and re-read several 500+ page tomes to be able to fully enjoy and understand the newest offering. The books are good, but not so good that I feel they merit so much revisiting so soon.

There are other authors who reliably put new books out on a regular basis, and these I don't mind reading as they come out. But this guy hasn't earned that kind of trust.

 

[Umbran]

There was a thread in General and a thread here in Media on the same topic - I've brought them both to Media and merged them.

 

[jbear]

I've had a bit of a giggle at some of the semi-irate responses in the thread thus far I must admit. I talk about Mr Martin every now again with my wife and I'll also admit we've not always said nice things. But I think mainly out of a sense of frustration at having waited so long for something to continue a story I thus far have absolutely relished.

But I guess it's best to flip negative things on their head. Waiting for the next book so long was the direct cause for me stumbling across the 'Geralt de Rivia Saga', written by a marvellous polish writer, Andrej Sapkowski, which I have been thoroughly enjoying in what has seemed like a wait that was never going to end.

Also, with a four month heads up I have enough time to reread the series from the beginning because the details have faded into a haze of nostalgia far to light on details, but this time with the satisfaction of knowing at the end of it I will be able to have the next one in my hands smelling of new with the stories of what the hell happened to John Snow and Tyrion inside.

Will the entire series ever fully written? I have my doubts. But I still want to read the next book.

 

[NewJeffCT]

when the last book, A Feast For Crows was released - way the heck back in 2005 - it had been about five years since book three, A Storm of Swords, had been released in 2000.

When I picked up AFFC right after its release, I started reading it immediately and was overwhelmed because I had forgotten so much that had happened from the last book. I got frustrated because I could not remember so many of the characters, so I just stopped reading after less than 20 pages and said I would wait until the next book came out and read them both together.... little did I know the wait would be six friggin' years!! I vaguely remember names like Lannister and Stark, but could not tell you one Stark child from another and which ones are alive and which ones are dead.

When AFFC came out, didn't he say that he had written AFFC and ADWD together so they could be released in back to back years? Or, something like that?

 

[Crothian]

When AFFC came out, didn't he say that he had written AFFC and ADWD together so they could be released in back to back years? Or, something like that?

Yes, he did. he had written so much it had to be broken into two books. Given how long it took for that to happen I think it was BS.

The delays don't bother me as much as hearing and reading some things he wrote on his blog. His excuses over the years and reactions to fans really left me cold. He became an author I don't want to give money to.

 

[mach1.9pants]

Just like the wheel of time, I won't be buying or reading anymore until they are all out in mass market paperback and I can start from scratch. Still I really look forward to that day, if it happens!

 

[Aldern Foxglove]

Ah my bad missed this thread entirely.

But honestly I cannot believe the responses here. To me A Song of Ice and Fire blows everything else in the fantasy genre out of the water. I've enjoyed the books so much that even if they remained unfinished I could never contemplate regretting reading them.

I feel very sorry for folks who are not going to continue with the series because they might have to wait a while, or even never see it finished.

 

[Banshee16]

Keep in mind that he has a TV show to keep up with, now. Assuming "Game of Thrones" runs 1 book per season and doesn't get canceled, he has a deadline of 2016 to release the sixth book (and 2017 to release the seventh). And in practical terms, it's probably more like 2015/2016, given the amount of planning that goes into a TV show.

It'll be an expensive, niche TV show. And, given we haven't seen an episode yet, we have no idea if it'll be good enough to last all those seasons. So this is a hypothetical pressure on him. If the show lasts 2 seasons and then gets canceled, there's not much pressure on him.

I hope this is not the case. I hope that he feels sufficient pressure that he gets the next book out in a year or two, and that this big wait was due to problems in writing book 5, and not an indicator that he's truly slowing down.

I guess we'll see..

How many more books are there supposed to be? 2? Or 3? I can't remember if it's a 6 book series that has been extended to 7 books, or a 7 book series that extended to 8 books.

Banshee