Magospietato on 9/6/2006 at 00:58
Aight peeps,
Does anyone know what's happening with George R.R. Martin's series? It's all gone quiet...
I know the next instalment (I forget the title) is out this year - hopefully - but does anyone have a definitive date?
And what about the rest of the series? I've checked his website, but there doesn't seem to be much with regards to the continuation of the series.
I figured TTLG'ers might know, what with some of you having actually MET the big guy.
I have to admit, I'm a complete whore for this series. I hated it to begin with, but even an embittered cynic like myself had to cheer [SPOILER]when Joffrey died![/SPOILER]
Scots Taffer on 9/6/2006 at 01:09
Spoiler tag that please, I know it's an old one but still.
Also, there have been no dates specified because it'll take as long as it has to take. George said that he has a good chunk of it written but didn't even offer what that was a percentage of the total book. I guess you'll just have to be patient.
Personally, I'm glad that I'm reading new things. I love aSoIaF but it gets a little bit too much swords 'n' sadism after a while.
Strangeblue on 9/6/2006 at 04:01
What, you think people just whip these things out in an afternoon? Feast for Crows only hit the racks in November, give the guy a break. He's trying to write a 500+ page book (that's about 1200 manuscript pages, or 5 reams of paper full of words--think about it), while also writing novellas and short stories and having a life. Most series writers only publish one big book per year or up to 3 small ones. This is a doozy-hugemongous book. Have a little patience, dude.
If I were forced to guess, I'd say his publisher wants to hit the racks with a hardback for Christmas 2006 or Spring Break of 2007, if they didn't make the Christmas deadlines (which were last month, even if they are fast-tracking). I'm sure GRRM will update as soon as he has a firm date.
Zygoptera on 9/6/2006 at 04:09
A year wouldn't seem unreasonable considering that much of the new book was already written prior to AFFC being published, though editting something that complex must be horrendous. Realistically though Spring (NH) 2007 would seem a fair estimate.
<small>As for news there is a new (couple of weeks old) sample chapter at georgerrmartin's website. Tyrion's first chapter in ADWD, it seems.</small>
Strangeblue on 9/6/2006 at 04:51
Yeah, the longer and more complex the series, the harder it is to write and to edit. Editorial cycle for a book that size--even on a fast track--is never less than 6 months and often 10 to 12 or more. That's just from the point where the author delivered an "acceptable" manuscript until the book is on the shelves and doesn't include the time it takes him to write it. There are a lot of steps and a lot of people in between writer delivering a manuscript draft and reader plunkin down their hard-earned for a copy in the local B&N. And if something big happens to disrupt the cycle-- author or relative ends up in hospital, the printing house burns down, Teamsters go on strike, whatever--then the book has to be rescheduled and that can sometimes mean a delay of up to a year.
Martin's publisher is Spectra, a subdivision of Random House/Dell and therefore one of the 2 biggest and busiest publishers in the English-reading world (Harper Collins is the other). Their print schedule is pretty tight, so a small bobble in timing early on can make a big difference in distribution date. Which is probably why no one's giving out any dates, right now.
