Quote:Hooo boy. The six-year wait for A Dance With Dragons, the next book in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, will reach its merciful end on July 12. (Edited: Preorders are now up on Amazon for $23.10. The listed price is $35). Calling its release long awaited is like calling the Hindenburg disaster a "mishap," so I understand if you're hesitant to believe the date announced by Entertainment Weekly. But no less than Martin himself has confirmed the news on his website, saying:

"You've all seen publication dates before: dates in 2007, 2008, 2009. None of those were ever hard dates, however. Most of them... well, call it wishful thinking, boundless optimism, cockeyed dreams, honest mistakes, whatever you like. This date is different. This date is real."

Martin calls the book a "monster" and EW says it'll rival the 900 pages of previous entry A Storm of Swords. As to what'll be inside those pages, Martin gives us this mini preview: "I can say all the characters people have been waiting for are there: Daenerys, Jon Snow, and Tyrion. There’s also new characters, and viewpoints from characters who did not have viewpoints before."

The mind boggles at the possibilities, though I'm personally hoping to see more of Arya Stark's adventures.

Martin has an even vaguer answer as to why the sixth book in ASoIaF series took so damn long to complete: "It’s very complicated. I have a lot of characters and points of view. And I’ve been doing a ton of rewriting, trying to get it where I wanted it to be. Some of these chapters I’ve rewritten more times than I can count before I’m satisfied with them." EW promises more and lengthier response in their print edition.

The first book in the series, A Game of Thrones, is of course coming to HBO on April 17 in the form of a ten-episode season with subsequent seasons to follow later book plots, and, how can I put this without landing me in jail: I will murder somebody with my big toe if that's the only way I can see it.

Here's the latest trailer, a discussion on whether you should read the book before watching the TV show, and the rest of Ology's Game of Thrones coverage. It's kind of a big deal.

So are you guys as excited as I am?

Skelas Wrote:Now excuse me while I pull on my fucking ponytail. Fucking Jordan.

Zouji Wrote:I'll believe the book when I see it. Even if it does get released this author is gonna die before he puts out another book. So I doubt he will ever finish the damned series. Unless someone resurrects him after he dies and forces him to write rather than blog about god damned football. .

Jakensama Wrote:No clue who that is.

Kindles nice too since you can read fantasy in public without being embaressed.