KirstenS

He's been very chatty about his progress on the next book in his Not a Blog lately. Am I cynical enough to think that he's planning on completing it just in time for the HBO series so he can ride the popularity wave from the show? Maybe...

MJgambino

GRRM just posted a July 2011 release for A Dance with Dragons... it's about time.

starman9000

Nice, got a video game and the show coming out too, if the book really comes out this will be a hell of a GRRM summer.

Alvis

So, 5 years and 8 months since Feast. Of course, I won't believe until I actually see it in the shelf. And I'm not sure I'm going to buy it right away. So....how long before the next book?

http://www.georgerrmartin.com/if-update.html


No. Sorry. Not done yet.

I'm close, though. Watch this space. When the book is done, you will read it here.

Meanwhile... there is news. Big news. The end is in sight, at long long last, and we're close enough so that my editors and publishers at Bantam Spectra have set an actual publication date.

A DANCE WITH DRAGONS will be in your favorite bookstore on

TUESDAY, JULY 12, 2011

Yes, I know. 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.

Barring tsunamis, general strikes, world wars, or asteroid strikes, you will have the novel in your hands on July 12. I hope you like it.

(For what it's worth, the book's a monster. Think A STORM OF SWORDS.)

The dragons are coming. Prepare to dance.

And hey... thanks for waiting.
―George R.R. Martin, March 3, 2011

Sean O'Hara

Check out the big brain on Brad!

KirstenS

Can't say I'm too upset to be right on this one. I'm super excited for this release. Oh, and look! The new cover:



ties in perfectly with the HBO covers:



My my, what a coincidence...

milo bloom

Awesome, just saw this at another board. I need to get cracking on the 3rd and 4th books, just started this series for the first time last year.

Hokeyboy

I devoured the first 3 books as they came out. The wait for 4 was too long. I started it and put it down just as fast. So much time had passed since the previous book, I had forgotten many of the characters and subplots. And then a whole bunch of NEW characters were being introduced.

Since 4 came out in print, I went back and re-"read" the first 3 books on audio. I'm ready to tackle 4 again in preparation for 5. But it's hardly a high priority at this time. I've kinda moved on from the series, life is too short to obsess over these books when there are too many other novels just waiting to be read.

mgbfan

If you're killing off characters at the rate GRRM does, you need lots of fresh blood.

Apple Gooncha

Sorry if the July 12th date doesn't excite me too much... I (sort of) went through this with with the last book in the series, and since back in 2005 he claimed a late 2006 date (and said he was around halfway done with "Dance" then) I've seen too many years, months, etc. predicted. Sure, this is a "hard" date and would tie in perfectly with the show, but I'll believe it when I see it.

On that note, however, I suppose I'll get started on re-reading the first 4 again pretty soon. I remember my first read I kept notes and would read chapter summaries in between chapters to keep up. Demanding, but rewarding. Hopefully, this will be more "Storm" and less "Feast".

Cusm

This is great news. I guess I need to continue my re-read of the series, I am 1/2 through Thrones but have slacked off lately. I just hope we don't have to wait 5-10 years for the last 2, if that is still how many he is planning in the series.

If he really is having issues not knowing what he is doing he needs to get together with someone else and outline the damned ending.

DaveNinja

i guess its time to start rereading then

Dr. DVD

Okay, I have been trying to make it through Thrones and have to ask:

how much of the sword and sorcery stuff gets into this? I like fantasy like Lord of the Rings and old school Robert E. Howard. In short, I want to read about sorcerers, dragons, and otherworldy creatures. While I appreciate the character aspect so far, it isn't really grabbing me in the fantasy area. I want to know somewhat of an unspoilered answer before I get too deep into this series. Thanks!

brainee

I read through the first 3 books, and honestly it always stays light on the overt "fantasy" stuff. Though it does come up every now and then so you don't forget you're reading fantasy and not straight historical drama. And I get the sense that the fantasy elements will eventually become more important and central to the story. Especially

Hokeyboy

I'd recommend another series, to be honest with you. It's EXTREMELY light on magic and fantastical creatures, although they do exist. It's more about intrigue, political maneuvering, strategic warfare, etc.

Dr. DVD

Actually, I just wanted confirmation that I was indeed reading a fantasy and not something more along the lines of historical fiction that they lumped into the fantasy genre because it seemed to fit best. I'm all for the character aspect, but I need the fantasy escapism occasionally. It was obvious from the opening of Thrones there was something otherwordly happening, but it seems to be more peripheral to the story as a whole. Still, I like characters in such a world portrayed with realistic aspects like sexual desires and political maneuvering. I always felt that was something missing from other fantasies.

mgbfan

It's in there, but if you really need it to lean on, this isn't the series for you. A Song of Ice and Fire is about people. The magic and the strange creatures are, in many cases, more suggested, more background stuff (although, as you've probably figured out by the titling, dragons promise to carry a bigger role down the road). This is about compelling characters, how they interact, etc, not about goblins and orcs and taking a magic ring/sword/helmet/insert_object_here to a magic mountain/castle/wizard/insert_fantasy_cliche_here.

If you want to read another Lord of the Rings, pick up almost any of the copycat fantasy tripe out there. It's available by the bushel.

Sean O'Hara

You make it sound like it's a choice between magic and characters, and a book can't have both.

mgbfan

Where did I say anything of the sort? I simply told the poster who asked the question that if he wants yet another Tolkien clone, this isn't the series for him.

JasonF

One of the themes of the series is about magic returning to the world in a variety of ways. So as you go on with the series, magic becomes more prominent.

Sean O'Hara

He didn't ask for a Tolkien clone. He wanted to know if the sword and sorcery stuff -- which is more Robert E. Howard than Tolkien -- increases at any point or if it remains an historical novel in a made up world. There are plenty of fantasy novels that have more magic and less political intrigue than ASOIAF while still having well-developed characters -- Erikson's Malazan, Morgan's The Steel Remains, R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing.

mgbfan

Again, you seem to think I said something I never said. The poster expressed frustration with the lack of certain fantasy elements and asked whether to expect more of them. I told him that the series deals with people and characters, not with the "standard" fantasy fare. Further, I mentioned that if he requires wizards, dragons, goblins, and orcs, there are lots of fantasy choices out there, but that Ice & Fire isn't one of them. It was a direct answer to a direct question.

Not sure why you're so hung up on that. Every bit of it is true.

starman9000

I'm guessing most people thought the same thing as Sean when they read your post.

Sean O'Hara

No, that's not what you said. The guy said he wanted a story with more magic and you responded:

That talk about cliches and tripe implies a dichotomy -- you can have a book with compelling characters, or you can have derivative crap, as though anyone who prefers fantasy with a stronger fantasy element than ASOIAF is looking for trash instead of stories with compelling characters.

RonG617

July 13th people will start wondering and bitching when the 6th book is coming out.