[mxlm]

There'll be seven books.

[cerveza_fiesta]

fawk....thought GRRM might be a yearly installer like some others. 5 years between books?? That sucks

I'll probably still read them though.

[lundymicron]

Dark Daze;435 said:

I'm getting bored waiting for A Feast for Crows so I decided to send my friend George some email...

Dear Mr. Martin:

I offer you the opportunity to sign some T-shirts for a fund raiser for my church. My Westeros T-shirt has been so popular on campuses here in the south that I decided to use some of the sales for charity.

The T-shirts are rather simple in design. On the front, I have a golden elephant standing on his hind legs embedded on on red shield with black shading. On the back side is the phrase, "George Bush - King of Westeros."

I knew the shirts would sell, but it wasn't until they started out selling the GW/One Ring shirts, that I figured out that I had a little gold mine in my hands. I've already used some of the money to pay for tickets to Cancun this Spring and when I intern for Senator Sessions this summer I won't be cramped up again in some little dorm room (D.C. is so expensive!)

Anyway, we need an address to send the shirts, and remember it is for a good cause.
Thank you and God Bless!

ROFLMFAO!!!!

Thanks for that, even if it is 3 years old. Today is the first time I've seen it and it gave me a good laugh.

[Werthead]

As others have said there'll be seven books in the series: A Game of Thrones (1996), A Clash of Kings (1998), A Storm of Swords (2000) and A Feast for Crows (2005) are all out now. The next one is A Dance with Dragons and should be out in 2008 (touch wood). The last two have the working titles The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring.

There are also two short stories which are prequels to the series: The Hedge Knight (1998), which can be found either as a comic book from Dabel Brothers or as a prose story in Legends or GRRM's own collection, Dreamsongs; and The Sworn Sword (2002), which was published in Legends II. A graphic novel version should be out in the next few months. A third short story will be published in the Warriors anthology, due in 2009. These stories are set 90-odd years before A Game of Thrones and feature two characters whose antics are - very occasionally - mentioned in the novels.

As others have mentioned, there was a serious problem in the writing of the fourth novel (which was supposed to be set five years after the third), namely that about 18 months into it GRRM realised he was relying too much on flashbacks and had to ditch the whole thing and start again from scratch on a new book to fill the gap which wasn't planned for in the series, which made writing it a lot tougher going. This has had a knock-on effect on Book 5, which is basically what was originally going to be Book 4 but now having to take into effect all the changes brought about by introducing a whole new book into the series.

Whilst I recommend the series without hesitation, I would definitely give it a miss for now if you're going to be frustrated by the fact that it's at least seven years away from completion at the moment.

[caladanbrood]

But let's face it, if you get frustrated having to wait for the end of a series, why do you read erikson? or any epic fantasy series for that matter.

[Yellow]

It's the frustration of waiting that has made me decide not to start Martin's series until he finishes it.

i.e. when I'm 60.

[Mentalist]

caladanbrood;236263 said:

But let's face it, if you get frustrated having to wait for the end of a series, why do you read erikson? or any epic fantasy series for that matter.

There's a difference. With Erikson we have to wait roughly a year between each fix, and we are certain that we'll get it.
With Martin... nobody really knows.
Of course, i was fortunate enough to get into it in the beginning of 2005.... amd then Feast came out... so I've only had to wait for Dance for God knows how long... but for others who've been there sin AGOT......

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

How about people who read the Dark Tower from the beginning? There was a break of over 25 years between two of the books. Luckily i didn't get into that one until it was completed.

Really, the secret to reading unfinished series is to have as many different ones as possible going at one time. That way, you've always got a new book coming up. I'm going to go ahead and start this series, because I'll get a new Donaldson and new Erikson in the meantime. I hope.

[Skywalker]

Raymond Luxury Yacht;236274 said:

How about people who read the Dark Tower from the beginning? There was a break of over 25 years between two of the books. Luckily i didn't get into that one until it was completed.

Yeah... I got into the Dark Tower books when there were five out... and then just as I finished the 6th came out, and then the 7th in short order... cannot imagine waiting decades for a series (although I am waiting about a decade or so for WoT now)!

[Optimus Prime]

I like GRRM...but I think he is a little confused on why people are irritated with him. I am not a successful author...but whenever I check his site he seems to be talking about another side project or...and I hate this especially...his two stupid new york football teams (who both suck) and whining about them.

I think GRRM has gotten too spread out...and it has seriously taken his attention away from the moneymaker...the bread and butter...ASoIaF.

I am eagerly awaiting ADoD...but I'm worried that having waited so long it cannot hope to satisfy me...no matter how good.....

[Werthead]

Well, GRRM only talks about football, politics etc on his blog. He occasionaly sticks tidbits about ADWD in there but the focus is on other outside of ASoIaF. Any really major announcements will be made in the news section of his website.

What's interesting with GRRM is that, almost uniquely among major SF&F authors, he isn't just known for one major work or series (although ASoIaF is indeed his best known work). Fevre Dream, by itself, has sold nearly as many copies as any of the ASoIaF novels and the total sales of the Wild Cards series are about the same as ASoIaF, I believe (it was a huge success back in the 1980s). In fact, GRRM probably feels that Wild Cards is as important a demand on his time as ASoIaF, since there are other writers involved as well and it was a project he came up with many years earlier.

I don't think working on the Wild Cards books are as big a demand on his time people quite think (a month, maybe two months' work a year?), and in his recent entries he indeed points out the progress he's made on ADWD as well.

Contrast this to Stephen Donaldson, whose sales plummet whenever he writes something that isn't Covenant-related. I wonder how well Erikson's non-Malazan works have sold as well?

[Dancer+]

Werthead;236641 said:

Contrast this to Stephen Donaldson, whose sales plummet whenever he writes something that isn't Covenant-related. I wonder how well Erikson's non-Malazan works have sold as well?

I really dislike this, Donaldson is an excellent all-arounder. Personally I'd buy anything he has written, the gap series is excellent as is his short stories, mordant's need etc. His writing style and ideas beat GRRM in my opinion but perhaps I'm in the minority and I can hardely boast of reading all of GRRM's stuff.

[mxlm]

Donaldson's Gap Cycle is certainly up there with anything GRRM's ever written, but The Man Who... and especially the Thomas Covenant books are not.

[Werthead]

Agreed. The Gap Cycle is Donaldson's best work by far and it's a shame it apparently sold badly (although it's still in print). I actively dislike Covenant and Mordant's Need was just too dull. When the lead character is emotionally dead, it's hard for her to engage the reader's sympathy

[The Rope]

didn't I read that Jordan died? Its good for some of the fans (like myself) who gave up fairly early (especially when it found Gotm and get bored easier with any other fantasy writer) Though still sad.
My sympathies go to his friends and family and true fans.

I kind of gave up on waiting for GRRM too. After all, a watched pot never boils? I figure a good fill of time is looking for other series and reread old ones read originally long ago and are mostly forgotten.
That and writing hilarious emails to annoy George RR Martin...

My thanks for reawakening an old and entertaining thread.