'A Dance with Dragons' - What I think and some links...

Ok guys, true story time...

When George R. R. Martin was in London to sign ‘A Feast for Crows’, a few years ago now, I was tenth in line outside Forbidden Planet and excited about the prospect of meeting an author whose work I’d really enjoyed. Clutching my hardback copy of ‘A Feast for Crows’ I got to the front of the queue and just as I met the man himself I made the incredibly bad choice of opening my mouth and engaging him in conversation. Here’s how it went...

GRRM: Hi, how are you?
Me: Good thanks, you?
GRRM: I’m fine, have you been waiting long?

I could have gone two ways with this and I chose the wrong way. My answer...

Me: I’ve only been reading the books for the last couple of years so it’s not as if I’ve had to wait all that long for ‘A Feast for Crows’. So no, not long at all.
GRRM: (Sighing heavily) I was talking about the queue outside...

He didn’t really have much to say after that and neither did I...

That was a few years ago now (back in 2005 I think) and there has been no sign of the promised next instalment since then. If you frequent certain sites, on the net, then you will be only too familiar with some of the arguments that are going backwards and forwards about just why GRRM is taking so much time to get his act together...

Where do I stand on this? Firmly in the middle I’m afraid. Cop out? Probably... I’m as eager as the next fan for ‘A Dance with Dragons’ to be released and I will be sure to get myself a copy when it finally hits the shelves. The thing is though, I’ve got so many books to read in the meantime (I still need to finish off last year’s Erikson and Esslemont offerings) that it seems a bit, well... silly to be getting all riled up over one book that hasn’t turned up yet... I can wait and I’ll be reading other stuff quite happily in the meantime :o)

If you’re one of those people who have given themselves a stomach ulcer over GRRM’s continued commentary about his hobbies (I mean, like none of us ever surf the web when we should be working...) then have a look at these two links from
Shawn and Adam who offer some worthwhile thoughts on the subject and are well worth a look.

In the interests of impartiality here's a link to Finish the Book George, a blog that always makes me laugh while everything in the office is going to hell...

Have a great weekend!