Straight from Martin’s fingers to my blog:
Finished a Jon Snow chapter, and have just passed the 1100 page (manuscript pages, the page count in the final printed book will be different) mark on A DANCE WITH DRAGONS. That’s counting only finished chapters in something close to final form. I have considerably more in partials, fragments, and roughs.
Even with just the finished portions, DANCE is now longer than A FEAST FOR CROWS and A GAME OF THRONES, and I’m closing in on A CLASH OF KINGS. I do hope I can wrap things up before I approach the 1521 page length of A STORM OF SWORDS.
Making a new run at the Meereenese knot, but maybe not tomorrow. I think I’ll hang around at the Wall a bit longer, and maybe visit Winterfell.
I’m sure some naysayers will try to spin this into a negative (‘By golly! It’s still not done?! The sloth!’), but I’m happy to hear that progress is being made and the endline is coming into sight. Its encouraging to know that, even with a (large?) handful of chapters still unfinished, we’ve got a hefty novel ahead of us, when it does release. It’s also nice to know that he’s stepping away from his so-called Meereenese Knot and letting it brew, while working on easier portions of the story. As always, my anticipation heightens.
Stop teasing. I am practically vibrating with excitement. Truly I want this to be perfect so I am trying very hard to be okay with the time involved. However, I think if I don’t think about it, it is better that way. That way I am not taken for an emotional rolercoaster at every high and every low he choses to share on his blog.
Well, at least he ‘has’ posted an update, for a change.
Not sure how, when I do get the book, I’m going to try and forget how long the damn thing has been in coming, but I’ll attempt to evaluate it fairly.
I can totally understand it takes time to write a good book. Heck, I’m not sure mine will be any good but it STILL takes time, and I have my own Meereenese knot to deal with. ;)
So, good luck, George.
I would prefer if he didn’t do the blogging and updates, that only raises the anticipation. Maybe just have a note on his page when you visit it that says: “It’s not done. To enter site anyway click here.” I’m not a fan of him doing this, since it’s gonna hype things up above the already sky-high expectations.
I’m looking forward to this book, I love the series. But, I’m concerned that the series will never be finished. After this book, doesnt he have planned two more books? The first few were a couple of years. But, now, the last two have 5 years between each book. We are looking at ten years now to finish the series. The series started in 96.
It’s hard to keep the faith alive. :(
It’s encouraging to read his updates, even though it looks like it will still take a while until publication.
What part of the story does he consider the Meereenese knot?
Does anyone know?
Can I just say: YARRRRRR! I was expecting his next comment to be “the book is done.” But now he’s at 1100p and hoping it doesn’t get to 1500+? That means it’ll still be *years* until it’s done. Ah well.
C’mon..5 years. If I took that long to do my job, I wouldn’t have one. This is some BS, spin it how you want. And there are still more books. Dammit Jim, my kids will be grown up before this series is finished.
If I remember correctly, didn’t he pretty much already have this book complete when Feast was released? Feast was supposed to be one book that he split into two because it was so ginormous. That split created Dances. This is just plain lunacy.