Dance of Dragons gets a publication date.

No, really!

http://shelf-life.ew.com/2011/03/03/dance-with-dragons-date/

According to EW, Dance with Dragons will be published on July 12 - of this year. Most of the people I know are lingering skeptics. After 5 years it's hard to blame them!

Thoughts?

Wooooohooooooo!

Confirmation here from George himself, the only source you can trust:
http://www.georgerrmartin.com/if-update.html

Let's keep in mind that he's openingly admitting, very first thing he says, the book is technically not done yet. Which could mean ... you know ... But he's learned the hard way not to stick his neck out about setting a date (I think) so this is looking pretty good. I can't imagine he'd dare set himself up for the backlash if it slips again, short of him being hit by a train or something. So I'm optimistic.

"The only source you can trust"?! if you mean trust in delaying a book for 6 years, then you have my agreement.
I hope this will not be another disappointment (the date, not the book), even though after such a long time, a few months wouldn't make a difference. Probably need to reread 'Crows just to remember where he left off.

Amazon are taking pre-orders...should arrive just in time for my b'day :-)

>4 Reysbro: I feel your pain, lol. But I meant 'trust' as in, forget about Amazon dates and fan speculation or whatever.

I find it remarkably easy to pick up a new book from his series and remember what was going on - peculiar for me, usually I can't do that. I guess this one burns itself into memory better than most.

Pretty remarkable that the book release is very close to the HBO release. Funny how these things "work out".

The last time I read the author's note for Crows, I was under the impression that the only reason it didn't cover all the characters was because the book was becoming too cumbersome. It was a little misleading in that I thought he knew what he was doing with the missing characters and would therefore have the next book out shortly. I wish I thought he was a horrible writer, but I do like the way he writes.

#6 If I had to guess, I would say that he has spent the better part of his time dealing with this and other tie-ins rather than finishing the series (also, the card game). I have seriously mixed feelings about the show. Dexter ended up being better than the books (read the third one and you will know what I mean), but it isn't generally the case, even at HBO.

I don't find the timing suspicious, simply because it would have been much *better* timing to release the book at the beginning of the series rather than in conjunction with its end. The end is sort of a last-ditch effort at a tie-in.

Since George confesses he isn't even done the draft yet, I find it easy to imagine his publishers having said "look, we've got to make the most of this tv tie-in and this is our very last opportunity, this is the latest release date we can set without missing the boat - can't you pleeeeeeeze submit it in time for then?!" And George decided hey, they're right, and it's coming along well - okay, I'll commit.

On another board one of the publishers actually chimed in, in response to similar speculation, with "I only *wish* it was 'in the can', I'd sleep better at night!"

That's right - it's not 'in the can' yet, and dates can change. Crossing fingers.

George posted an uncommented image of Kong's death scene on his blog, which can only mean he's finally finished the last of his manuscript. Hopefully this means the July 12th date can still be met!

According to Del Rey it is happening. They have a hard copy in their hands. They have been talking about it the past few days on Twitter (DelReySpectra).

Yeah, he's finished. If you go to his update section, he just has the word "Done" with a picture of the cover of Dance.

my editor has been working on A Dance With Dragons for weeks now (at least the 95% delivered initially) and she's calling in at my house Tuesday, so screw talking about my stuff, I'm going to be squeezing her for info on ADWD!

{humour}Hey, there's four guys on horses outside.....{/humour}

Hey Mark - loved your interview on Pat's Fantasy Hotlist, good luck with your novel launch!

thanks Cecrow!
The word on ADWD is it's as good as the very best so far! Can't wait.

How can word already be getting out about it? He just finished it on April 27th and as of the 30th was still working on editing it.

Well, if you're following the conversation, that would be the editor's opinion. Which of course is going to be heavily biased. But I'll take it. :)

LOL. Heavily biased indeed.

George R. R. Martin got me back into fantasyland again, but . . . not going to hold my breath. Besides, I could use the time to reacquaint myself with the series again. I think I've got five months.

Here are 10 signs that you've been reading too much George R. R. Martin. Some of us may be guilty.
http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/10-signs-you-have-been-reading-too-much-george-r-...