Oddly enough I recently started re-reading his Song of Ice and Fire series of which A Dance With Dragons is the next book due. As I told Cat while we were discussing it I think it’s likely the most amazing, concrete, taut, compelling piece of fantasy literature ever written. Hyperbolic, yes, but it’s the way I feel. From the characterizations to the intrigue to the prose, it’s just wonderful. There are few things in this work that are cut and dried, black and white. Almost everything and everyone is variously shaded in grey and, more importantly, our perceptions of them lighten and darken continually. The complexity of the plot and of the characters’ changing motivations is stunning, and the twists and turns the story takes are quite often literally breathtaking (red wedding anyone?).
So, I eagerly await the next book as does everyone else engrossed in the story. And poor Mr. Martin is struggling. To call him a victim of his own success is entirely, 100% accurate. Originally scheduled to be released sometime in 2007, A Dance With Dragons is now tentatively scheduled to be completed sometime in the third quarter of 2009. Mr. Martin knows himself well, stating:
Yes, I am aware that I have previously said that I hoped to finish by the end of 2008. And before that, I said that I hoped to finish by June 2008, before I went to Spain and Portugal. And before that, I said I hoped to finish by the end of 2007. I know, I know, I know. No, I was not lying. I was wrong. And wrong again. And wrong before that. This time I hope that I am right. But you know, I can’t swear that in blood. I write one chapter at a time. One page at a time. One word at a time. And then the next.
I sympathize. Having thousands of often irate fans asking, begging, demanding that he complete something for their satisfaction has to be draining. This is a man enjoying the twilight of his life, who loves watching football and who loves traveling and spending time with his wife.
I can also see it from the perspective of a fan. Not an irate one — he owes no one anything, honestly — but simply as a person that appreciates what he’s created and wishes for more. It is hard for me to understand what has taken so long. Obviously the creative process runs at its own pace, that part makes sense to me. Neither should anyone be a slave to their creation. People need rest, they need other interests, they need space and time and recreation. I get that.
But even with all that, it truly feels like Mr. Martin is perhaps just stuck. Maybe he’s lost the narrative in his head. Maybe he’s tired of Westeros. Maybe he’s tired of the pressures. Who knows but him? It’s an odd job. It is a job, though not a traditional 9 to 5 job. But perhaps we as fans are wrong for expecting Mr. Martin to treat the series as a job with all the responsibilities that entails. To him perhaps it’s more of a hobby. A land to come back to when the need strikes, and that need hasn’t felt as pressing.
I hope the book gets released this year, I truly do. But I’ll still be there waiting if it doesn’t.
This is why I usually don’t start series until they’re already done. My ex-roommate is a huge fan of the Wheel of Time novels; the author took fifteen years to write eleven books and then died before the series was finished.