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Well, R.R. Martin is 61 years old now and I'm sure he made a killing with the first 4 Song of Ice and Fire books, so I can see him slowing down on them a bit.

It took him 5 years to release the last book, so I wouldn't be surprised if he takes until 2010 to release the next one. Of course, at that pace he'll be 72 before he finishes the series. Hopefully Sanderson doesn't have to take over for him too!

Head over to http://www.georgerrmartin.com/

Head over to http://www.georgerrmartin.com/
You know what to do.

martin
It's a set of books you won't be able to put down. So If I were you, I would wait until a few weeks before the next one comes out in november before reading them. Nothing as worse as having to wait months or years before the next one.

Eh, it's been done before.

This is the same site that, in May, showed a July release date for A Feast for Crows, complete with offers for pre-order.

Absolutely. In fact George R. R. Martin's page on how "A Feast For Crows" is coming along is one of the few web pages I check regularly. Maybe done by the end of the year he says now. Ah, anticipation.

is A Game of the Throne. one of those military conquest / diplomacy / resource management type games (based on George R.R. Martin's excellent fantasy book series, A Song of Fire and Ice). It's quite fun, and a total time waster. With 3 players, games take upwards of 4 or 5 hours. I haven't played it yet with a bigger group. My wife, who doesn't really like things fantasy or military, had fun playing it. Biggest draw is that there's no dice throwing and what random effects there are affect everyone, so on one can feel cheated by a lucky moment.

I realize this is slightly off-topic, but stay with me.

I agree, WOT has fallen considerably in my mind as of late; especially book 10. I've been getting the feeling with the later WOT books that the story is moving sideways, instead of forwards. He's introducing so many new things that the story has come to a standstill. Book 10 can be explained in about a paragraph, really only two things happened. Its getting to the point that I'm not going to rush out and buy book 11 in fancy hardcover when it comes out.

Admittedly though, I feel the same about the Sword of Truth series, but in its case, I haven't lost interest in the story. Its a bit cheesy, but full of violence, torture, sex, magic, epic wars and struggles; in short, a good-ole fashioned fantasty romp. I felt Pillars of Creation was a bit of a unwanted diversion, but Naked Empire has restored my faith in a series I almost feel guilty for loving.

However, that's not why I write. I simply have to bring this next series to everyone's attention. The Malazan Book of the Fallen series and another link when the first one is /.'ed, by Steven Erikson (book 1: Gardens of the Moon). Its intelligent, well-writen, compelling. He builds a world with great characters and I cannot get enough of it. There are four books out now and a fifth due in late spring. I read somewhere that his series has not been picked up by any US publisher. Well its everywhere in Canada, and shipping is cheap.

Song of Ice and Fire is incredible (Btw, check out the free except to book 4)and I give Geore R.R. Martin all my respect, but in my world, Song of Ice and Fire and the Malazan series stand together on the podium.

If you love fantasy, get Gardens of the Moon; its that simple.

Pest

I'm re-reading them again right now actually, just because I got bored and wanted something to read. It's really, really sad, knowing what they are going to come to, since the first few books are just awesome. He's managed to create this incredibly intricate and believable world, and then proceeds to run all the characters into the ground ...

I would recommend "The Internet Top 100 SF/Fantasy List" as a good reference for finding alternatives. It's really a fantastic resource (it's where I found "A Song of Fire and Ice"). I stopped reading the WOT when it seemed to cross from "great series" to "author's pension plan".

I'd kill for him to do a series based on the A Song of Ice and Fire books by George R.R Martin.

Really I would.

a few sites people might find interesting - but most riddled with spoilers...

http://www.westeros.org/ - the most complete asoiaf reference on the web

http://pub26.ezboard.com/basoiaf - a message board with over 80,000 postings

http://www.georgerrmartin.com - the authour's official home page (not so interesting most of the time).

http://www.amoka.net - some fantastic art by a russian dude.

I'd advise checking that date again.

It will not be released in August. George hasn't turned in a manuscript for final editing yet. He'll update his website when the manuscript is done.

"A Feast for Crows" is expected to be released in August.

His name's George R. R. Martin, and his page is here.

He's still sorry... damn.

http://www.georgerrmartin.com/ - the authors web site, with information about the status of the series.

It is a great series, one of the best I've ever read together with the works of Stephen Donaldson (Gap series, Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, etc). But it was quite a while since I read the last book, and still no sign of the rest of the books... I don't remember how many was planned, but I think it was something like 8 or 12 books... which is good, if they ever hit the market, and bad as it is now while waiting.

If you want really gritty fantasy, read George Martin.

Interesting. I found that title list on his site too, but it's a bit burried.

I remember at one point there was a title rename and (I think) an extra book. So your list is probably accurate. Maybe it's three our of six published, not three out of five.

And I think GRRM has long since beaten Jordon in terms of quality. It will just take a bit for the reputation to come.

A song of Ice and Fire is brilliant, I am rereading books 1 and 2, then starting on 3 - can't wait for book 4.
For more info - George R R Martin's homepage

Orson Scott Card's Ender series, and the Shadow series that follows it, are brilliant.
Official Site

Now for mine:

Tracy Harding: Ancient Future, An Echo in Time, and Masters of Reality (The Ancient Future trilogy)

That's all I can think of right now. Try Neil Gaiman as well.

Google sci-fi directory

George R.R. Martin is the best Fantasy I have ever read, bar none. It reminds me most of Katherine Kurtz's Deryni books in its ability to portray medieval political intrigue, but has absolutely fascinating characters, a riveting plot, and excellent writing. The books are substantial in size, but do not waste pages and pages repeating cliched hair pulling or descriptions of ageless faces.

According to his website, however, the 4th is entitled A Feast For Crows.

Anyhow, this book should be required reading for anyone who enjoys fantasy novels at all. If you dabbled in the genre but found it juvenile after reading more widely, then this might bring you back. I think by the time the series is complete, GRRM may well supplant Jordan as Fantasy's reigning king.

George R. R. Martin's series 'A Song of Ice and Fire'. Volumes include:

1. A Game of Thrones
2. A Clash of Kings
3. A Storm of Swords

Mr. Martin is currently writing book 4, 'A Feast for Crows', but please don't ask him when it will be done.

I'm now a much more mature reader, and I generally eschew the fantasy and science fiction genres for their immaturity, prefering works with more developed characters.

I'll then presume you haven't read the "Song of Ice and Fire" series (by George R. R. Martin) yet (if you're implying that fantasy/SF are always immature :-).

If you haven't, and you like stuff with serious, multidimensional, GREY characters (ie. not obviously Good(tm) or Evil(tm)), you'll love this series. There are very, very few writers I've read that even come close to George's standard. He fucking rules.

See GRRM's homepage (no, I'm not giving an amazon or BN link, you can find those yourself - though the reader comments on amazon at least are worth reading... and the preview chapter(s) (okay, I will give a link then, dammit :-)).

Pete.