I couldn't leave Anne's office without inquiring about the progress of GRRM's A Dance with Dragons. Sadly, what I have to report will not please anyone, so be forewarned. What it comes down to is this: Unless a miracle occurs, there is no way the next ASOIAF volume will be released this year. The folks at Bantam are hoping to get the finished manuscript at some point this fall. But if Anne's facial expression is any indication, they're not holding their breath. Which means that, at the earliest, we are looking at a spring 2008 pub date.
Many fans have been wondering why it should take this long for the author to write this new book, what with 50% of it having been completed already. Rumors have been circulating that GRRM did scrap some portions of what he had when they decided to publish AFfC in its current format. Well, unfortunately that's not hearsay. It appears that GRRM did cut some chunks out of the original manuscript and has been tinkering with a few things. Hence, he didn't truly have 50% of it done with and ready to go. Which explains the slower than expected progress for A Dance with Dragons.
The good thing is that Bantam are pretty flexible and there's no rigid timetable as to when the book should be published. According to Anne, the editorial process will begin as soon as the manuscript reaches her office. As was the case with Robert Jordan with the WoT volumes between A Crown of Swords and Crossroads of Twilight, I believe that A Dance with Dragons will be released as soon as possible after the manuscript is turned in. I figure that no one at Bantam wishes to repeat the mistake which came back to haunt them with A Feast for Crows. I'm persuaded that they will make only one announcement pertaining to the publication of ADwD, and that only when they'll know for sure that the production process has begun.
GRRM detractors should be happy to know that the author is writing. Personally, as long as I don't see a pic of a naked Martin swinging at Hedonism III in Jamaica, I'm satisfied!;-) ASOIAF is a series they'll still be talking about in 25 years, so it's only natural that it takes a while to write. I don't think GRRM ever envisioned that it would become this big. Anne told me that it was sold to Bantam as a trilogy! So GRRM fans rejoice because your favorite author is working hard to make this new installment as good as humanly possible. He's not late because he goes to cons, or because he has lost the will to finish this saga.
