New GRRM Update on ADWD

[Mouse]

Summer 2012. Ok, that's not that bad. Cheers!

 

[Werthead]

Summer 2012 in the UK yes, and again in two volumes (so it'll be more expensive than buying the hardcover and a lot more expensive than buying the tradeback).

The TV series will finish in the last week of June in both the UK and USA two weeks before ADWD comes out anyway

Anyway, marketing information on ADWD:

(courtesy from Jussi over on SFFWorld)

The wait is over! Years in the making, #1 bestelling author George R. R. Martin delivers the highly anticipated A Dance with Dragons—the fifth book in his critically-acclaimed A Song of Ice and Fire series, now a major new series coming soon from HBO. A Song of Ice and Fire is one of the most beloved and bestselling series in fantasy, and fans have been waiting for this book with rabid anticipation. A Dance With Dragons is more of the dark, epic fantasy that has led Time magazine to call Martin "The American Tolkien." Functioning hand-in-hand with its companion volume, A Feast for Crows, A Dance with Dragons picks up the tales of those both in the north of the kingdom and across the seas, both completing a picture, reuniting a narrative arc, and ushering in a whole new era for the history of the Seven Kingdoms.


Key Points
EAGERLY AWAITED: The anticipation for this book is palpable. Now we can finally give his devoted legion of fans an answer!

HE'S #1: Martin has entered the exclusive ranks of the #1 bestselling authors, a stand-out achievement for any author.

NUMBERS DON'T LIE: There are almost 4.3 million copies of A Song of Ice and Fire in print, plus more than 125K in eBook sales!

NOW A MAJOR SERIES COMING SOON TO HBO: HBO has wrapped production of the Game of Thrones television series, with an impressive cast including Sean Bean, Mark Addy, Lena Headey, and Peter Dinklage, set to release April 17, 2011. Early viewings have the critics buzzing about this highly anticipated show. View the HBO trailer at: MakingGameOfThrones.com

NEW FANS COMING TO THE SERIES: Since the HBO series has been announced, sales of the backlist titles have spiked, and A Game of Thrones recently hit the New York Times extended list in mass market—its first appearance on that list!

PAPERBACK BACKLIST REPACKAGES AVAILABLE MARCH 22: A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, and A Feast for Crows will all be beautifully repackaged in trade and mass. Game of Thrones is additionally available in trade and mass editions with HBO tie in art.

MASS MARKET BOX SET AVAILABLE MARCH 22: With a lavishly designed slipcase featuring HBO tie-in art (Contains 1 copy each of A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, and A Feast for Crows).

Redesigned author website: GeorgeRRMartin.com, grrm.livejournal.com
National review and feature attention
National media attention
National and local radio and TV interviews
NPR interviews<li>Radio phone interviews
Online review and feature attention<li>Online interviews with author
Author tour: markets tk
Author appearance at Comic Con (tt)
National TV advertising
Rich media banner campaign
Major targeted online ad campaign
Library marketing
Extensive pre-order campaign
Convention promotion at San Diego Comic-Con (7/11) and New York Comic Con (10/11)
Cross-promotion with HBO
Promotional consumer giveaway

Nice, a redesigned website! The current design is fairly old now, so cool to see if it gets updated to something stronger.

 

[Boaz]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, "You da man, Wert!"

 

[Mouse]

Summer 2012 in the UK yes, and again in two volumes (so it'll be more expensive than buying the hardcover and a lot more expensive than buying the tradeback).

The TV series will finish in the last week of June in both the UK and USA two weeks before ADWD comes out anyway

Hmm... maybe I won't cancel my pre-order of the hardback then. Tisn't gonna fit on my bookshelf though.

 

[Culhwch]

Not A Blog - He's STILL a king in his world...

Still not done...

I've tied the last kraken up in knots, only to have another swarm up from the depths.

Aiieeee.



As of this morning, A DANCE WITH DRAGONS is thirty (manuscript) pages longer than A STORM OF SWORDS. And. Not. Done. Yet.

Dragons, krakens, monkeys, I hates them all.

But I press on. Kong, Kong, I will beat you yet! Where's my bloody biplane???

 

[The Imp]

As posted on Not A Blog, GRRMs' choice of readers for ADWD is Roy Dotrice, and they are in the process of trying to get him.

Great news

And, yes, yes, we are doing all we can to make sure it is Roy Dotrice who will record the audiobook for A DANCE WITH DRAGONS. He was my choice to begin with, and remains so. So you can all stop sending me emails and messages. I'm with you.

 

[Hilarious Joke]

I read about Roy Dotrice's world record. I didn't know that AGOT was 25 discs long! How long did it take you to get through Imp?

 

[The Imp]

I read about Roy Dotrice's world record. I didn't know that AGOT was 25 discs long! How long did it take you to get through Imp?

My set is on 19 cassette tapes if I'm remembering right. , so about the same, maybe 30 hours, but in bits and pieces, an hour here, 2 hours there, etc. I usually read while walking or travelling, sometime shwile I'm at the computer.

 

[Lacedaemonian]

I have a new found love (my mind has become
sluggish, listlessness) for listening to podcasts and the likes. I decided I might try listening to the audio versions of these books instead of doing a re-read. Are they high quality?

 

[The Imp]

I have a new found love (my mind has become
sluggish, listlessness) for listening to podcasts and the likes. I decided I might try listening to the audio versions of these books instead of doing a re-read. Are they high quality?

IMO, the audiobooks are to regular reading as a play boradcast on radio is to a stage production.

The first 3 books are amazing. Dotrice is a genius. The only reader who matches up to him was the late great Frank Mueller, who read the first 4 books of Steven king's Dark Tower series, among many others.

The upsides of listening are- You hear each character speak in a distincitve voice. After learning the voices, you almost always know who is speaking without having to hear the "said Jon" part. A good reader adds drama, can infuse emotion where it is needed, set a mood with tone of voice, etc. You can "read" while doing other things that don't require concentration- walking cooking, cleaning (not that i do any, just ask my wife), travelling, etc. If you sleep in the same bed as someone else, you can read in the dark and not disrub your partner.

The downside is, listening can be slower than reading, You need an electronic device. That's about it.

I should warn you that the reader for AFFC is nowhere near as good as Dotrice, but you'll get used to him.

hope this helped

 

[Lacedaemonian]

I think I will combine the two. In my experience, audiobooks in bed = falling asleep and forgetting what point you were up to. I have listened to a preview of GoT and this Dotrice fella sounds fantastic! Travelling to and from work will now be made lovely.

 

[The Imp]

I think I will combine the two. In my experience, audiobooks in bed = falling asleep and forgetting what point you were up to. I have listened to a preview of GoT and this Dotrice fella sounds fantastic! Travelling to and from work will now be made lovely.

Dotrice is indeed fantastic. Your plan to use travel to work time as reading time is spot on.

I wish i had a dollar for every time i've fallen asleep reading in bed

 

[viZion]

A little Taiwanese satire regarding the news of ADWD's release date:

"George R. R. Martin: Fantasy Blueballer" - Topless Robot

Makes fun of both GRRM and fans .

 

[Werthead]

George's editor holding the MS for ADWD:

That's pretty big. And the hardcover should be about half as thick, considering the MS is single-paged. That's still massive.

 

[Ursa major]

...which goes some way to explaining the long... er... weight.


(I'm assuming - I've seen no news of the actual completion - that there's a few more sheets to add to that pile.)



* Returns to counting down the days to July 12th. *

 

[No One]

That's a beautiful thing.

Thanks for sharing Wert.

 

[Brian G Turner]

I can say all the characters people have been waiting for are there: Daenerys, Jon Snow, and Tyrion. There’s also new characters, and viewpoints from characters who did not have viewpoints before.

Nngh!! Can't we just have the characters you set up in the first three books, George? That was *more* than enough!

 

[Brian G Turner]

And bets on for the publication date of the next book.

 

[Werthead]

Nngh!! Can't we just have the characters you set up in the first three books, George? That was *more* than enough!

A lot of them aren't around any more

Plus these aren't new characters appearing out of the blue, they've either appeared or been mentioned a lot before.

 

[TK-421]

Those POV's that are recuring and are appearing in ADWD include:

Jon
Dany
Tyrion
Arya
Asha
Bran
Davos
Sansa
Cersei

Those new POV's are:

Varamyr Six Skins
Reek (well, he's not really new)
Melissandre
Quentyn
Surprise new POV nobody but GRRM knows about...

See here for speculation:
http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/51778-a-dance-with-dragons-speculation-4.html

I vote for Shireen Baratheon as the surprise POV.