It's coming... so soon...

[LD]

"before putting it down to read ASOIAF instead). "

Speaking of that... Perhaps bets should be taken on whether or not George RR Martin will finish the series (or at least come out with the next book) before he dies? He's getting up there in years (despite being only 62 he looks much more ancient- 80 by the photograph on wikipedia) (so he is a similar age to Robert Jordan and who knows if he is in similar bad health?).

If he takes any longer, I fear I will forget most of the characters on this list:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_characters_in_A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire Many of them were expertly rendered, though.

[Steerpike]

I believe Jordan had some kind of rare blood disease(?).  Martin is certainly getting old but hopefully has at least another decade or two in him, which would probably by sufficient to finish the series.  A Game of Thrones was published in 1996, which means that he's been averaging a book every 3 years or so, and there are probably only 3 more books in the series (including A Dance With Dragons).

[LD]

Thank you for the response.

The issue with the next book however is that it was meant to be fully finished 3-6 months after A Feast for Crows. He claimed at the time to be wrapping up the second half of the book ("Crows" was a split book originally meant to be one novel.)

However, it appears that he has been having some trouble with A Dance With Dragons. Last I checked, he had it clocking in at 1100 pages+ and being revised... And apparently he has started from scratch on it at least once and possibly twice (!!) And it keep missing estimated ship dates (The last one was July 2009... and as of October it still is not yet on its way.)

[Matt Larkin (author)]

A Game of Thrones was published in 2006, which means that he's been averaging a book every 3 years or so, and there are probably only 3 more books in the series (including A Dance With Dragons).

You mean 1996. That was the first book in the series, published 13 years ago. With four books, that does average a book every 3 years though.

[Steerpike]

That's what I meant, sorry - I don't know why i wrote 2006 instead of 1996.

A Dance With Dragons has certainly delayed far beyond what was expected, but assuming that it gets finished soonish, it's still only taken between 4-5 years to write; together with Feast the two books took roughly a decade.  If the last two books take the same amount of time, he's still only going to be 72-73 by the time of their completion, again assuming that Dance is essentially complete.  That's well below even the average life expectancy in America, so (touch wood), unless the rate he finishes novels continues to drastically increase, we have a pretty good chance of getting the complete series.  It may take quite awhile, though...

[Ghostman]

I saw Martin in a live interview at a con this summer. He seemed vigorous for his age, so I'm not worried for his health. Anyway, the Wheel of Time and A Song of Ice and Fire make for an interesting comparison. Both are fantasy series of epic-scale stories, spread over more than typical number of books (I'm under the impression that trilogies are the norm in modern mainstream fantasy literature) and both bombard the reader with a massive cast of characters and events taking place across a wide world. I think Martin has so far been more successful in avoiding the feeling of overwhelming arising from this multitude and complexity, and in keeping up the pace of the many concurrent plotlines. Hopefully he can maintain this quality all the way to the end and not fall for the same problems as Jordan's WoT.

[Superfluous Crow]

I started reading WoT a few years back and I never felt that it was especially dull or slow. At least not while reading it. It was only afterwards you realised how the story had only taken a small step towards the end. But i enjoyed it nonetheless. Sadly I was not aware that it would continue past 10, and I'm not the type who rereads so even though I'll definitely get around to reading the new book at some point I will have the same fight as with Dagger of Dreams where I have to recall all the characters and places who I've forgotten in the meantime...
My taste has never been much for classic semi-medieval fantasy, but WoT has many qualities that makes it worth reading. The scope is actually one thing; you got to have some respect for an author who can fashion and keep together a story of such size. I also loved his takes on different exotic cultures (the odd traditions of the seanchan and the aiel etc) and his innovative magic system. It might be built around such cliche elements as elements and threads, but it works goddamnit and he has clearly put a lot of thought into it. Also, I love his small habit of taking formerly minor characters and later giving them larger and different roles.
So whether you like it or not I'd definitely say that the series is an impressive piece of work!  

[Matt Larkin (author)]

Well Ishy, what's your verdict?

I thought it was one of the best in the series in a while.

[LD]

Any spoilers Phoenix?

[Matt Larkin (author)]

You want spoilers? I'd been so upset if someone had spoiled it for me.

No really a spoiler, but the pacing is very good. There were times earlier in the series when I would get to reading about a character when I just wanted to hear more about a different one. This time around, all the stories were engaging.

All right, I guess these two wouldn't be terrible spoilers.
[spoiler=Minor Spoilers]Loial, Morgawse, and Elayne are not in the book. Pretty much all the other major characters have chapters.

Both Rand and Egwene have their story arcs reach important climaxes.[/spoiler]

[Ishmayl-Retired]

Honestly, I'm disappointed :(  I hadn't talked about it because I was so upset and embarrassed about being so enthusiastic about something that I didn't like.  Here's my review in spoiler box.  No spoilers here that mention names of anyone, or specifics of events, but there is an "aside" in my first use of parenthesis that you may want to avoid if you're looking to be 100% spoiler-free.

[spoiler]
I have some significant issues with Sanderson's writing style.  As I've told Phoenix before, I really didn't like Elantris at all, and even had trouble finishing it.  Anyway, Wheel of Time..  The plot moves forward nicely, the story is good, and things happen that have needed to happen for 15 years now, but Sanderson's writing really grates on me.  Certain characters don't feel the same, and certain scenes (in particular, one scene about 1/3 of the way through with a particular Forsaken and some beans) are so laughably implausible that I had to do the literary equivalent of a double-take to make sure I hadn't mis-read something.  Anyway, I think it's a decent book overall, but the whole damned book reads a lot like fanfic.  And whatever the various reviewers all over the world are saying about "you can't even tell the difference in the scenes Jordan wrote versus those Sanderson wrote," that's bullshit, I'm sorry.  I can tell the difference.  The sentences are shorter and choppier, there are words and phrases used in the book that Jordan would have never used ("colleagues," "do the math," "saidared").  Scenes are much shorter, and end much more abruptly than I could stomach, and often have resolutions that seem - quite frankly - pulled out of Sanderson's ass.  I wish Jordan had been able to finish it, and after that irrationality, I wish they had chosen Tad Williams to finish the series instead of Sanderson.  I know people disagree with me on Williams, and everyone says "his books start so slowly," but this is the end of the series, and Williams can write epic fantasy endings like no other in my humble opinion.

I will say that the book progresses in quality, with significant leaps and bounds in the last, oh, five or six chapters, so hopefully that's an indication (at least, assuming Sanderson wrote the book in some sort of chronological order) that he's improving and the next two books will be better.  But it may just be that Jordan had already fully detailed those particular chapters' worth of scenes so well that Sanderson couldn't mess them up.
[/spoiler]

Anyway, that's my review.  I'm disappointed, a bit peeved, and I feel slighted in some way.  I just wish now (hindsight!) that they had chosen, after Jordan's death, to just let the series die with him, and let us all imagine how the series would end on our own.  I'll read the next two books because (I'm a glutton for punishment?) I want to know what Jordan's ending was - he has said since 1989 that he's known exactly how the series would end, and has had the last scene written since the early 90's.  But that's it.

[LD]

Thanks for the reviews.

And don't worry Phoenix- my sometimes-strategy when reading a book is to read the last chapter first so that I know what clues to look for so I can enjoy a book better. It works great with Faulkner and most mysteries.

Re: Sanderson actually uses the semi-anachronistic phrase "do the math," Really... that's unfortunate.

[Matt Larkin (author)]

I had only a few places where I could have guessed who wrote which part. As I understand, Jordan did the prologue and at least the first few chapters, but other than that I don't know. To be honest, thinking too hard about who wrote what would have dulled my enjoyment, I think.

I can say the final chapter had one of my favorite endings for the series.

But I get people liking different authors writing styles--I could barely stomach Tad Williams style, though I was interested in his story. I think they are worth reading for the tale itself, but the reading was a bit of a chore. I can't say I had strong feelings for the ending one way or another.

[spoiler]And the beans thing was dumb, but it honestly struck me as in-character with the other childish crap Cadsuane had done in earlier novels.[/spoiler]

[Ishmayl-Retired]

I can say the final chapter had one of my favorite endings for the series.

Agreed.

To be honest, thinking too hard about who wrote what would have dulled my enjoyment, I think.

It's not that I was trying to find the differences, but they were just to glaring to me that I couldn't help but notice them.

[Superfluous Crow]

Haven't read it yet, but just gave it as a present to one of my friends who is an avid fan of the series. I'll wait for his verdict. (I'll probably read it no matter what, but still, good to know what you are getting into).