[ADWD SPOILERS] After ADWD, how big is your anticipation for the next book?

[The Laughing Lion]

I'm less bothered by waiting to see how the story progresses than I am by all the little nagging questions of lore still waiting to be answered. Like, who fathered who and who is where and why, etc. Driving me up the wall.

That being said, I'm not holding my breath for anything less than 3-4 years.

[A Redeemed Hound]

IMO best chapters were Reek and Davos by far followed by Selmy and then Connington.

The first 3 books did not have major cliffhangers at the end. Things were left open and in suspense but huge parts of the story also took place to satisfy the reader. Since AFFC it has been ending everything on a cliffhanger and that's getting pretty dull since the books are years and years in the making.

After a while, even X Files got boring to me since there was never a solid answer to the main storyline and when it tried to deliver it failed. I heard Lost was the same way.

I look forward to WoW but not like I did for DwD. But I do have huge expectations based on how great books 1-3 were.

[alguien]

My anticipation is high. Very high. For the next Dunk and Egg, the World Guide, and Winds of Winter.

I've been doing some re-reading already. Its interesting. I've found myself much more inclined to re-read the Bran, Jon, Theon, and Barristan chapters rather than Tyrion and Dany, which is a first for me.

Regarding the Amazon reviews... meh. I've long ago learned to discount a lot of them. And in this particular case, there's so many other factors influencing peoples' thoughts on ADWD that I don't trust its relevancy.

I find Goodreads to be much more accurate, because people have nothing to prove there, no vendettas against reviewers, and just go quietly giving their own opinion of books. (and the average rating of ADWD is much higher there and on Amazon)

[john raynes]

I can not disagree more with this. The LOTR was written as one book, and was never intended to be three stories. When the publisher decided to split it in three volumes, Tolkien fought against it because there was no clear stopping point in the story.

As a matter of fact, the ending of Fellowship is a terrible place to end the book. Borimir is killed, Merry and Pippen are captured by Orcs, Frodo and Sam leave the group, Aragon, Gimli, and Legolas are in the middle of the wilderness and Gandalf is apparently dead. It is every bit as bad as leaving off all the plot resolution that is left in ADWD. The difference is since the story was completed, there was no wait at all to find out what was going to happen, as you could pick up The Two Towers immediately afterwards.

I think that by the time we can read ASOIF in its entirety, then we will get just as much satisfaction in it as we did LOTR. (at least I am hoping)

Unless I'm in dire need of a Tolkien reread, I do think Boromir only dies on the opening of The Two Towers. Your description matches the movie though.

As for The Winds of Winter (now WoW - I keep mistaking that abbreviation to World of Warcraft), well, as many people pointed out, the book being released tomorrow wouldn't be too soon. Although the cliffhangers are a pain in the ass for the years between books:)

[Miguel Tonnies]

i have no more expectations, regrettably. ADWD was considerably better than a FFC, only due to the circumstamce, imo, that the POV' belonged to characters I prefer.

the upside is that I will no longer fret whether I will be around to se the end of it...

On another note, I am very happy to have found this place.

Miguel

[Suldog]

So, since July 12 you've read:

A Dance with Dragons

A Game of Thrones

A Clash of Kings

A Storm of Swords

A Dance with Dragons

Really?

I am not the poster quoted, but I re-read all the other books after finishing Dance, because I wanted to catch the things I missed before that turned out to be important (like the Manderly parts, lol). For a fast reader, it's not hard - it took me less than 2 weeks and I have a full time job and a toddler.

[Brucolac]

My anticipation is high. Very high. For the next Dunk and Egg....

I thought the last Dunk Egg story was actually bad, it definitely wasn't the same quality as the first two. GRRM's interests and style seem to have shifted dramatically since he started writing ASOIAF. Possibly this will be a better entry if it deals with Duncan and Winterfell and reveals two of Bran's visions: Is Hodor really a descendent and who is the pregnant lady that wants revenge, perhaps we will get a better look of who it might have been and if it had any effect on Song.

[Buster52]

I'm jazzed. Stoked.

I just hope I'm not dead by the time it comes out. That would be very disappointing.

[Ilex]

I'm less antsy than I was for the others. The first three were fantastic- I read them when they first came out, so long ago now. But Feast really derailed my interest in the series, and Dance didn't really restore it. I want to see the Bran and Rickon/Davos story lines progress and it'd be nice to see something good happen to Sansa for a change, too, but other than those characters (and Howland Reed, bout damn time) I'm not waiting on bated breath to know what happens. I'm not blase enough that I wouldn't read it, and wouldn't prefer it sooner than later.

After I read Dance I felt frustrated, I thought because all of the characters were being thwarted in one way or another from making progress and that colored the emotional quality. But now I think its because GRRM's own frustration with his creation was coming out in the tone of the book. Unfortunately, while I understand how something so grim would be a bitch to write, I think that the lack of fun for the author is seeping into the writing- as others have pointed out. I hope he finds his verve again. And gets a more aggressive editor to help with the polishing.

However, I'm really enjoying reading about all the fan ideas about what is going on and what will happen. I'm actually enjoying reading the forum as much if not more than reading Dance. I may even try seeking out some fan fic, and I never do that. Which in a way is a testament to the depth of the writing.

If he doesn't feel up to finishing it, it'd be nice if he'd turn it over to several well respected authors, and they could each write an alternate final book. Blasphemy, I know, but it'd be fun to read several different endings (imagine the arguments about which was best!) and I don't want him to torture himself just to crank the books out to appease fans/publishers- that would be unfortunate.

[Miguel Tonnies]

However, I'm really enjoying reading about all the fan ideas about what is going on and what will happen. I'm actually enjoying reading the forum as much if not more than reading Dance. I may even try seeking out some fan fic, and I never do that. Which in a way is a testament to the depth of the writing.

If he doesn't feel up to finishing it, it'd be nice if he'd turn it over to several well respected authors, and they could each write an alternate final book. Blasphemy, I know, but it'd be fun to read several different endings (imagine the arguments about which was best!) and I don't want him to torture himself just to crank the books out to appease fans/publishers- that would be unfortunate.

I couldn't agree more!

Miguel

[Lord Eddard]

Regarding the Amazon reviews... meh. I've long ago learned to discount a lot of them. And in this particular case, there's so many other factors influencing peoples' thoughts on ADWD that I don't trust its relevancy.

I find Goodreads to be much more accurate, because people have nothing to prove there, no vendettas against reviewers, and just go quietly giving their own opinion of books. (and the average rating of ADWD is much higher there and on Amazon)

Yeah, Goodreads is totally the bomb, there Jordan's masterpiece "Crossroads of Twilight" is rated 3.69/5, not the totally undeserved 1,8 stars it has on amazon (those haters.. only trolls and sock puppets there, I tell you).

On Goodreads you can even rate a book before it is published and thank God they don't have this useless and boring VerifiedPurchase and RealName thing that amazon has so on Goodreads I can easily vote multiple times for my favorite book!

Go Goodreads, go Dance!

[One Hand Clapping]

I am 51 years old and although I have no life threatening conditions I know about I seriously doubt that I'll live long enough to see the next book - never mind the end of the series.

However should me and George make it that far together it is at least possible that he might have been shocked by the response to ADWD to deliver something that actually advances the main plot, develops rather than regresses characters and stops leaving cliffhangers as if he were a comic book rather than an epic work of fiction.

And even if he doesn't return to the form of GoT, CoK, SoS or even FFC I really can't conceive how the next instalment could be more disappointing than the last one.

[alguien]

I thought the last Dunk Egg story was actually bad, it definitely wasn't the same quality as the first two. GRRM's interests and style seem to have shifted dramatically since he started writing ASOIAF. Possibly this will be a better entry if it deals with Duncan and Winterfell and reveals two of Bran's visions: Is Hodor really a descendent and who is the pregnant lady that wants revenge, perhaps we will get a better look of who it might have been and if it had any effect on Song.

I enjoyed "The Mystery Knight." Not as much as the first story, but I thought the fighting was pretty fun and meeting Bloodraven was nice. A few good Easter eggs and nice description throughout.

I don't really see a big shift in GRRM's shift or style, honestly. I think people are more familiar with it and have analyzed it ad nauseum, which accounts for many peoples' perceived shift.

I'm extremely curious to see what the next D&E story reveals about Winterfell as well. Besides Hodor and the pregnant woman, I'm wondering if we'll have any hint of Dunk's father, since he speculated that he might have gone north to the Wall.

[Lord Eddard]

[...] it is at least possible that he might have been shocked by the response to ADWD to deliver something that actually advances the main plot, develops rather than regresses characters and stops leaving cliffhangers as if he were a comic book rather than an epic work of fiction.

And how so? According to George, Dance is next to Feast his best received book yet. #1 on the best-seller list, gushing reviews (professional ones!) and beloved by all his fans who turn up on conventions and tell him so. He doesn't listen to those trolls and sock puppets on Amazon who hate on his book.

So why should he change anything? Don't get your hopes up.

[alguien]

Yeah, Goodreads is totally the bomb, there Jordan's masterpiece "Crossroads of Twilight" is rated 3.69/5, not the totally undeserved 1,8 stars it has on amazon (those haters.. only trolls and sock puppets there, I tell you).

Well, I never claimed it was perfect, but again, I don't think the cases are quite the same. Crossroads of Twilight is wayyy more controversial in terms of its quality than Dance.

On Goodreads you can even rate a book before it is published and thank God they don't have this useless and boring VerifiedPurchase and RealName thing that amazon has so on Goodreads I can easily vote multiple times for my favorite book!

You used to be able to do that on Amazon too. Are you seriously claiming Amazon reviews are reliable? How... incredibly naive. I really don't see tons of people creating Goodreads accounts to inflate ratings of books. That's ridiculous. What's the motive? There's no marketing to be done there. People just read books and rate, sometimes sharing with their friends.

And how so? According to George, Dance is next to Feast his best received book yet. #1 on the best-seller list, gushing reviews (professional ones!) and beloved by all his fans who turn up on conventions and tell him so. He doesn't listen to those trolls and sock puppets on Amazon who hate on his book.

Its actually pretty proven that there were a sizeable amount of trolls and sockpuppets on Amazon for dance. Hell, there were entire websites devoted to this kind of idiocy.

And yes, its a huge stretch to believe that being #1 on the best-seller list for weeks means that lots of people like your book. :rolleyes:

Perhaps its opinions like yours that are in the minority.

[Lord Eddard]

You used to be able to do that on Amazon too. Are you seriously claiming Amazon reviews are reliable? How... incredibly naive. I really don't see tons of people creating Goodreads accounts to inflate ratings of books. That's ridiculous. What's the motive? There's no marketing to be done there. People just read books and rate, sometimes sharing with their friends.

Yes - used to, not any more. And especially not where the reviews of Dance are concerned. You can't even publish a review on Amazon unless you have in the past bought something there. Now Amazon reflects real people with real opinions. The reliability of Goodreads is a total joke, the 3.69/5 rating for "Crossroads of Twilight" proves this without a doubt.

Now, it might not be your opinion that Dance is a 2.9/5 book - fair enough - but to invent "hidden agendas" for the negative reviews - sorry, that's pretty pathetic.

Denial won't change facts. ADWD is sadly not the masterpiece we all wished it to be. Deal with it.

[alguien]

Yes - used to, not any more. And especially not where the reviews of Dance are concerned. You can't even publish a review on Amazon unless you have in the past bought something there. Now Amazon reflects real people with real opinions.

:laugh: Its hilarious that you think so.

The reliability of Goodreads is a total joke, the 3.69/5 rating for "Crossroads of Twilight" proves this without a doubt.

Ah, no. To paraphrase you:

Now, it might not be your opinion that CoT isn't a 3.69/5 book - fair enough - but to invent "hidden agendas" for the positive reviews - sorry, that's pretty pathetic.

Perhaps its just that a lot of zealous Jordan fans (and they are legion) liked it. (for the record, I rated it one star on Goodreads) Again, your completely dodging the question of motive. There's no selling on Goodreads.

Denial won't change facts. ADWD is sadly not the masterpiece we all wished it to be. Deal with it.

And the facts are that there were (on the web) groups of people planning to tank ADWD on Amazon. In fact, they did so before it ever came out, several times. Perhaps you should "deal" with that.

I don't think ADWD is the best in the series and I actually agree that there were too many cliffhangers at the end. But I also think it was a damn fun read (I would rank it 3rd out of the five) and that the circumstances of its release contributed greatly to the hyperbole that has surrounded it.

[Lord Eddard]

I don't think ADWD is the best in the series and I actually agree that there were too many cliffhangers at the end.

Cool. We agree.

[Lord Eddard]

btw, if you actually read the critical reviews on Amazon, most are more elaborate and thoughtful than the 5 star one-liners. One could almost suspect that the recent surge of short and same sounding 5 star reviews might serve a hidden agenda - to prevent the book crashing down on 2.5/5 stars which would hurt sales. But who believes in conspiracy theories? Not me :wideeyed:

[alguien]

Cool. We agree.

To be sure, I think that the 3rd (or 4th--can't quite place it) best Ice and Fire book is still a damn sight better than a lot of the tripe out there.

I've found myself enjoying my little re-reads very much. Storm is still my favorite. GoT is a still second. But just behind them are ADWD and Clash and I'm not sure which I like better yet.

Heck, I enjoyed AFFC, its just my least favorite of the bunch. But even my fifth favorite Rolling Stones song is pretty good. :)

But no, I cannot agree with those saying its the best of the series. Still a 4 or 5 star read in my eyes, but not absolutely pure perfect 5.

btw, if you actually read the critical reviews on Amazon, most are more elaborate and thoughtful than the 5 star one-liners. One could almost suspect that the recent surge of short and same sounding 5 star reviews might serve a hidden agenda - to prevent the book crashing down on 2.5/5 stars which would hurt sales. But who believes in conspiracy theories? Not me :wideeyed:

I did peruse some and found myself agreeing with a bit of the criticism. Other times, I thought that they had valid points but gave lower ratings because they were frustrated by the wait.

I do think it would be pretty hard to hurt sales of ADWD. That thing was going to skyrocket regardless of what happened on Amazon.