As we discussed
on the Culture Gabfest
last week, George R. R. Martin’s legion of passionate fans have been waiting on tenterhooks
—
in
cred
ibly impatiently, in many cases
—
for the latest installment in his
bookshelf-buckling series
, “A Song of Ice and Fire,” the basis for the new HBO series
A Game of Thrones.
The last book, the fourth in the series, was published back in 2005; itwas expected that the next would come soon after, since the two volumeswere originally conceived as a single manuscript. But as Laura Millerdescribed in her recent
New Yorker
piece, Martin’s had a hard time wrapping up
A Dance With Dragons
, to the sadness of some loyal readers and
the white-hot ire
of others.
Well, the haters can finally stop hating, because it seems like Martin has finally completed the manuscript. In a blog post this afternoon titled “twas beauty …”, Martin has pasted a still from the 1976 movie King Kong ,showing the beast dead on the floor. The post is tagged “dance withdragons,” and Martin’s mood is listed as “exhausted.” Commenters arejubilant. (“Can it really be true? I feel like there’s 3 Christmas’sthis year!!”)
Martin has been apparently been referring to the manuscript as “Kong” for some time now. On March 27 , he wrote, “Kong grows bigger and bigger. Past 1600 pp in manuscript now. Oy.”
A Dance With Dragons is set to publish on July 12. Hopefully, 1,600 pages will buy Martin atleast a few weeks before the hordes start clamoring for book six.
Photograph of George R. R. Martin by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images.
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