[Ntschotschi]

As I haven't posted in the forum for quite a while I take the liberty to start another thread.
Part of the reason I started reading story collections is that I've run out of exciting new books to read. But that's not my main point.
Why does it take the authors of the most exciting series take so so long to deliver?
I've the impression it's getting worse and worse.
For example:
George Martin - no comment
Robert Jordan - no comment
We're used to them two by now.

But:
J.V. Jones? Fortress of Grey Ice was published in 2002!
Kate Elliott "The gathering Storm" 2003. Still no publication date.
Lynn Flewelling?
Mathew Stover? (Beside Star Wars)
And some others I can't think of at the moment.
At least Erikson doesn't let us down, there's the odd novella now and then too.
Oh, I forgot: Martin and Jordan published a short story as well!
Why's this delay you think?
Writer's block? Strategy? I am wrong?
I'm thankful for release dates too.:)

[JamesL]

I have to admit that George RR Martin is terrible about keeping his readers up to date with his progress. His last message regarding A Feast for Crows was written back in January. He claims that the reason he seldom updates his progress is that he wants to spend all his time writing, but come on - how long would it take to update the message? 10 minutes? :(

He's been working on Crows for a very long time now, it better be worth the wait.

[Big Bubba]

Kate Elliott's next Crown of Stars book (In the Ruins) is going to be published in August, and the final volume is supposed to be out next year.

[JohnH]

I'm not sure where you get your information. But I suggest trying somewhere new. One place is amazon.com. Even though often wrong, they are also often right. Particularly in releases due in the next nine months or so. Locusmag.com is another place to keep an eye on. Or even just their websites or major fan websites.

1.Robert Jordan -- Knife of Dreams is due out this October
2.Kate Elliott -- the last book Crown of Stars was turned in but so large it will be split into two books. In the Ruins will be the first part and released this summer. Crown of Stars the last and now seventh book willbe out early next year. Likely February or March.
3.Lynn Flewelling is still writing The Oracle Queen and hopes it will be done and out by the first half of 2006.
4.J.V. Jones is still writing as well but there is no word even though the book has a street listing and has for some time. I.E. she is pulling a Martin (oh! but he is just making sure he is writing the bestest book ever! Ever ever ever! Yeah. Suuuuure.)
5.No idea about the other guy because i don't like/read his stuff so I couldn't care less. Well unless he was Robert Newcomb or Terry Goodkind or Sara Douglass or wee confused China Mieville. Steph Swainston might make the list if her second book is as bad as her first book.

[KatG]

Because they aren't making widgets.

Sometimes it takes more than six months to produce a book. Especially 800 page long books. Sometimes writers get sick, their relatives get sick, there are life problems that make writing not that easy to do. A lot of writers have day jobs still, and the ones who make their living from their writing may be working on projects in other mediums too or other book series that they're spending some time on and which may end up being really cool. Sometimes they don't have a crisis but would like to spend some time with their spouses or children.

Not that long ago, there wasn't an Internet, authors didn't have websites and fans couldn't contact authors and nag them incessantly about when the next book was coming out and be upset if they didn't get constant updates on an author's progress. I'm guessing a lot of writers wish they could go back to those days.

I really don't get this new trend of insisting genre authors produce stories like a factory outlet. Followed by the requisite bitching about how awful, poorly constructed and rushed the produced book reads. No other type of fiction has this sort of thing going on that I'm aware of. Is there nothing else you can find to read? A computer game to play? There's a fine line between fandom and the crazy lady in Stephen King's "Misery." :)

[Teresa Edgerton]

Oh, well said, KatG!

[ezchaos]

I can't imagine all of the work and long hours that go into writing a novel or a series. Authors are only human. They have problems of their own. Personally, I've gotten a bit tired of long series. I'm in the middle of a few and am waiting for the next installment. However, I'm trying not to start any new ones. Nowadays, I prefer standalone novels or books set in the same universe but not necessarily connected to each other (like the Bas-Lag books).

I do sometimes get irritated when an author takes a long time to write the next installment in a series. Mostly because I end up forgetting much of what was in the previous books and I hate going back and re-reading them. But, I try to put myself in the author's shoes. Think of G RR Martin. He's probably sick of A Song of Ice and Fire and wishes he could shelve it for 10 years.

[Rob B]

My wife gets frustrated at the amount of time between the Potter books, saying that now that she has all the money, she can take her time. I try to say that Rowling had I think the first three pretty much written before she recieved a publishing contract.

It is a frustrating thing though - it will be 5 years since A Storm of Swords published and because of that looooong amount of time, I will more likely than not re-read the three already published books in the series. Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily.

Also in the time since aSoS published a slew great books have published - R. Scott Bakker's fabulous Prince of Nothing saga and Greg Keyes's Kingdoms of Thorne and Bone, both of which I happen to like more than GRRM and just about all the other ongoing series. Hell, Robin Hobb finished up a whole trilogy in that time!

I like Elliott's series too, but I'll just wait until the whole series is finished.

And really, this wait is something we Big Fat Fantasy readers should be accustomed to by now. When we open "Book 1" unless we are reading something that is completely published, we know we could be facing this waiting game. In a sense, we only have ourselves to blame.

I'm blathering now, I know.

[Iskaral Pust]

Because they aren't making widgets.

There's a fine line between fandom and the crazy lady in Stephen King's "Misery." :)

Now there's an idea.... :p

Only joking, I completely agree with you.

[KatG]

People in the United States got spoiled on Harry Potter because we got the first four pretty much at once, which I could be wrong, but I don't think was the case in Britain at first. Then Rowling did very horrible things. She:

1) Did some supplementary guide books, the purpose being to give the proceeds from those books to charity.

2) Worked very closely with the people making the films of the book in order that they would do the films well.

3) Got married and had a baby.

Okay, so on that last one she probably did have a wedding consultant and a nanny, but still, anybody who has gotten married and had child no. 1 or 2 can tell you it has an effect on your time.

But she also had to deal with hitting the wall, harder than just about anybody before her. Writers hit the wall when they suddenly become bestselling authors and everybody needs to talk to them, get something from them and suddenly don't like them very much because they are a bestselling author. And they also feel that heavy weight of responsibility that they must not only write the next book, but make it really, really good. Not surprisingly, a lot of them start to get really slow and cranky. With the money and what passes for fame comes a lot more responsibilities and pressures.

Which doesn't mean that a writer can't produce. But sometimes an individual writer just can't. It takes as long as it takes and there's nothing that anyone, including the author, can do about it. And if we're seeing that among a lot of the bestselling epic fantasy authors, well, that may be because there's a lot more fan pressure than there used to be, the books they have to write are really long and complicated, there are mass plagues running through the sf/f community, and so on. :)