ADWD: playing catch-up

[Nick]

Now to attempt to play catch-up on the book series(starting at the very first novel) before S&L starts reading A Dance with Dragons. I'll have to cut my WOW time to just a few nights of raiding and limit contact with friends to phone calls (keeping the conversation brief using a stop watch). No time for summer movies till I get caught up on the series either. If I'm not seeing friends or going to the movies then I can save some time by not showering on the weekends. Maaaybe I'll have to time to get caught up. It will be hard work but if reviews of the series are to be believed then it will be fun. :-)

[Boots]

I was thinking about doing the same thing, but it will be a couple weeks before I have the opportunity to even start reading them. So I'm not sure if I'll be caught up on time.

[Porf]

Me too i just bought the fist book

[Mike]

So many books. So little time.
:-(
There's no way I'm going to be able to read the 4 previous books in this series any time soon. I guess I'll sit this one out and read something else.

[Halbot42]

Start reading about a year before the last book comes out and you will ok

[Anne]

I finished the first one in about week and am halfway through the second book. The second is taking me a bit longer, but I'm also "busy" finishing the current season of TV shows, so I'm dividing my time between TV and books.

I will have a legendary six-hour commute each day in June (fortunately there are a couple of bank holidays in Germany that month) and I'm hoping that the additional train time will speed up my reading, so I might still have a chance. The book's writing style allows for pretty quick reading, it's merely the number of pages that makes it a challenge to be done before the new one comes out.

[Halbot42]

just be prepared for a long wait. There is at least one, maybe two or three more books to come after dragons, and the last gap was 5+ years, i think the tv show might either help or hurt things. Help by keeping focus up on the story and a pressing timeline. If hbo does one book a year, dragons will premiere in four years, so he will have to have something ready for production of season 6. Of course, the tv show might hurt because Martin is very involved in it, so now he has even less time to work than the five years it took him previously. Time will tell...

[AJ]

2 down and 2 to go. I luckily have the time right now to finally read through all of these.

[Martin]

I won't eat, I won't sleep but I will make it ;P
Wish me luck!

[Mary]

Against my better judgment I started re-reading GoT earlier this week. I've run into an interesting dilemma. Knowing all the sadness that's approaching, I'm having trouble picking it up. When I do, I read several chapters at a go, but once I set it down, it may be a whole day or more before I run out of other things to do, & remind myself that I'm doing this in preparation for the new book...

[Faiz]

same here, its a difficult book to pick up.

as far as the future books go, from what we have been told so far, the problem with ADWD was that GRRM wrote himself in a corner with some of the characters and needed massive rewriting to get him out. He now has more defined plans for everyone going forward.

So knowing this, and looking back at books 2 and 3, i think we can say its more probable that the next books will come out faster, ie: 2-3 year gaps.

plus pressure from HBO can only help.

[Mary]

From your lips to God's ears, LOL.

[Anne]

As of today: two down, two to go. Took me about 11 days to get through Clash of Kings, but now I'm a little bit afraid to start with Storm of Swords since it's supposedly the longest so far. I'm throwing in a 300-pager now, sort of as to cleanse my palate or something.

And, yes, GRRM really is not afraid to mess with me. As with all the characters in danger I never feel like I can be too sure that my favorites won't die in the next chapter or something. Damn you for that, GRRM.

[Kat]

Mary wrote: "Against my better judgment I started re-reading GoT earlier this week. I've run into an interesting dilemma. Knowing all the sadness that's approaching, I'm having trouble picking it up. When I ..."

I am having the same problem. I am trying to get through the first book but it feels more of a chore then the adventure it was the first time. Knowing when some of the charters will die, I can't get invested in their stories early on. I almost feel it would be better just to pick up the new book without re-reading the old books.

[Mary]

Kat wrote: "I almost feel it would be better just to pick up the new book without re-reading the old books. "

I'd agree except there were enough things that happened in the four ridiculously large books that I need to remember before I read the newest that I'll just keep slogging away while I curse GRRM with every other breath...

[Joana]

I'm 60% through the second book, and with a 10 hour flight ahead of me today. I might not have all books read by the time DwD comes out, but I'll be darn close...

[Nick]

Yeh, I just finished the first book and I'm about to start on the second. I really enjoyed the first and can't wait to start on the second.

[Paul]

me too post!

Re-reading first book now - loving it :) in fact now i have faces to put to them it is quite a bit easier to remember who is who in the book

[Michael]

I am pressing on with A Storm of Swords. I have been reading voraciously for what feels like weeks. It's SO. LONG. But the end is in sight, at last!

As far as sadness goes, A Storm of Swords is both harder to read, and easier. I feel like the first two really set up the protagonists, sort of tearing them down, and a few them start to be built back up in this book. It seems like a few of you guys are still on 1 and 2, so keep going! There are some very nice pay-offs in A Storm of Swords, I think.

[Anne]

I finished Storm of Swords on Tuesday evening. I found the first half a bit slower to get through, but the second half has so much happening that although it took me a while I didn't like when I had to stop for things like sleeping or working.

Reading Catching Fire now, but after that it will be A Feast for Crows, so I'm pretty positive I will be done before July 12th, especially since A Feast for Crows doesn't seem too long (at least not in comparison).

[Joana]

Anne wrote: "I finished Storm of Swords on Tuesday evening. I found the first half a bit slower to get through, but the second half has so much happening that although it took me a while I didn't like when I ha..."

Sweet! I'm 25% through, and I've been finding it pretty easy to read. Knowing the second half is packed is a nice treat.

But it's a pretty huge book, it takes me so long to increase 1% in my reading percentage.

[Michael]

Yeah, it's a little disconcerting to update your page number on Goodreads with that book.

[Matt]

Agree on storm of swords some times hard to tell that you have made progress, but it is such a good book that it is worth it to keep up with it.

[Michael]

One of the few 1000-pagers I didn't want to put down! (My poor wrists.)

[Bert]

I probably won't make it through all books, but I was thinking, since Feast for Crows runs (at least partly) in parallel with Storm of Swords, I could skip FfC. Or am I missing out on too many important plot lines that way?

[Mach]

Don't skip anything, ALOT of important things happen in it.

[Anne]

Yeah, I feel like advising against it as well. I don't know about the time frame actually, but it makes no sense to me to skip a book. There's so much happening that I would just assume I'd miss something. And as far as I can see, it's been pretty chronological up until now, so I don't think that Feast for Crows actually runs in parallel with Storm of Swords.

[Bert]

My bad, I got it mixed up: it's DwD that runs in parallel with FfC [http://www.georgerrmartin.com/done.html]. Man, where am I going to find the time...? ;)

Thanks for the advice!

[Michael]

You might be able to pull off reading ADwD first, but there's supposed to be references to AFFC in it. I think Martin assumes you will have read book 4 first.

[Been]

Considering some of the characters who's POV we'll be following in ADwD we also follow in AFFC (which I won't say here, but can be easily found online) I really wouldn't recommend reading any of the series out of order.

[Joana]

Just finished A Storm of Swords, onwards with A Feast for Crows. I think I'll be done in time for the release of DwD :)

[terpkristin]

Joana wrote: "Just finished A Storm of Swords, onwards with A Feast for Crows. I think I'll be done in time for the release of DwD :)"

Me too! I think I'll finish just in time, and am glad that I'm taking time off work from July 7-10 to see my sister, affording me more reading time! :)

[Alfredo]

I manage to finish the four books in the nick of time (yesterday), now I think I will read A Dance with Dragons slowly!

[Bert]

Alfredo wrote: "I manage to finish the four books in the nick of time (yesterday), now I think I will read A Dance with Dragons slowly!"

Well done! I only managed to get hafway through
A Storm of Swords...

[Otto]

I've decided to not worry about racing through the series. Just finished A Clash of Kings about 10 minutes ago and two major issues prevent me from pushing forward:
First, I need a shorter book first. I love these epics, but the mind needs a break from carrying so much at once.
Second, I don't want to wait five years at the end of DwD, a few months from now.
Ultimately, I'd rather read these slowly over the next few years. Maybe one each summer. Perhaps that way the last book will actually be out shortly after I finish its predecessor.

[aldenoneil]

Andrew wrote: "Second, I don't want to wait five years at the end of DwD, a few months from now."

I feel the same, but the pressure to read with the group is too much for me.

[Andrew]

I think I'm in the same boat as many I suspect. Have read all the books, but it's been so long that I'm struggling to remember all the story threads. Been spending some time on www.towerofthehand.com re-reading chapter summaries to refresh myself before I start reading DwD. Ideally would have loved to have re-read all the books but I just didn't have time for that.