Winter is Coming...

George R.R. Martin has finally announced the official release date for the fifth book in A Song of Ice and Fire, A Dance With Dragons.

The wait for this book has been incredible, but I believe that ultimately it will be worth it.

Martin's series is simply the best written fantasy series of all time.

While almost all fantasy (Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Wheel of Time, even Harry Potter) is at its heart a story of good verses evil, that isn't what Martin is about at all.

Some of the characters in the epic series are good, and some of the characters are not so good, but the characters that are good are capable of doing some terrible things, and the characters that are "evil" often have very good reasons for their terrible actions.

The thing is, there is no clear good guys or bad guys (and I really shouldn't use the term "guys" because there are some amazing and strong female characters in this series).

Martin tells each chapter from the perspective of a particualar character; you spend the chapter in their head.  He doesn't limit it to just the protaganists either.  You will get perspectives from all sides, and at times your alligences might change.

While there is no guarentee that the next book in the series will arrive anytime soon (the wait between the last book, the fourth in the series, A Feast For Crows, was released on November 8, 2005, over five and half years between it and the new one), the series, about to be five (very long) books strong, is well worth the read, even if it means you might spend the next five plus years waiting (not so patiently) with the rest of us for book six.