I wish I could say this is a post about how George R.R. Martin is finally sent a date for the release of The Winds of Winter, the next book in his A Song of Fire and Ice Saga but sadly no.  As much as it pains me to continue to wait, it obviously pains George even more.  Today he posted on his blog that The Winds of Winter will not be published before the beginning of the sixth season of the HBO based on his book in April.  Yeah this sucks but at least we know.  (To read his whole blog post, go here) I know that many people are going to be angry with him.  there are a lot of people who worry that the show is now going to spoil the books or the show will influence how the book will end.  I don’t really feel that way.  I think George has a pretty clear idea of where he wants his series to end and the producer of the show have theirs.  I’m not sure if the books had been completed would have changed either endings.  The show have deviated from the books since season 1.  Characters that are POV in the books haven’t made the show yet or cut completely and other characters still alive in the books have died in the show.  True they may die soon in the books but we won’t know for sure until it comes out but has any of those changes really ruined the show for you?  The past five season, us book readers have had an advantage over those who haven’t read it and now we will all get to experience the show together with no insight.  How exciting is that?  As for the books now being spoiled, was the show spoiled for you even though you read the books? Did it make the red wedding any less horrifying to watch? or Ned’s death? or any of the other thousands of deaths?  It hasn’t for me so I don’t think the show will spoil the books all that much either.  Sure we might have an inkling of what will happen but there is so much more in the books then the show could ever show us.  So many more characters, subplots, settings that haven’t even been mentioned on the show that will be just as much in the dark about as we are now.  So I say, let’s enjoy the wait.  Let’s appreciate what we have with both the books and the show.  Let George finish the books in his own time and not rush him.  Don’t we want it to the best it can be?

This makes me think about Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, it’s the longest of the seven books and my least favorite and I believe J.K. Rowling’s too.  In between writing four she had a son and felt rushed to finish five.  She has said that she wished she had more time to edit and it shows.  It’s kind of a mess.  With tons of subplots and tangents it’s not as focused as the others.  The great thing about the movie (which ironically is the shortest film) is that it was able to do the editing that J.K. didn’t get to do to make it much better movie then book but what as readers we were more patient and gave her the time.  What book would we have got?  Would it have been better?  Would we have avoided S.P.E.W.?  Would Harry have been less of a git, I mean a whiny teenage boy?  We will never know for sure but I do think for sure we cheated ourselves of her best effort.  So for this reason I say give George a break.  Let him finish it in his time and we will all eventually get what we want.