Oh, I just read that A Storm of Shadows basically corresponds with season 3 and 4 of the show. That is absolutely perfect!

The beginning of four can be a little difficult to get through.

Martin is skipping Comicon and other Fantasy convention to work on book. I have seen articles about the book now possibly coming out this year. However it seems like the source is just Martin denying that the publisher said about it not coming out this year.

http://www.idigitaltimes.com/winds-w...aratoga-423360

He did say this, fwiw.... In Martin's "Not a Blog," he stated, "Should I complete and deliver 'The Winds of Winter' before these cons roll round, I reserve the right to change my mind."

Don't you tease me

Storm of Swords is the best book. It gets better as it goes too, and the last half of it is really good. I mean it won't be as dramatic for someone who has seen the show and therefore knows the big events that are coming, but that's just how it is if you watch before you read.

If you are going to read books 4 and 5, I highly recommend reading them together as one big book using any of the chapter lists online. Much more enjoyable that way. And it's not that hard to do, generally you read 4 or 5 chapters from one book and then switch over and read 4 or 5 chapters from the other book. It's not a lot of hopping back and forth after every chapter or anything like that, and if you end up reading further in one book than the chapter list says, it doesn't really make that much difference.

The key is that by doing the books together, you don't have to go through a full book 4 before hearing anything more about Tyrion, Dany and Jon, nobody likes that approach. It also helps to understand the timing of things since book 4 and the first 2/3 of book 5 take place at the same time, and that feels weird when you read them in order instead of together as one book.

Once you read books 4 and 5, it is good to go online and read some of the essays and theories at websites like the tower of the hand site. Then you will realize some of the subtle things you kissed while reading, and some of those things are pretty interesting.

Lastly, beware of this thread if you plan to read books 4 and 5, it will tend to contain some spoilers on those books.

So, Martin seems to think 'Winds' will be out this October. Anyone wanna place bets.

http://www.kdramastars.com/articles/...lease-date.htm

That article is bullshit click-bait.

Most of what's in that article has been confirmed in a lot of other places. They only "new" piece of info is the alleged October release. But even that terribly written article is careful to throw out "alleged."

They are the only ones alleging it. It hasn't been picked up by any other media source. The article only makes two claims, one they made up (October release) and one that is flat out wrong. Benioff had never said season 5 will have Winds of Winter spoilers, only that the SERIES would have book spoilers, which I think we all expected. The article exists only to drive page views.

Okay.

Hey, I was excited too when I read that yesterday. I also think there is a possibility we see it by the end of the year, but until I get something concrete, I won't be holding my breath.

I'm with you 100%.

I dunno why all of you Star Wars and GOT fans would want to ruin the joy with a bunch of spoilers... GOT is the best thing on tv since the Sopranos by a huuuge margin and I'll be damned if I want to know all of the secrets ahead of time.

Nope, just let me savor each episode as it comes... with all of the intrigue and crazy twists I've come to expect... and me being genuinely shocked at each turn.

That's not what this is. This thread was for people who had read the books that wanted to discuss things that might spoil people who hadn't read the books.

Then I better get the hell outta here :D