Pre-release City of Dragons (spoilers Farseer, LST, TM and RWC)

[Albertosaurus Rex]

Might we be getting two Robin Hobb books in one year? It's almost too good to be true.

Concerning books that take long: I couldn't help but think of A Dance With Dragons. I think it's inevitable that some people are going to be disappointed when it's finally released, because the wait has gotten so long and expectations are so high.

['thul]

that sounds fairly good... these beings intend to buy the paperback edition of dragon Haven as soon as they get the chance...

[Nuytsia]

Concerning books that take long: I couldn't help but think of A Dance With Dragons. I think it's inevitable that some people are going to be disappointed when it's finally released, because the wait has gotten so long and expectations are so high.

I know! Sometimes things can be overthought ....... and I must admit I probably didn't enjoy A Feast for Crows as much as the others. Was that because I waited so long that my expectations were unrealistically high? I don't know. It would be interesting to get the perspective of someone who reads all the books within a shorter space of time without long waits in between. Farseer? (hehehe)

On the Hobb stories, well I still haven't read Blue Boots! Nice to know I have the option at any time...... and that there's more stories to come this year.

[Mervi]

Might we be getting two Robin Hobb books in one year? It's almost too good to be true.

I wouldn't hold my breath. Even if Robin is nearly done with the manuscript of the next Rain Wilds book, it will still have months of editing and proofing and typesetting and fixing things ahead. Also it seems lately that for some reason the publishers decide on some seemingly random publishing dates too (I guess based on market research?) that can be quite a long time after the book is "ready". As an example: The Dragon Keeper came out in June 2009 in the UK and in January 2010 in the US. I can not believe it takes 6-7 months to fix some typos and change the font/layout and cover art AFTER the book has already been published elsewhere. Hobb's books have ~traditionally had UK publishing dates in June or July, with Dragon Haven that schedule seems to have been shifted to March (the Inheritance also has a March publishing date in the UK). Could be they want to save RWC3 to next year, especially if they anticipate the next one after that takes a long time to write. (And no, we don't know anything about The Next One After That, it's just my personal speculation based on wishful thinking. )

[Albertosaurus Rex]

I know! Sometimes things can be overthought ....... and I must admit I probably didn't enjoy A Feast for Crows as much as the others. Was that because I waited so long that my expectations were unrealistically high? I don't know. It would be interesting to get the perspective of someone who reads all the books within a shorter space of time without long waits in between. Farseer? (hehehe)

I only discovered ASOIAF after A Feast for Crows was released, so I didn't have that problem. It's probably the weakest book in the series, but I still enjoyed it a lot. I mean, what does being the weakest book of ASOIAF mean? The quality is so high that even the weakest book of that series is miles better than many other books.

[Farseer]

It would be interesting to get the perspective of someone who reads all the books within a shorter space of time without long waits in between. Farseer? (hehehe)

I'm up for the challenge!

I agree with Mervi's thoughts in that I doubt we'll get to see more than a hint of the new book until 2012. Still, just knowing it's inching closer is enough for me!!!

[Farseer]

In her newsgroup, Robin has said not to look for it in 2011, especially as the manuscript she sent her editor is far larger than what it was supposed to be (like double the word count ). She said it also takes about a year for a book to hit bookshelves after it is received by a publisher.

['thul]

oh, well... not much to do about that except wait... like these beings do for so many other series...

[Lady Laura]

So, are we to presume the "Next book" will be coming out next year (2012)? I hadn't known that Hobb alluded to the fact that Hest would be in it, til I read this thread! I dont think I fully expected that... But it makes sense, and I'm curious to see how Alise and Sedric will deal with him this time round (if they meet him again that is! But I presume they will.)

['thul]

They will probably deal with him resolutely... Alise has, after all discovered that she has a hidden core of steel... Considering that the society of homosexuals within bingtown is hidden, that would indicate that it is considered "wrong" and is probably forbidden. Most likely Alise will find some way to reveal the truth about Hest, possibly with the aid of Sedric.

As for Sedric... Well... he'll probably learn some more backbone from two good teachers... Carson and Relpda... Carson will provide human perspective, while Relpda will no doubt (again) offer to kill Hest...

One thing that these beings see as possible path of development, is that the liveship Tarman will somehow get the dragons to change its captain, and maybe even crew, into Elderlings...
While they have not been quite as close quite as much to the dragons, they have certainly been there more than is healthy for any rain wilder... (yes, 'thul consider Alise a rain wilder now, not a Bingtowner...)
These beings theorize that no human within a certain proximity to dragons for some time will remain unchanged completely... One change that would be a true blow against Hest, would be if by the time Alise returns to "civilized" society she begins to grow scales... Especially if the scales match Leftrin's in color...
Does that seem like an interesting theory to you?