Damn the Series

No, I'm not referring to the World Series featuring our very own Rockies for the first time ever (and believe me, I'll be online with the rest of the suckers tomorrow morning hoping to score some crazy overpriced Rockpile tix). I'm referring to the Song of Fire and Ice fantasy series by George R.R. Martin, which I started in September on the advice of several friends.

Unfortunately, said friends (or ex-friends) failed to mention that the fourth published book in Martin's series, which I just finished yesterday, is not the final novel in the saga of the Seven Kingdoms (and beyond!), and, according to Martin's last Web update, he is still not done with book five. AND, book five is not necessarily the last book in the tale.

I loved these books, but here's the rub. Will I remember the plot by the time the final books are published? Hell no. And honestly, that takes a lot of the enjoyment out of it for me. My grandmother, uncle, and I waited twelve years for the last volume of Jean Auel's Earth's Children series to publish. I didn't have time to reread the previous books, and having read the previous books at such a different time in my life, I felt uninspired by the end to her series. I also feel the pain of folks who started Stephen King's Dark Tower -- the first book in the seven book series published over 20 years ago in 1982.

Part of the "magic" of reading is becoming immersed in a story, and these long waits really diminish that enchantment. I don't want to sound bitchy. I certainly understand and sympathize with the plight of the authors - the important of continuity and the sometimes slow speed of the creative process. I just hate waiting.