As Sanderson explains in this blog post, that possibility died a death when the novel came in 40,000 words over-length (the finished novel is currently estimated at being 360,000 words in length, making it one of the longest books in the series, though still behind the huge fourth and sixth novels), extending the amount of lead-time needed for production and editing. However, even he says that he thought the November date was a lock and the delay to January a surprise.
The delay is probably unavoidable - Tor would not miss the lucrative Christmas hardcover market for anything that could be easily resolved - but again, in the long run, it's a very minor delay for the final book in one of the most popular fantasy series out there.
6 comments:
I don't think when it's published will hurt sales. Demand for this will always be huge.
Have to slow down my re-read then, up to the last one RJ wrote now..
To add insult to injury, Orbit Books have updated their website to say they're "delighted" to announce a January 2013 release?!
[i]To add insult to injury, Orbit Books have updated their website to say they're "delighted" to announce a January 2013 release?![/i]
Why would you be both insulted and injured? You should be happy the book is coming out at all. Why shouldn't they be delighted to finally publish the conclusion to this long-running and beloved series?
Seriously, the sense of entitlement or nerds...
C.B.
Actually, many books that are expected to be popular are released in early January. Publishers expect that buyers will have gift cards ready to spend, and so they give them enticing product, such as this.
This delay may not be related to any production issue, and may be entirely intentional.
Hey anonymous, I still don't understand why a publisher should be "delighted" by a delay in publication, especially in this instance where even Brandon Sanderson thought the November deadline was set in stone. I would have thought "apologetic" would have been better. Shame you had to go anonymous to call some random 37 year old a nerd too but never mind :)
I certainly don't feel a sense of entitlement, I'm used to huge gaps between novels, being a big Stephen Donaldson and latterly George RR Martin fan.
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