It's HERE! IT'S HERE! it'shereit'shereit'shere! A DANCE WITH DRAGONS!

Winters have come and gone, five times. Five long years after it was due, The Book That Was Promised has hit the shelves, and all is right in the world. I’m speaking, of course, of A Dance with Dragons, the long-awaited, much-hyped fifth book in the George R. R. Martin epic series, A Song of Ice and Fire.

I haven’t read it yet, having just picked it up from Borders, but I have to say, it’s a heavy thing to have in my possession, and I don’t mean the weight, though it is large. I looked at the maps, and they seem much more detailed, much more well-formed. The only other books from the ASOIAF series I own are of the paperback sort, so I can’t say if there’s a major change.
What I can say is that having this is a relief. I can’t stop staring at it, holding it, flipping through it. I want—need—to start reading this bad boy soon, even though I’m only halfway through my re-read of A Feast for Crows. To be honest, I’ll probably just start reading it anyway, since the events of both books run, for a time at least, parallel.

I have to say that the dedication page brought shivers up my spine. It’s dedicated to the fans: the small, unofficial clubs such as the Brotherhood Without Banners who meet and party and talk about all things Icy and Fiery. It’s dedicated to the fan sites which have become so important and so integral to not only the community of readers at large, but to the new fans of the acclaimed (and hopefully Emmy-nominated!) Game of Thrones television show. I'm speaking, of course, of sites such as Winter-is-Coming.net and Westeros.org, both of which are fantastic and which you should check out.  The book is also dedicated to friends and fans he’s met all over the world, and it makes me proud to be a part of such a community, even if it’s in my small, insignificant way. Mr. Martin has always been accessible to his fans, even if he can’t afford to spend as much time with them as he wants. He pops in on casual, unofficial BWB events, and even parties with them. And the dedication page makes him all the more real, and all that much larger-than-life, a person I want desperately to succeed.

Not that I should worry. From early reviews, it seems that Mr. Martin has hit this one out of the park, and I hope to lend my voice to the praises soon.

Good reading to you all.