Beginning in the late 1970’s, Marvel Comics began producing a comic book “what if” scenarios centered around their superheroes.
I loved them. Each issue would twist what was known to be true about the Marvel universe and create an alternate reality—just for one issue usually—that helped explore the characters and the situations that make them who they are. Some of my favorite issues are What if… the Hulk had the brain of Bruce Banner?, What if… Phoenix had not died?, What if… Spider-Man’s clone lived? and What if… the alien costume had possessed Spider-Man?
Note: Some of those What If…? issues became canon and made it even more fun!
I decided to ask a similar question but set in our own sci-fi/fantasy universe:
What if… Scott Lynch, George R. R. Martin and Patrick Rothfuss all published their respective next novels on the same day?
The odds of this happening are so small it makes it almost an impossibility. In short, it will never happen. Although Hollywood movie studios grab up opening dates for movies more than a year out—and rarely will place a movie on a date that has already been grabbed by a major movie—I do not think book publishers decide to not publish a book because another major author already “owns” the release date. While three massive-selling books publishing on the same day could happen in the book world, it wouldn’t.
But what if it did?
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I travel around the internet(s) quite a bit. I read various blogs. The consensus is the books by Scott Lynch, George R. R. Martin and Patrick Rothfuss are all late. They are late for varying reasons that I won’t go into here. The important thing to point out is around the blogosphere these late books receive a great deal of discussion from earnest—and sometimes angst-ridden—readers who spend a great deal of time and energy writing about those writers, their forthcoming books and their feelings about having to wait, wait, wait.
It is testament to how loved each of those writers are.
George, Pat and Scott all know this.
The question is what would happen if those three books were released on the same day?
The three books in question are, as far as the group of readers I hang around with, the ones fantasy fans are most looking forward to. Everyone knows the passion aroused by the readers of George R. R. Martin. Scott Lynch and Patrick Rothfuss have been given the mantle of break out debut writers in the last few years. All three have garnered much praise in the industry, have won awards as well as large faithful fan bases, and the next books they publish will be instant bestsellers.
If you had all three to choose from on the same release day, which book would you start first?
Would you go with the book with the lowest word count, which I assume will be Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch? Would you go with the book that requires the least amount of previous book re-reading, which would be Wise Man's Fear? Or would you go with the book written by the man Time Magazine's Lev Grossman titled "the American Tolkien" and select A Dance With Dragons?
Would you buy all three books at the same time? Or would you only buy one of them, stifling no matter how small the bestseller possibilities for the others? Would George, Pat and Scott make overtures on their websites about why their book should be purchased and read first? Would the publishers pour money into publicity and marketing? Would fantasy reader heads explode given that three late authors all published their books on the same day?
I think it would very interesting to watch the fantasy community at large revel in such a day—and the chaos it would drive.
Choices, choices, choices.
I'll cop out and say I would read whichever review ARC came to me in the mail first!
You don't have that option.
Which book would you read first and why?
I would be all over Dance before any of the others because Martin's the only one I've got a four book investment in at the current time.
Investment is a very good reason. Will you be re-reading the previous volumes in preparation once it is announced?
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