Answer:
A note before we get started: I’ve noticed that some of you are asking about the timing of this re-read with regard to the upcoming release of The Gathering Storm. As “Wetlandernw” and others have pointed out, I covered this back in March when I initially made the decision to slow down the pace. That intro pretty much sums it up.
Though I am, like some of you, mildly disappointed that we won’t be caught up when TGS comes out (the estimate that we will be somewhere in the middle of A Crown of Swords sounds about right to me), I cannot regret the decision. I think that the quality of the commentary (which is the whole point, after all) has improved as a result, and even more awesome, I am mostly not dead of exhaustion and carpal tunnel syndrome. This is something I perhaps selfishly define as “a win”. And besides, there will still be more to come after TGS, and y’all will want something to fill your time waiting for the two after that, wontcha?