Posted on 05/31/2013 12:43:32 PM PDT by nickcarraway
With the end of the third season of Game of Thrones in sight (June 9th), a global audience of over 5 million is debating whether or not George R.R. Martin is the rightful “American Tolkien.” I argue that while The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones have striking similarities, Martin is actually pioneering a distinct genre—a new kind of fantasy novel informed by historical fiction and politics. Martin admits that he was influenced a great deal by Tolkien, and mirrored the structure of his novels off of Tolkien’s work:
“Tolkien begins his story in the Shire with one group of inhabitants, hobbits, but eventually expands the tale in ever-widening orbits to cover many races and huge tracts of land. That’s what I wanted to do too. I wanted to start with a tight focus on a few characters and one place in the world, and as the story is told, the world will continue to get bigger and bigger and more people get drawn into the conflict,” Martin told the Detroit Free Press.
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
William Horwood’s Duncton Wood is a brilliant read. He’s a fantasy writer from the UK. Very gifted, though he’s not for everyone. He gets quite graphic about the human condition. Martin could not hold Horwoods’s jockstrap IMO.
He’d probably want to hold it, though.
As far as that goes, yes it is a disservice. Someday perhaps someone will produce an edited version that is PG-13 and not MA. That would much improve the thing.
The HBO series is very much an “adults only” product, that on occasion (perhaps once or twice per episode) goes far outside the material to insert its own unique “extras”. Only 5% of that, if so much, is in the books. Even the plot gets tweaked. The explicit homosexuality of a couple of characters on HBO is merely very marginally implied in the books, just as an example.
On the other hand the other aspects of it are very well done and in some ways improve on Martin. The fellow badly needed an editor.
I would have to disagree about sexual detail in the books when it comes to the relationship of Danaerys and Khal Drogo in book 1.
There were some fairly graphic descriptions there, but they were so well done. They really served to establish the unexpectedly close and loving relationship between the two, which was difficult to translate into the series visually.
But the end of that relationship in the series though, I believe they did capture how much the two loved each other despite how they came to be together.
But yes, in the books Martin’s handling of sexual content is NOTHING like what some people intent upon libel in this thread are tying to PRETEND that it is.
As much is obvious.
I like Martin a lot. He is an excellent writer, but he cannot capture the beauty and heroic character that Tolkien did in Lord of the Rings. He seems to lack that depth.
One of my major gripes with Martin is that he created this incredibly noble man Eddard Stark, kills him off in the first book and still has not been able to replace him with a man of equal honor. Book 5 was my last, the story is just getting drawn out and dull now.
I will say this for Martin, the imp is one of the most fascinating characters ever printed on paper.
Ok, I forgot about that in book 1. Yes, you’re right. But that particular use was as you said an actual loving relationship in the end... which was really quite a beautiful thing. One of the rare “good things” in Martin’s world of backstabbers.
I’ve loved Game of Thrones from the beginning. It is a trip into another world of characters with breadth and depth. Part of the enduring attraction of the series and books, is the amazing cast of the HBO shows. A more perfect acting ensemble cannot be imagined — at least by me.
It is not so much a tale to be analysed at every step, but rather one to take you on a flight to lands of ancient Celts and magical places. It is one of the best things HBO has done and I do NOT want it to end.
P.S. I am still saddened by the loss of Eddard Stark, a most noble and engaging character indeed.
The books are brilliantly written. But not for everyone. Persistent gruesome unhappy endings for the characters one grows to care about during the reading. I came to believe the author has a nasty cruel streak and must enjoy inflicting pain on his readers. Tolkien was creating myth. Martin creates a world of pain, overseeing it like a cruel god.
BOTR ... The adventures of Dildo Bugger. If one is a fan of the LOTR but retains a sense of humor the first couple chapters will leave you doubled over laughing. After that it gets sort of old.
Well, it’s obvious he has been searching for someone to love him despite his dwarfness.
His character at first really turned me off, but he has grown on me and now he is my favorite character, along with Brienne of Tarth. Jaime is starting to grow on me too, I never thought that would ever happen!
Dany and Klal Drogo were also favorites.
Death is often cruel, and in Westeros it is not always permanent or as it seems.
I would list the few that do seem permanent, but I don’t want to spoil.
I hear you!
I actually saw ONE episode, and it was enough for me.
At first, anyway. I gave up after about five books. Gotta give me points for trying though, right?
If you read WOT to the end you see that a number of characters you’d never think he’d kill off, he kills off.
Jordan’s work has been ripped off by a number of colleagues. For instance, in the Sword of Truth series, one finds the Stone of Tear, which originally appeared in book two of WOT a number of years earlier.
No credit given, of course.
I think that TOR is to blame there. The first couple of books vaguely suggested Tolkien themes, but not for long. Jordan went off in an entirely different direction. However, after a while, who was there to compare to?
Regarding producers of the series, I think they've done as good a job as possible when going from a written to a visual medium. Never easy and it's rare when it's done well.
You missed where massive armies were Traveled thousands of miles a whole bunch of times, especially in the last four books. But no big. :)
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