LOL..not even close.
Martin is a troll or a dwarf.
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.
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.
No - he’s the anti-Tolkien.
I love the books. The characters, locations and scenarios have been so richly developed that the franchise can go on indefinitely.
At the rate he is going, Martin, the “Antitolken” will be dead before he completes the story.
Never heard of him and never read anything he wrote. I guess I’ll stick with real Science Fiction instead of the fairy dancing fantasy shtick. One thing is sure, an American Tolkien, he is not.
&$@$, NO!!
Popularity-wise I can see it. JRRT didn’t have the benefit of all the media GRRM has access to-the internet, HBO, conventions. But more people read books in general back then I would imagine, at least as a %. I wonder what the ratio is of JRRT/GRRM who have only seen the HBO series/movies vs those who have also/only read the books.
Quality-wise, the closest to an American Tolkien is probably Gene Wolfe. Also Catholic, also writes about spiritual matters/faith using fantasy/sci-fi. He’ll never be as popular as JRRT/GRRM. I recall a story where Wolfe wrote a letter to JRRT and got a letter back in response.
FReegards