“Tolkiens world was one of nobility vs. evil. Martins is one of moral depravity vs. even more moral depravity.”
That’s a great point. Tolkien’s work is fundamentally based in his Catholicism and his love of traditional, heroic mythology. It is very values based. Martin’s work is replete with postmodern “ethics.” The heroes aren’t really heroic. The bad guys are disturbing and disgusting, but may have redeeming qualities. Nothing’s ennobling; it’s just a dog-eat-dog, morally twisted fantasy world.