Tuesday, November 06, 2012

Game of Thrones

I've made it to book five at last. Good stuff, the series has been a real page turner...though I'm told that its going to be another 11 years before I see book 6. I've heard many comparisons between Tolkien and Martin. That Martin is the US's Tolkien. I've given this some thought.

I am an avid reader of much of Tolkien's published work (avoiding the unpublished reedited material put out by his son) and I have thoroughly enjoyed Martin's book, the ups and downs. So I've been balancing the two and seeing what compares and what doesn't.

I don't think the two actually compare. Martin's is a brutal tale of survival in a cynical world, its very down to earth, grounded in a world where the characters weave through a world of men whose flaws walk hand in hand with their strengths. Its the world we live in. Tolkien's is not; its a tale through which the hobbits are wandering; and though they themselves are very human, those they travel with are not. Aragorn has flaws, he is an epic hero.

So I think in the end, for me, its a matter of tone. I've had some trouble with Martin's books as there are no heroes in them, only men trying to do what is best. There are no Conans, Tarzans, Aragorns; there are only very frail, if mighty, men. Eddard Stark is a hero and honorable, but he's caught up in the frailty of men around him. In the end comparing the two is the real problem. They don't compare. Martin's works are fantastic; but for a change of pace and a different read, Tolkien's are fantastic as well.


post script: No writer has ever pissed me off more than Martin . . . but I kept on reading...grumble mumble son of bitch, curses....

24 comments:

DesignZombie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
DesignZombie said...

I have also read up to book five, but I am more annoyed with this fact more than anything: where is this going?

I mean, after all we have been dragged through and all the misery we have read, is this all just to make us suffer? (lol)

Troll Lord said...

Yeah, I'm wondering that myself.

Gaming Ronin said...

11 years to get the next book? Remember no one is safe in a martin book, Not even the Author. Maybe there will be a 6th book.

Gaming Ronin said...

11 years to get the next book? Remember no one is safe in a martin book, Not even the Author. Maybe there will be a 6th book.

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