Books
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I think the main thing to remember about Tolkien, is that he was a writer of his time, not to mention one of the first modern fantasy writers. His style matches the age he was writing in, and his generation, not to mention the inspiration from the various histories, myths and sagas he drew ideas from. By today's standards, it's quite slow and methodical.
Martin shares many aspects of what we now call 'Epic' or 'High' fantasy, a genre arguably created by Tolkien, in that he writes on a grand level, with multiple narrative strands and a huge story arc. However, Martin writes for the modern audience. His prose style is modern, his action more visceral and, crucially, he has many more characters with their own narrative strand. This means he's constantly moving various pieces of the story along from many angles, and just when you get hooked on one, he swaps onto the next. This has a duel affect, both driving you on to get back to that character, while also developing a need to get back to the current character. It's almost cruel, but very enjoyable.
Also, Martin has said he drew some inspiration from The Twelve Caesars, and so we have a lot of politics, betrayals and in fighting. It's also not a cheerful read - it's bleak, captivatingly so, and nobody is safe. Women, children and pets - no one is safe. The sense of immediate peril is evident through much of the book, and gives it an urgency not present in Tolkien's books. At least in my opinion.
Or, to paraphrase Clerks 2, Martin's story isn't a series of books about walking…
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Thank you michaeljcr. sounds very intriguing, I appreciate you taking the time for the well thought out description. It sounds like I need to look into the series
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Can't add much to Michael's analysis (he does this sort of thing for a living, after all), but I will say that when I read LOTR, it was a slow, tough slog. The Song of Ice & Fire series, especially the first 3 books, ripped along, even on subsequent re-readings.
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Totally, it (LOTR) can be a slog for the modern reader. I read it first when I was eleven, in the '80s (yep, forty this year!), and it seemed like nothing could ever be more wonderful. I've read a lot of books since then. Thankfully I don't do the copy editing in my current job - apologies for the typos above. Tired eyes and typing on a long train journey…
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If you want truly awesome, mind bending fantasy that makes GRRM look like an easy read, go get some Steven Erikson as well.
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Totally, it (LOTR) can be a slog for the modern reader. I read it first when I was eleven, in the '80s (yep, forty this year!), and it seemed like nothing could ever be more wonderful.
Again, I echo this- read the Hobbit and the LOTR trilogy at about the same age and utterly loved it. Tried it again as an adult and gave up halfway through The Two Towers.
I'll have to look into Erikson, Michael. I'm currently at a lull in my fiction reading, and since Patrick Rothfuss won't have his next book out for a couple of years, I need to find something to fill the time.
(GRRM won't finish his next book until at least 2018, so I just put him out of my mind…)
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Chris, LOVED LOVED LOVED Rothfuss' books!!!!
Why must all the good fantasy take forever to be released? Agreed, they were some of the best modern fantasy I've read in a long time.
Slightly different, but anyone into Salman Rushdie? His newest book, The Enchantress of Florence, is interesting if a little high-minded.
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Of course, what you all really need is a bit of this:
Muskets, magic and mayhem…
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Don't do it man! Read that and you'll have to watch the show again, and no matter how many times you watch it, they'll still cancel it after five series (the bastards!).
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feck knows where else to place this. It's like a short novel, but a fascinating article…So book related it is....
http://www.gq.com/news-politics/newsmakers/201304/buzz-bissinger-shopaholic-gucci-addiction
In the past few years, I've bought eighty-one leather jackets. Dozens of boots and leather gloves. I've purchased pants that cost $5,000. I own a $22,000 coat. This winter I took a tour of Milan's Fashion Week (all expenses paid by Gucci, in appreciation of my many, many purchases), where I spent tens of thousands more and began to seriously grapple, once and for all, with a compulsion that could cost me more than just my life savings. My name is Buzz Bissinger. I am 58 years old, the best-selling author of 'Friday Night Lights,' father of three, husband. And I am a shopaholic
