{"id":74182,"date":"2013-06-22T06:09:54","date_gmt":"2013-06-22T11:09:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/?p=74182"},"modified":"2013-06-22T07:39:07","modified_gmt":"2013-06-22T12:39:07","slug":"in-search-of-a-better-george-r-r-martin-comparison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/2013\/06\/22\/74182-in-search-of-a-better-george-r-r-martin-comparison\/","title":{"rendered":"In search of a better George R.R. Martin comparison"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"g Few things reflexively irk me as much as a Tolkien comparison.<\/p>\n

Okay, that’s a bit of hyperbole. But there is an underlying truth — they are irritating. <\/p>\n

Why? Because anyone saying “X is the new Tolkien” or “Y is a masterpiece worthy of Tolkien” is, frankly, almost certainly full of it.<\/p>\n

The problem is that — just like me at the start of this piece — they are indulging in hyperbole. And yes, I’m looking at you Time Magazine and Lee “George RR Martin is the American Tolkien<\/a>” Grossman.<\/p>\n

That’s not to say I believe that George RR Martin writes drivel. Far from it, I devoured all five A Song of Ice and Fire books in three weeks and found each book thoroughly engrossing. I really enjoyed the knife-edge politics, the interplay of competing agendas, and the unremitting, Hobbesian brutality of Westeros.<\/p>\n

For me, the last is a great part of the appeal. <\/p>\n

It’s refreshing to encounter an author who is unafraid to dispose of key characters. You viscerally fear for the continued existence of the protagonists as they lurch from crisis to crisis.<\/p>\n

And it has an epic sweep of events that spans continents, while hinting at a larger and deeper history. <\/p>\n

Yet Tolkien in depth it is not.<\/p>\n

Not remotely Tolkienesque<\/h3>\n

\"JRR Anne Hobson in her piece in The Spectator<\/a> does an excellent job of demolishing this argument. I’ll re-quote what I feel is the key part:<\/p>\n

Tolkien\u2019s creation displays a sense of depth yet unrivaled in the fantasy genre. In this way, Lord of the Rings is to Game of Thrones as the Atlantic Ocean is to Lake Michigan. In contrast to the invention of Martin\u2019s world, which is secondary to his plotline, Tolkien built his reality from the ground up starting with languages. A famed Oxford philologist, Tolkien created more than twenty unique languages. For Tolkien, language was the building blocks that made up the fabric of his mythology:<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“What I think is a primary \u2018fact\u2019 about my work, that it is all of a piece, and fundamentally linguistic in inspiration […] The invention of languages is the foundation. The \u2018stories\u2019 were made rather to provide a world for the languages than the reverse. To me a name comes first and the story follows.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s worth reinforcing this point. <\/p>\n

Although RR Martin’s world-building is excellent, it still lacks the ground-up solidity of Tolkien’s Legendarium. It’s missing Tolkien’s deep feeling of — for want of a better word — historicity (historical authenticity).<\/p>\n

In the appendices to the Lord of the Rings alone, Tolkien gives us a historical timeline of the world, a precis of key historical events and figures — not a few of whom play any role whatsoever in the novel itself. There are two different language scripts and notes on pronunciation. There are notes on languages, on the fictitious translation of the original Red Book of Westmarch, and multiple calendars with extensive thoughts about how they inter-relate and overlap. <\/p>\n

How is Shire Reckoning descended from the Numenorean calendar? You’ll find the answer in Appendix D. Does the existence of either affect the plot? Not in the slightest as far as I can tell (though I do understand the dates given throughout Rings do precisely correspond with the various phases of the moon that are mentioned in the book itself), but the investment of effort for Tolkien to derive each must have been enormous.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

LOTR: much more than a novel<\/h3>\n

\"LOTR
The Lord of the Rings<\/figcaption><\/figure> When someone hands you a copy of Lord of the Rings, you get much more than a novel. <\/p>\n

It’s actually a bit like being given a kit of Lego. Sure you can use that Lego to make the giant space cruiser that’s plastered on the front of the box.<\/p>\n

But you can also use it to make innumerable other things.<\/p>\n

Did you use the Angerthas to transliterate the runes on Balin’s tomb? Did you try to do the same for the Ring verse? Did you start pulling the genealogies to pieces just because you could?<\/p>\n

Exploration and speculation, to my mind, is a vital part of the continuing attraction of Middle-earth. And what the LOTR appendices do is open a window that allows you to explore entire cultures, languages and histories, often without<\/i> reference to the events of the Lord of the Rings. And I haven’t even begun to touch on the contents of posthumously published works such as Unfinished Tales, The Silmarillion, Children of Hurin and the History of Middle-earth.<\/p>\n

By comparison, RR Martin’s very extensive family trees at the back of his A Song of Ice and Fire novels exist to help readers follow the plot, and keep track of who’s who.<\/p>\n

Indisputably, Tolkien defined the art of creating the secondary world with such ridiculous verisimilitude that authors ever since have either been reduced to trying to emulate him, or to breaking away from his example.<\/p>\n

Previously, authors such as William Morris (The Well at the World’s End) and Lord Dunsany (The King of Elfhand’s Daughter) had toyed with the concept of the secondary world — a consistent, self-contained fictional setting for a fantasy story. <\/p>\n

Tolkien took that concept and, through his own “what if?” sense of curiosity, his deep knowledge of languages and European myth, and a particular desire to create a “true” mythological history for England, managed to embody it in a way that no-one has rivalled ever since.<\/p>\n

What would it take to rival Tolkien in fantasy?<\/h3>\n

\"fribrg_kalevala\" Thus, I would argue, to deserve such a comparison, any author must accomplish something similarly ground-breaking in the field.<\/p>\n

But we’ve already established that RR Martin’s world-building doesn’t nearly match Tolkien’s. Nor is he (to my knowledge) building a national epic in the same fashion that Tolkien attempted, and which Elias L\u00f6nnrot accomplished with the Kalevala.<\/p>\n

So we must look to other elements.<\/p>\n

What about RR Martin’s political focus? Creating doorstopper-sized, multi-book fantasy epics that are driven by intensely Machiavellian politics has been done before, and done exceedingly well. (Janny Wurts, Melanie Rawn)<\/p>\n

What about anti-heroes who exhibit a dubious morality? Some of the pillars of fantasy deconstructed Tolkien in this way decades ago, in the process creating compelling protagonists who, at the far end of the scale, are almost entirely despicable. (Michael Moorcock, Stephen R Donaldson, Roger Zelazny, Gene Wolfe)<\/p>\n

Like I said, that’s not to say that I dislike A Song of Ice and Fire. It’s more that I believe the American Tolkien label is overblown, and off the mark. Because, entertaining as it is, as grand as it is, I’m not convinced that A Song of Ice and Fire truly breaks new ground for the genre.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The key traits of A Song of Ice and Fire<\/h3>\n

So what’s a better comparison? Well, I’d preface that by saying that I think to some extent that such things are a product of one’s reading experience. <\/p>\n

That being said, let’s look at the underlying traits of the series since I think that provides a useful starting point. I think it’s pretty fair to distill A Song of Ice and Fire down to the following five key things. I feel that the series is:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Epic in span with an ensemble cast.<\/b> World-spanning scope and a large cast who get equal time? Check.<\/li>\n
  • Driven by politics and power.<\/b> As Cersei Lannister says bluntly to Ned Stark, in Westeros when you play the game of thrones, you win or you die.<\/li>\n
  • Essentially anti-heroic.<\/b> Westeros might have knights, but is anyone really a white knight? Brienne? Daenerys? Arya? Jon Snow? Brienne is probably the closest, the others all have made compromises of one sort or another to survive.<\/li>\n
  • Hobbesian in nature.<\/b> It’s a dog-eat-dog universe. Showing mercy to an enemy generally rebounds badly.<\/li>\n
  • Low in magic.<\/b> Sorcery? Fireballs? Not much of that here at all, particularly in the early novels.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

     <\/p>\n

    The last point is noteworthy. TORn staffer Ostadan observed that, in this sense, ASOIAF is a curious inverse of Tolkien. Tolkien writes about magic disappearing from the world; ASOIAF is about its return.<\/p>\n

    Still, to my mind, those first four really encompass the thrust of RR Martin’s ASOIAF. Consequently, in looking for authorial comparisons I’ve focused on authors that I feel match those traits the best.<\/p>\n

    Melanie Rawn — the Sunrunner sextet and the Exiles Trilogy<\/b><\/p>\n

    \"rawn-themageborentraitor\" In many ways Rawn’s Sunrunner sextet (published between 1988 and 1994) is a Lighter and Softer rendition of RR Martin with a magical focus. The first three books sets two power blocs of feudalistic princedoms against each other in an ongoing battle for geo-political dominance while a nominally neutral magical sect called Sunrunners tries its best to sway the outcome without actually being seen to be interfering. The second three introduce an outside enemy and a lot more fatalities.<\/p>\n

    Her followup Exiles trilogy is a darker-tinged play of politics and magic set in a matriarchal world trying to resurrect itself culturally and economically out of the ruins of an apocalyptic mage war. It’s both more complex, with dozens of characters vying for political and economic control, and more compelling reading. It’s also been frustratingly unfinished for the last 16 years, a situation that is most unlikely to change.<\/p>\n

    Janny Wurts — The Daughter of the Empire series<\/b><\/p>\n

    \"wurts-daughteroftheempire\" Wurts co-wrote this series with the author of the Riftwar saga, Raymond Feist. But where Riftwar was all about saving the world from evil forces beyond mortal ken, the Empire series is about the brutal cut and thrust of the “Great Game” as factions vie for the title of “Warlord” in a world that owes much inspiration to Daimyo-era Japan. <\/p>\n

    The protagonist, Lady Mara, battles first to ensure the survival of her House in a system that respects no weakness, and eventually to wholly reinvent a culture that is stagnating due to rigid adherence to tradition.<\/p>\n

    Michael Moorcock — The Eternal Champion<\/b><\/p>\n

    \"moorcock-strombringer\"Michael Moorcock’s Eternal Champion is exactly what it says on the tin: a hero doomed through all his (and occasionally, her) incarnations to save various worlds — and their pitiful mortal inhabitants — from an eternal and internecine war between Law and Chaos. <\/p>\n

    The albino sorceror and swordsman Elric of Melnibone` is probably the best known — and most miserable — of all these incarnations. Poor old Elric, in the course of trying to deny fate, commits the sort of crimes that might have made Pol Pot blush (or perhaps not). Trying to not give too much away, but this fellow is positively Byronic — he even needs a daily cocktail of drugs (or souls fed to him through his hellsword called Stormbringer) to keep him alert.<\/p>\n

    Trivia: Elric’s half-alive black-metal hellsword that speaks once at the very end of the series is not actually a nod to Tolkien’s Turin. Both Moorcock and Tolkien were independently inspired by the same source — Kullervo in the Finnish epic The Kalevala. <\/p>\n

    Stephen R Donaldson — The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant<\/b><\/p>\n

    \"Donaldson-LordFoul'sBane\" Donaldson tries hard to win the title of most unlikeable protagonist ever with Thomas Covenant. Covenant — a leper from modern times — falls into a fantasy realm of magic and monsters called The Land that is threatened by a maleovolent being called The Despiser. <\/p>\n

    Our “hero” commits a morally repugnant act within the first hundred pages, cynically denies the reality of his new existence and then spends the next three books half-heartedly trying, and usually failing, to atone for his crime, while simultaneously dodging his responsibility to save The Land from its tormenter, and letting The Land’s key servants (some of whom are his friends) get toasted in his place. Cheery stuff.<\/p>\n

    Tad Williams — The Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy<\/b><\/p>\n

    \"williams-dragonbonechair\" Williams’ doorstopper-sized Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series is essentially a bildungsroman wrapped in an epic fantasy. We follow a callow young boy on the cusp of manhood who is unwittingly caught up in a civil war of human kingdoms, and almost by accident helps unearth a larger revenge plot that threatens all the races of the continent of Osten Ard. <\/p>\n

    It’s a cleverly constructed series that balances we’re-all-doomed grittiness with hope, and intrigue with action. Williams deftly juggles a veritable orchestra of major and minor characters, brings mortal foes together in previously unthinkable alliances, and regularly knocks off various Good Guys as they desperately fight a rearguard action to work out what the Big Bad has planned, and how to counter it before it’s too late. <\/p>\n

    \"peake-gormenghast\" Mervyn Peake — Gormenghast<\/b><\/p>\n

    Arguably the strangest fantasy ever written. Gormenghast is a peculiar, self-contained castle-world of crumbling baroque splendour, where the ruling family is tied to a stultifying life of tedious, never-ending ceremonies that serve no purpose and are only performed because that’s the way its always been. Then two new characters, Titus Groan and Steerspike, arrive and change everything. <\/p>\n

    The descriptive prose is some of the finest you’ll ever read, but the pace is glacial. Dan Brown or [insert characterless page-turner author] this is not. But, like RR Martin, it’s one of the very few fantasies that features no magic whatsoever.<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    What are we left with?<\/h3>\n

    \"George
    George RR Martin by Karolina Webb.<\/figcaption><\/figure> So, maybe, if you took the political intrigue of Wurts or Rawn, mashed it with the anti-heroic tropes of Donaldson or Moorcock and added the deft world-building and earn-your-happy-ending twists of Tad Williams then sprinkled it all with the non-magical mundanity of Peake, then you might get George RR Martin.<\/p>\n

    But, between you, me and the wall, that’s just silly. Isn’t it?<\/p>\n

    And that’s how daft most comparisons are. Because on one hand nothing is ever exact unless it’s itself, and on the other the sort of mash-up I described above is worse than useless.<\/p>\n

    The irony is that I don’t think that calling George RR Martin the American Tolkien does him any great service (but we all know it makes a great headline!). In fact it’s unhelpful because it’s so reductive that it creates false expectations. <\/p>\n

    He’s no more that than he is the male Melanie Rawn, or Mervyn Peake with a faster-moving plot, or…<\/p>\n

    You get the picture.<\/p>\n

    He’s his own author creating his own stories in his own particular way, and doing it quite successfully to boot (if a little slower than many might prefer).<\/p>\n

    Demosthenes has been an incredibly nerdy staff member at TheOneRing.net since 2001. The views in this article are his own, and do not necessarily represent those of other TORn staff.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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