When J. R. R. Tolkien sold the movie rights for "Lord of the Rings," he did so forbidding Disney from ever being involved. He said, "As long as it was possible to veto anything from or influenced by the Disney studios..."
Way I see it Martin was influenced by Tolkien the same way Tolkien was influenced to Wagner. All of whom are now Legendary authors. Least that's how I see it.
@@talos2384 I think he had to be. He fought in a real war, he almost certainly watched real people die and was lived in truly horrific conditions (the trenches weren't a good place to be). He had probably experienced enough sadness and misery in real life, so he didn't want to put it into his passion
Or doing something 'popular'. Chances are good he never heard such comparisons before his books were made into a series, and before the LOTR movies, Tolkien and even fantasy were a forgotten subgenre. Tolkien pretty much stands alone for the reasons this guy mentioned. He wasn't particularly that 'good' a writer, but you can't compare a master surgeon with somebody who invented it. What people generally mean is "I don't know of any other fantasy writers but Tolkien, and I've heard of you, so you must be like Tolkien". Which is sort of like comparing some mystery writer with Agatha Christie, or more likely Conan Doyle.
Tolkien came from a time of war, writing about good uniting against evil and winning. Martin puts history, human nature and historical conflicts under a fantasy-tinted loop. One doesn't nullify the work of the other, and while the genre is /broadly/ the same, the thematics and purpose are wildly different. Both incredible authors in my opinion.
@@zaidabraham7310 the real war for tolkien , as i read him, is not humans vs evil humans, aka The Free People vs Sauron. Its us vs the evil in ourselves. Thats why the corruption of the ring and of power in general is such a big deal.
@@zaidabraham7310 Exactly because he experienced the horrors of war caused by real-world politics, he probably didn't want to write about that. Maybe you could interpret it as wishful dreaming about a better time where fighting actually meant something. The soldiers of his day fought for basically nothing but the status of their nation, dying to make a few feet of ground. In LOTR, fighting actually means something. Just my 2 cents.
@@Rinesmyth The famous restaurant from the series Twin Peaks is called double R, which was created by David Lynch, whose name is in the lower left corner of the screen.
If you love comparative Germanic linguistics, Old English and Lit, plus Norse mythos, read Tolkien. If you prefer nitty gritty real world politics, go to Martin. Both are giants, each in different aspects.
@Asier Linazasoro Please refer to the Prose Edda for information and advice Snorri gave gave to skalds. Tolkien followed it. For your info, Tolkien based his elvish languages on Finnish and Welsh. But please, take the time to study Old English. And no, this is not a contest.
@Asier Linazasoro Read it again: The Hobbit, LOTR, and both Eddas. Also, study master-level courses on Historical Linguistics, Old English, Old and Middle English Literature, History of the English Language and yes, study Tolkien.
@Asier Linazasoro Boy, you just discovered America with your reasoning. Suomi is a Finnic language belonging to a vaster group of Uralic languages. And Cymraeg is of the western Brittonic branch of what is left of Celtic languages. I do know he wanted to create languages. He created his first one under the are of 6. Anything else new?
Esprit Vagabond Proving one person cant create an entire history and culture by themselves GOT is an over bloated postmodernists construct Enjoyed the first few books the rest were a slog, really started to wonder were it’s going Tv series far superior Peter Jackson ruined Middle Earth Great visuals but excessive cgi and a woeful script which ruined the theme of the story
"You're a pirate, you even stole my R.R.!" lol E.R.B is great. Ahem, anyway, yeah Tolkein is my all time #1 of any author ever but Georgie is someone I genuinely admire, dude is awesome.
You can tell George is a huge fan of Tolkien. And despite there different writing styles you can also tell that George has taken a ton of inspiration from Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.
@@anatoldenevers237probably not, even if indirectly modern fantasy takes from Tolkien a lot. Once heard about something that it was like Mt. Fuji when you film in Japan, like you either make a conscious effort to put it so everybody sees it, or you make an effort NOT to put it so people don't see it, unless you are actually ON Mt. Fuji. Obviously not a perfect metaphor, but it gets the point across
@@andrewsheridan612 I was just gonna say lol. I mean I'm still just starting out as a writer. I think I atleast have an okay handle on what I'm writing. But when I explain it it comes out muddled.
They write very differently from one another, but no-one can deny that they have both revolutionized the fantasy genre and inspired many others to write in the same genre.
@@mickeye6428 I’ve seen you respond to dozens of comments on this video specifically hating on George. Seems really petty and pointless. Are you doing okay?
“J.R.R. Tolkien has become a sort of mountain, appearing in all subsequent fantasy in the way that Mt. Fuji appears so often in Japanese prints. Sometimes it’s big and up close. Sometimes it’s a shape on the horizon. Sometimes it’s not there at all, which means that the artist either has made a deliberate decision against the mountain, which is interesting in itself, or is in fact standing on Mt. Fuji.” - Terry Pratchett
@Dark Lord Sauron Your attempt to bait me is charming, and you're in luck, I have a bunch to time to kill rn. So, can I see something you've written? Or are ya just gonna deflect all day.
Arabian Nights I do not agree with that person's statement, but "if you can't produce something better, do not shit on someone else's work" is a bullshit argument. People are free to criticize creative products without the skill or talent or experience of making some themselves.
Only those people who didn't read their books compare them... and book publishers to get more attention to GoT. They are totally different in style and topic. The only similar thing they write in the genre of fantasy, but even inside fantasy there are different ones.
While he isn’t writing the same storytelling genre as Tolkien. he did revolutionize writing in his own way he basically popularized dramatic nuanced storytelling to such a large degree that that genre is now defined as being like game of thrones.
No he didn't. What' people mean when they say something is like Game of Thrones is that it's a wandering narrative full of blood and guts and unexpected events. It has nothing to do with nuance.
I love GRRM Martin and the ASOIAF series and I really love this channel where you just go through various interviews and snip them down into bite sized chunks. That's really awesome that you do that. I'm presuming you're a fan and not affiliated with GRRM directly, but even if you are, thanks for the channel :)
Mostly agree but send me to Highgarden during times of peace and I'll be living✌️ (except for medieval hygiene but I guess that shatters my will to live in any medieval world)
@@dekarmeryalmar8774 Fantasy is meant to be unrealistic, that's literally why it's called fantasy... If you want to experience the nitty gritty details of the real world, go read up on some history
I hope the series will end with an actual Song of Ice and Fire. Meant to be sang by like 10-20 people, meant to have been compiled by all these travelers and sung together as to truly convey the Epic
They have distinctly different literary styles that can both be appreciated. In my opinion, both are fantastic novelists that create immersion and interest over thousands of pages. Respect
I feel that they are both VERY different writers , and even fantasy in itself is a very broad term . GRRM does things out of mainstream trend , no one else could have chopped off Ned's head at that moment . Thats what reading this series is such a joy , you never know what is around the turn . While Tolkien made such a beautiful world that can immerse people for decades without getting tired of , lots of people re read those books every few years , and there is a lot of hope / happy moments . Respect to such great authors .
Almost first thing he does when hearing this is talk about how flattered he is, and then proceeds to talk about how great Tolkien was, instead of hamming up his own work. That’s class and respect.
I hate when people compare Martin and Tolkien. Their approach to writing is completely different, especially in what makes a story. I read both of their works and found no similarities besides that they're both set in a secondary world. Both Martin and Tolkien are amazing, but are not at all alike. Which one is better? There is no right answer, obviously. Everyone has different tastes.
peoples does not compare the writing style and the approach they took , they compare the fantasy as whole and their impact on it , they compare the worlds and battles etc .
Which one is better may be an objective question, much in the same way I think we can 'objectively' state that Homer's Illiad is 'better' than a harlequin romance, despite the fact that 90% of the public would probably rather read a harlequin romance. Thats not a definite comparison, but there are LOTS of fantasy authors out there, just because this is a big show on TV doesn't mean much about the books. I haven't read this guy's books, but on commercials I saw they were using swords and midieval weapons, I also saw a dragon I think on a commercial. So there is more in common than just 'secondary worlds'. Kurt Vonnegut's stories were on 'secondary worlds', now THAT has little in common with Tolkien. Science fiction has little in common, but these stories don't involve ray guns or grenades, so again, there is more similarity than just secondary worlds. But 'classics' are hard to gauge until significant time has passed. I think this guy is still writing these books isn't he? There was a channel I think that had turned the Shannara series into a TV show, and while I read and enjoyed them when I was 20, they are certainly not in a league with Tolkien. So just because this guy wrote a bunch of books that got made into a tv show means little to critical theory. So 'better' I think is something that DOES have a 'right answer', it doesn't necessarily mean "I'd rather read it" or even that its written as well. VIrtually NOBODY has read "Ulysses" despite it being considered a classic, or Prousts Swanns Way. But we DO have objective criteria in literature that says that just because more people have read Fifty Shades of Grey, that doesn't make it 'better'. And I think it would not be contentious to say that not only is that book worse, but its much much much, and a whole lot of much's more, worse than those authors. PS, plus, they both use initials as part of their name on the books:)
It's case of not comparing their style of writing, but more their stature in the literary landscape. Tolkien had a massive influence as a fantasy writer in his time, while Martin also has made a huge influence for modern day fantasy. No other American fantasy writer has really made that impact, so that's why he gets labeled as the "American Tolkien."
@@Crichjo32 I get that, but addressed it. Popularity isn't the same as impact. Harry Potter was popular, but its impact, thats another story. Fifty shades of grey was popular, and even had thousands of would be writers run out and write their own porn novels. Again, thats not necessarily 'impact'. Its now basically forgotten as a fad composed mainly of poor writing. The first books of GOT didn't even hit the bestsellers lists, not until the later books and the show did it really gain popularity. So I really don't see that big an impact. The SHOW had more an impact than the books, and mostly because its continuation of LOTR meant that TV producers were willing to invest in high cost fantasy epics. And its just as likely that its success was due to the success of hte LOTR franchise. So basically what you are saying is that no american fantasy writer has had books made into such a commercial success, which is true, but doesn't mean much about 'impact'. The Shannara series I mentioned above were virtually ALL on the New York Times bestsellers, as have numerous other fantasy books. They weren't recieved as commercially for various reasons, but the impact of the books are similar to GOT-a continuation of the fantasy genre.
One essentially started, created and laid the foundation for the whole of modern fantasy fiction. The other just laid something good on that foundation. Like many others.
I talked about this with some friends, and how the comparison is in reality very superficial. What got me so interesed into Martin's work, was realizing that his writing had more in common with Garcia Marquez' A Hundred Years of Solitude than with Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
I think calling him the American Tolkien works if you use American to mean more than just being from America. Tolkien is essentially the most British an author could get in terms of style. Meanwhile, though ASoIaF is a medieval fantasy largely, at least aesthetically inspired by British history, it has a very American feel to it, with the cultural ideas of being independent, free, and able to improve your place in life being found within many of Martin's characters.
@@jonharrison9222Not being unique to America in no way prevents those qualities from being strongly associated with it. "This Book about redemption and rising from the dead is quite biblical" "No, because those things aren't unique to Christianity" This is how you sound.
The major difference between the two authors is that Tolkien's work and personality seem entirely wholesome, holy. Good v. Evil and you see in Tolkien's personality how it reflects. I really like Martin's work but to me what the two authors are like is Martin is writing what man is unfortunately like on earth, politics, power, sex and hedonism v. Tolkien's writing reflecting heavenly pursuits and what we strive to be.
One is a master of his craft, the other is the benchmark for which all others in the genre will be measured against for years upon years to come. So they are both very good, but one big difference is that the latter finished his work whereas the former...well..is George R. R. Martin.
Tolkien did NOT even remotely finish his work what are you on about!?!? 😂 He died still trying to perfect the Silmarillion (which he had started even *before* starting to write the hobbit). It was up to his son Christopher then after his death to assemble a publishable version from his many, many revisions.
Its two different writing style. JRRT lean more on fantasy n adventure while GRRM lean more on the politics n backstabbing. SoIaF and LotR are both good books.
It probably bugs the hell out of him. I still enjoy the show, but let's not kid ourselves. it hasn't had the same feel or attention to detail since it passed the books
@@srimposible1853 yeah maybe but he can't ignore all the people currently saying the battle was bad. Plus he's still a part time consultant for the show
@@_MARSyt The Show is much better written than the books. The books need an editor. No one gives a shit about the people whining over how they didn't like episode 3 of season 8.
There was a time when every new Fantasy book was heralded as "Comparable to Tolkien at his best." People seem to think that between Tolkien and Martin nothing was ever produced ... Being compared to Tolkien is one of the easiest things to do, just write a fantasy novel and the publicity director will tag it for you.
I remember learning somewhere that there was a shift in omniscience viewpoint storytelling to first person story telling sometime in the 1900s. The former was acceptable until that time, which saw it as boring or simple.
It's a good and intelligent answer because they are very different writers apart from the genre. People even say he inverted Tolkien. But I think as he says, different people. Martin is very boomer, very HBO if you like.He just doesn't have the legacy nobility or artistry Tolkien had. It's like comparing Beethoven to the Rolling Stones.
I mean, can you remember one moment from a song of Ice and fire so far, iconic moment, that doesn't involve violence? The aesthetic if Tolkien is like the great works of art, he gets your soul without having to bray the nerves. My opinion anyway.
I think Tolkein and Martin are masters in their own fields. Tolkein a as a poet, linguist and imaginateur who alows us to dream his dream. Martin as a writer of crystal-clear prose and maticulous world-building who allows us to live in his world.
Branson Sanderson described Martin's influence on the genre as combining Tolkien's subgenre of epic, romantic fantasy with grimdark heroic fantasy like Conan, which has largely defined much of modern fantasy.
Honestly i prefer ASOIAS over LOTR, but i would be heretic if i didn't say that both of the R.Rs are AMAZING. Tolkien wrote an amazing world filled with history, magic, wars, gods, monsters and so much more. And Martin also wrote an amazing world and even tho it isn't as filled as Tolkines, Martine created some of the best characters that i have ever read in any story, they are interesting, complex, funny, smart and every character has their own motivation. Joffery wants to stay as the king, Ramsey and my man Teryon want to be respected, Rob wants to aveng his father, Jon had the same motivation, but then it changed when he heard what Ramsey had done, my girl Denarys wants to stay on the Iron Throne and "break the wheel" (don't worry i know that most of these characters are dead, but i love then anyways). That's honestly why i kinda slightly prefer ASOIAF over LOTR, because i like characters more then the world in a fiction. But that's just my opinion.
Well, his answers are great. I used to shun him as a Tolkien wannabe, a hollywood screenplay writer pretending to be a novelist, but I think I was wrong all along. Maybe it was just my prejudice towards TV; But now that the last GOT season is out, and no longer based on his books, and it sucks, I guess his work is the sole best thing of the series. The huge blockbuster budget and special effects look stupid without the story development based on his books. I am late, but I might start reading his stuff. Why not? I only started readin LOTR in 2003 months before the third movie was released and Im still a fan of the book.
I think Robert Jordan was more Tolkeinesque than George R R Martin. He's an amazing writer, don't get me wrong but I agree with him in saying they are quite different. :)
Michael Short. Maybe. I’m on book ten of WoT, but I haven’t read ASOIAF. It’s hard to say who’s more Tolkienesque, because all three have drastically different stories.
I wonder the same thing. Maybe throw out all electronics for a year, and have your only source of entertainment be a pen and paper. Then maybe your fantasy would go wild.
Suck my dick G. GRRM is so far beyond that dead overhyped brit from u anime gaming redditors .. taking a liking for good vs evil dumbed down fairytale, then so be it. But don’t drag one of the best modern day fantasy writers and his legendary novels with that.
Tolkien writes with a detail that other writers gloss over. Reading Martins work I could tell it’s written by a guy imagining the experience. Tolkien’s writing tells you that he’s lived many of the experiences that his characters endure.
I loved the hobit as a child. Have read it a few times. I've also ready several other fantasy series. Strangely I've never read lotr. first time I tried years back I couldn't get into it. Maybe I'll try again
Lord of the Rings was actually written for the British people to give them a sense of national pride as he realised they have nothing but King Arthur. So he combined Viking, Celtic, and Saxon legends into one story.
It wasn't written to have a national pride, but to give a story in the form of legends to the creation of the country. Or at least, this was at first, before the boom of the Hobbit
@@specialunit0428, “Needless to say they are not Celtic! Neither are the tales. I do know Celtic things (many in their original languages Irish and Welsh), and feel for them a certain distaste: largely for their fundamental unreason. They have bright colour, but are like a broken stained glass window reassembled without design. They are in fact ‘mad’ as your reader says-but I don’t believe I am.”
Because his shit is obscure and greatly forgotten. People are pretty much only aware of one of his characters because of things other writers did with it.
@gillysuit2 not like he had 8 years to work on them, he is lazy and undisciplined for a writer, he's good but he doesn't have the right mentality for a professional and it's fairly obvious he hasn't got his heart in it anymore
@gillysuit2 this book series is over 28 years old, cut some fucking slack to the people who are tired of waiting. He will die before it is done so long as he puts off the main books for side book profits.
@@farsalor2627 how about *you* cut some slack to the guy who provided you with that entertainment so far? I'm quoting Neil Gaiman in this one, "George R. R. Martin is not your bitch.", he doesn't owe you another book, he specially doesn't owe you another book quickly. I assume you bought the previous ones and were satisfied, or you wouldn't be whining about the continuation. Enjoy and be thankful for what you have as of yet, and hope the new books will be released when they can.
João Otávio Dambrós Dezanet yeaaaahhhhh y'all be Martin's bitch waitin on those books! just shows how good they are. well worth the wait and if they don't come that sucks but a man's gotta do what a man does
The woulds they built have a very different reason for existing this is best shown when Martin spoke about what Tolkien got wrong and questioned what Arrogorse police’s where after he became king and those sorts of small insignificant (to what Tolkien was trying to do) details, it can also be seen in how Tolkien was giving us an epic set within a mythological would where as Martin in ice and fire gave us a story of court intrigue set in a fictional medieval would
While I have read both, kinda sad Steven Erickson never gets any mentions when it comes fantasy writers, his world building is better the Martin's I think, everything is just as complex, for the most part characters don't have plot armor, and his series is bigger giving you the reader more material and somehow weaving together many many separate stories into a cohesive whole with the main plot. I encourage anyone who likes good writing but especially fantasy to check out Erickson's stuff.
Can i just use this chance to boast about the fact i'm family friends with the Tolkeins? Clearly i'm doing it anyway because i find it cool lmao Tim Tolkein and his family, you can tell he has his grandfather in him, a sculptur and eccentric with rather a disorderly lifestyle and driven by his immense creativity and love for his kids. John would be proud
Great and respectful response from George. Certain Tolkien fans should learn from it and stop trashing this man for no particular reason(jokes aside). I personally am more of a fan of Tolkien than Martin, but just because Tolkien basically invented modern fantasy, it does not mean the other authors should not incorporate their own ideas into the genre and just stop writing. While I my hopes that he will manage to finish ASoIAF series are not too high(He is 74 years old man, after all. A lot of people get quite forgetful and have trouble focusing once they reach that age), I think what he has done up to this point is simply marvellous. Whining and disrespect will not help him finish the book. Respect to both J.R.R and GRRM.
This has the stink of someone who cried watching The Rings of Power and then trended towards manic depression once they saw how well House of the Dragon was doing. But if you think this has a happy ending, then you haven’t been paying attention
The big difference between them is that Tolkien, with the kind of story he is telling, really doesn’t have such a thing as a society. Or if he does, it‘s very schematic and uncomplicated: say, Aragorn is now King of Gondor, he decides we gotta go to war with Sauron so that‘s what we do. We never find out what the peasants or the merchants might think about that. We find out from the nobility, but only in a personal capacity, not as an interest group. Or take the riders of Rohan. Are they peasants drafted for war or are they perhaps feudal landowners sworn to protect the land in return for their overlordship? They could be soldier-settlers like the Liminateii or the Byzantine Stratiotii, or even (unlikely) a professional army? Who pays for their armament and horses? These are all things we never find out, things Tolkien doesn’t really seem interested in, but that would massively flesh out the groups of people fighting each other in Middle Earth. You don’t have to do it of course, it‘s ultimately a style choice, and Tolkien’s approach is in line with the type of story he is telling. However, George R. R. Martin is the very opposite of that: I can think of very few fantasy writers that are better at fleshing out the world and it‘s people. Robb Stark is a feudal king, his army consists of feudal contingents supplied by his bannermen, a combination of their personal household fighters and peasant levies. When Robb wants to fight a war, he has to convince those same bannermen to go along with it and sweeten the deal for them once or twice; after all, they are leaving their own lands underhanded for the duration. Now, many people will find that boring, but it‘s part of what makes GRRM an S-Tier character writer. Every character is clearly and actively shaped by the context they exist in, both past and present, and this gives those characters tremendous depth; among other things.
People really acting like George has phenominal creativity when in reality hes probably the most plaigaristic author of the times. Even stole the RR from tolkien.
I completely agree. Sadly I am not sure where George RR Martin’s place will be in the pantheon of fantasy writers if he doesn’t finish his core work. The shows are great but realistically I am not sure how long they will endure compared to the written word.
When J. R. R. Tolkien sold the movie rights for "Lord of the Rings," he did so forbidding Disney from ever being involved.
He said, "As long as it was possible to veto anything from or influenced by the Disney studios..."
that makes him even more amazing
George Lucas should have said the same thing
@@playermartin286 George Lucas screwed up his franchise by himself long before Disney got their hands on it, though.
He was a man ahead of his time.
@@EterPuralis
In the opinion of a very loud minority.
They write in different style and with different view of reality, but they are both great authors.
His writing style in the ´Tower of Joy´ chapter is similar to Tolkien´s,though
Way I see it Martin was influenced by Tolkien the same way Tolkien was influenced to Wagner. All of whom are now Legendary authors. Least that's how I see it.
George is great, tolkien is in another level of geniality that no writer has ever got to
Tolkien was more optimistic
@@talos2384 I think he had to be. He fought in a real war, he almost certainly watched real people die and was lived in truly horrific conditions (the trenches weren't a good place to be). He had probably experienced enough sadness and misery in real life, so he didn't want to put it into his passion
If you’re being compared with Tolkien, you’re doing something right.
True.
Or doing something 'popular'. Chances are good he never heard such comparisons before his books were made into a series, and before the LOTR movies, Tolkien and even fantasy were a forgotten subgenre. Tolkien pretty much stands alone for the reasons this guy mentioned. He wasn't particularly that 'good' a writer, but you can't compare a master surgeon with somebody who invented it. What people generally mean is "I don't know of any other fantasy writers but Tolkien, and I've heard of you, so you must be like Tolkien". Which is sort of like comparing some mystery writer with Agatha Christie, or more likely Conan Doyle.
Not quite. You're doing right, if you're doing right, not if the media glorifies you. My statement does not denigrate GRRM, before you assume so.
@@saeedvazirian i agree, but you didn't say that, you said you are doing right if the media compares you to tolkien, which isn't true.
@Mike Archibald I don't think you fully understand the scope of tolkien's influence in fantasy.
Martin absolutely nails that response. Very measured and well said.
Maybe after being told that to many times, he mastered the asnwer
He knows his politics and responses well , won't make choices same as his characters xD
Tolkien came from a time of war, writing about good uniting against evil and winning.
Martin puts history, human nature and historical conflicts under a fantasy-tinted loop.
One doesn't nullify the work of the other, and while the genre is /broadly/ the same, the thematics and purpose are wildly different.
Both incredible authors in my opinion.
Tolkien fought in the trenches in WW1, I doubt he had such a simplistic and rosy viewpoint on war.
@@zaidabraham7310 the real war for tolkien , as i read him, is not humans vs evil humans, aka The Free People vs Sauron. Its us vs the evil in ourselves. Thats why the corruption of the ring and of power in general is such a big deal.
George RR Martin was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War. That's who ASOS has such a War Is Hell outlook.
@@zaidabraham7310
Exactly because he experienced the horrors of war caused by real-world politics, he probably didn't want to write about that. Maybe you could interpret it as wishful dreaming about a better time where fighting actually meant something. The soldiers of his day fought for basically nothing but the status of their nation, dying to make a few feet of ground. In LOTR, fighting actually means something.
Just my 2 cents.
You're a narrow minded idiot
It's the double-R thing...
It is funny to see that comment while the name of the creator of Twin Peaks is on the screen the whole time :)
@@balinttakacs7111 what do you mean?
@@Rinesmyth The famous restaurant from the series Twin Peaks is called double R, which was created by David Lynch, whose name is in the lower left corner of the screen.
@@balinttakacs7111 ohhh, I didn't notice Lynch's book. Nice catch
The will of the double-R is inherited.
lot of respect for Martin for being so humble
George RR Martin looks just like an elderly Waluigi
What?
Stop
waluigi 😂 what
Wario...
damn waluigi let himself go
If you love comparative Germanic linguistics, Old English and Lit, plus Norse mythos, read Tolkien. If you prefer nitty gritty real world politics, go to Martin. Both are giants, each in different aspects.
@Asier Linazasoro Really? Have you read the Poetic Edda?
@Asier Linazasoro Your loss. Oh, and have you studied Old English literature and meter? You should, it would explain so much.
@Asier Linazasoro Please refer to the Prose Edda for information and advice Snorri gave gave to skalds. Tolkien followed it. For your info, Tolkien based his elvish languages on Finnish and Welsh. But please, take the time to study Old English. And no, this is not a contest.
@Asier Linazasoro Read it again: The Hobbit, LOTR, and both Eddas. Also, study master-level courses on Historical Linguistics, Old English, Old and Middle English Literature, History of the English Language and yes, study Tolkien.
@Asier Linazasoro Boy, you just discovered America with your reasoning. Suomi is a Finnic language belonging to a vaster group of Uralic languages. And Cymraeg is of the western Brittonic branch of what is left of Celtic languages. I do know he wanted to create languages. He created his first one under the are of 6. Anything else new?
except Tolkien actually finished Lord of the Rings
Lol
But not the Silmarillon ;)
Lol
Esprit Vagabond Proving one person cant create an entire history and culture by themselves
GOT is an over bloated postmodernists construct
Enjoyed the first few books the rest were a slog, really started to wonder were it’s going
Tv series far superior
Peter Jackson ruined Middle Earth
Great visuals but excessive cgi and a woeful script which ruined the theme of the story
@Joe Haselwood I think its quite sweet that you believe he's still writing them
He's respectful to other authors, that's classy, that counts for a lot, he doesn't trash them like Stephen King.
You a Twifan or something?
Stephen King recommends a lot of other authors
can someone explain this to me? i dont know anything about steven king, did he hate other authors?
@@thatonelionguy5038 he’s taken jabs but he’s also shown a great deal of respect for other authors.
But I mean it’s Stephen king.
Too bad a ton of Tolkien fans can't be as respectful as him
Cause Stephen King is perhaps the greatest American living author
"You're a pirate, you even stole my R.R.!"
lol E.R.B is great. Ahem, anyway, yeah Tolkein is my all time #1 of any author ever but Georgie is someone I genuinely admire, dude is awesome.
They should have called it E.R.R.B.
@@gnuling296 oh my god they should have.
We love an ERB reference.
"I'm number one and two, you're under fifty shades of grey" - rapper J. R. R. T
Tolkien *DEMOLISHED* Martin in that video.
You can tell George is a huge fan of Tolkien. And despite there different writing styles you can also tell that George has taken a ton of inspiration from Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.
Is there any fantasy auther today who wasn't influenced by Tolkien?
@@anatoldenevers237 those cunts, so called writer in young adult genre
So true
@@anatoldenevers237probably not, even if indirectly modern fantasy takes from Tolkien a lot. Once heard about something that it was like Mt. Fuji when you film in Japan, like you either make a conscious effort to put it so everybody sees it, or you make an effort NOT to put it so people don't see it, unless you are actually ON Mt. Fuji. Obviously not a perfect metaphor, but it gets the point across
ik its obvious since he's a writer but man hes an excellent communicator
You can be a great writer and a shit communicator.
@@andrewsheridan612 I was just gonna say lol. I mean I'm still just starting out as a writer. I think I atleast have an okay handle on what I'm writing. But when I explain it it comes out muddled.
Also a very clear thinker!
They write very differently from one another, but no-one can deny that they have both revolutionized the fantasy genre and inspired many others to write in the same genre.
I can deny it:
It isn't true.
@@mickeye6428 I’ve seen you respond to dozens of comments on this video specifically hating on George. Seems really petty and pointless. Are you doing okay?
“J.R.R. Tolkien has become a sort of mountain, appearing in all subsequent fantasy in the way that Mt. Fuji appears so often in Japanese prints. Sometimes it’s big and up close. Sometimes it’s a shape on the horizon. Sometimes it’s not there at all, which means that the artist either has made a deliberate decision against the mountain, which is interesting in itself, or is in fact standing on Mt. Fuji.” - Terry Pratchett
But what was Aragorn's tax policy?
"Aragorn was firmly #YangGang3019" - Shen Bapiro
Idk why I smiled for one minute after reading the comments and replies
Idk why I smiled for one minute after reading the comments and replies
I don't remember GRRM detailing Joffrey's tax policy
Did he supported trade though???
Someone should show George the Epic Rap Battle of History episode of him battling JRR Tolkien.
Old comment but I bet Martin would laugh his ass off.
If you have R.R in your name you can write incredible fantasy stories. FACT
“Martin is the new Tolkien” = “they both have a lot of characters and a world map”
LOL. And initials on their covers!
JRR Tolkien and GRR Martin
@Dark Lord Sauron May I see something you've written? Then we'll see who's a fool.
@Dark Lord Sauron Your attempt to bait me is charming, and you're in luck, I have a bunch to time to kill rn. So, can I see something you've written? Or are ya just gonna deflect all day.
Arabian Nights I do not agree with that person's statement, but "if you can't produce something better, do not shit on someone else's work" is a bullshit argument. People are free to criticize creative products without the skill or talent or experience of making some themselves.
Only those people who didn't read their books compare them... and book publishers to get more attention to GoT. They are totally different in style and topic. The only similar thing they write in the genre of fantasy, but even inside fantasy there are different ones.
You're just parroting what he answered in the video.
That’s literally exactly what Martin says, did you watch the video?
@@paws27 I am commenting before having watched the video and am saying the same thing.
I agree. They both have a dragon in them, end of similarities.
While he isn’t writing the same storytelling genre as Tolkien. he did revolutionize writing in his own way he basically popularized dramatic nuanced storytelling to such a large degree that that genre is now defined as being like game of thrones.
No he didn't. What' people mean when they say something is like Game of Thrones is that it's a wandering narrative full of blood and guts and unexpected events. It has nothing to do with nuance.
I don't think he revolutionized nuanced writing in fantasy, but he is really, really good at it.
"In book sales, you've got nothing to say! I'm number one and two! You're under Fifty Shades of Grey"
Tolkien
I love GRRM Martin and the ASOIAF series and I really love this channel where you just go through various interviews and snip them down into bite sized chunks. That's really awesome that you do that. I'm presuming you're a fan and not affiliated with GRRM directly, but even if you are, thanks for the channel :)
Yeah I don't think this channel is affiliated.
The difference is that you want to live in Tolkien's world. No one in their right mind would want to live in Martin's.
But George world is more realistic
Than good guys always defeat the bad guys
And besides we are living in Martin's world right now
Mostly agree but send me to Highgarden during times of peace and I'll be living✌️ (except for medieval hygiene but I guess that shatters my will to live in any medieval world)
@@dekarmeryalmar8774 fking our sisters, fathers, aunties, nephews and brothers too? nice job Alabama.
@@dekarmeryalmar8774 realistic he said....ok
@@dekarmeryalmar8774 Fantasy is meant to be unrealistic, that's literally why it's called fantasy... If you want to experience the nitty gritty details of the real world, go read up on some history
I hope the series will end with an actual Song of Ice and Fire. Meant to be sang by like 10-20 people, meant to have been compiled by all these travelers and sung together as to truly convey the Epic
I really hope my man
They have distinctly different literary styles that can both be appreciated. In my opinion, both are fantastic novelists that create immersion and interest over thousands of pages. Respect
I feel that they are both VERY different writers , and even fantasy in itself is a very broad term . GRRM does things out of mainstream trend , no one else could have chopped off Ned's head at that moment . Thats what reading this series is such a joy , you never know what is around the turn . While Tolkien made such a beautiful world that can immerse people for decades without getting tired of , lots of people re read those books every few years , and there is a lot of hope / happy moments . Respect to such great authors .
Well said mate
I like ASOIAF better, but I re-read LOTR a lot more than I ever read ASOIAF 😅
Almost first thing he does when hearing this is talk about how flattered he is, and then proceeds to talk about how great Tolkien was, instead of hamming up his own work. That’s class and respect.
I hate when people compare Martin and Tolkien. Their approach to writing is completely different, especially in what makes a story. I read both of their works and found no similarities besides that they're both set in a secondary world. Both Martin and Tolkien are amazing, but are not at all alike.
Which one is better? There is no right answer, obviously. Everyone has different tastes.
People who compare rarely even know what makes a good story, they just know they love reading it.
peoples does not compare the writing style and the approach they took , they compare the fantasy as whole and their impact on it , they compare the worlds and battles etc .
Which one is better may be an objective question, much in the same way I think we can 'objectively' state that Homer's Illiad is 'better' than a harlequin romance, despite the fact that 90% of the public would probably rather read a harlequin romance. Thats not a definite comparison, but there are LOTS of fantasy authors out there, just because this is a big show on TV doesn't mean much about the books. I haven't read this guy's books, but on commercials I saw they were using swords and midieval weapons, I also saw a dragon I think on a commercial. So there is more in common than just 'secondary worlds'. Kurt Vonnegut's stories were on 'secondary worlds', now THAT has little in common with Tolkien. Science fiction has little in common, but these stories don't involve ray guns or grenades, so again, there is more similarity than just secondary worlds.
But 'classics' are hard to gauge until significant time has passed. I think this guy is still writing these books isn't he? There was a channel I think that had turned the Shannara series into a TV show, and while I read and enjoyed them when I was 20, they are certainly not in a league with Tolkien. So just because this guy wrote a bunch of books that got made into a tv show means little to critical theory. So 'better' I think is something that DOES have a 'right answer', it doesn't necessarily mean "I'd rather read it" or even that its written as well. VIrtually NOBODY has read "Ulysses" despite it being considered a classic, or Prousts Swanns Way. But we DO have objective criteria in literature that says that just because more people have read Fifty Shades of Grey, that doesn't make it 'better'. And I think it would not be contentious to say that not only is that book worse, but its much much much, and a whole lot of much's more, worse than those authors.
PS, plus, they both use initials as part of their name on the books:)
It's case of not comparing their style of writing, but more their stature in the literary landscape. Tolkien had a massive influence as a fantasy writer in his time, while Martin also has made a huge influence for modern day fantasy. No other American fantasy writer has really made that impact, so that's why he gets labeled as the "American Tolkien."
@@Crichjo32 I get that, but addressed it. Popularity isn't the same as impact. Harry Potter was popular, but its impact, thats another story. Fifty shades of grey was popular, and even had thousands of would be writers run out and write their own porn novels. Again, thats not necessarily 'impact'. Its now basically forgotten as a fad composed mainly of poor writing.
The first books of GOT didn't even hit the bestsellers lists, not until the later books and the show did it really gain popularity. So I really don't see that big an impact. The SHOW had more an impact than the books, and mostly because its continuation of LOTR meant that TV producers were willing to invest in high cost fantasy epics.
And its just as likely that its success was due to the success of hte LOTR franchise.
So basically what you are saying is that no american fantasy writer has had books made into such a commercial success, which is true, but doesn't mean much about 'impact'.
The Shannara series I mentioned above were virtually ALL on the New York Times bestsellers, as have numerous other fantasy books. They weren't recieved as commercially for various reasons, but the impact of the books are similar to GOT-a continuation of the fantasy genre.
Im surprised he even finished the answer to that question. Props to him!
I would've liked it if the interviewer had followed up the second question with "And so why third person instead of first person?"
"song of ice an fire is the dark souls of fantasy"
One essentially started, created and laid the foundation for the whole of modern fantasy fiction. The other just laid something good on that foundation. Like many others.
Anyone who thinks Martin is like Tolkein, doesn't understand Tolkein at all, they are quite opposite in many ways
His answers are always nuanced and thought-provoking.
They’re both fantasy writers, unique in their own ways
I talked about this with some friends, and how the comparison is in reality very superficial. What got me so interesed into Martin's work, was realizing that his writing had more in common with Garcia Marquez' A Hundred Years of Solitude than with Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
“You don’t see if someone was sneaking up on you with a knife” shout out to Arya.
0:12 I bet he laughs like that when he kills them characters
He masterbates to the idea of people losing their shit
I think calling him the American Tolkien works if you use American to mean more than just being from America. Tolkien is essentially the most British an author could get in terms of style. Meanwhile, though ASoIaF is a medieval fantasy largely, at least aesthetically inspired by British history, it has a very American feel to it, with the cultural ideas of being independent, free, and able to improve your place in life being found within many of Martin's characters.
None of which are unique to America.
Why on earth did you think they were?
@@jonharrison9222Not being unique to America in no way prevents those qualities from being strongly associated with it.
"This Book about redemption and rising from the dead is quite biblical"
"No, because those things aren't unique to Christianity"
This is how you sound.
@@jonharrison9222 there's always gotta be an edgelord in the comments
What an honor.
*hodor
Zs85 H 🤣
I wish I had two R.s so I could write a great saga myself.
The major difference between the two authors is that Tolkien's work and personality seem entirely wholesome, holy. Good v. Evil and you see in Tolkien's personality how it reflects. I really like Martin's work but to me what the two authors are like is Martin is writing what man is unfortunately like on earth, politics, power, sex and hedonism v. Tolkien's writing reflecting heavenly pursuits and what we strive to be.
One is a master of his craft, the other is the benchmark for which all others in the genre will be measured against for years upon years to come.
So they are both very good, but one big difference is that the latter finished his work whereas the former...well..is George R. R. Martin.
Tolkien did NOT even remotely finish his work what are you on about!?!? 😂
He died still trying to perfect the Silmarillion (which he had started even *before* starting to write the hobbit). It was up to his son Christopher then after his death to assemble a publishable version from his many, many revisions.
He is not arrogant at all. Very correct and humble. Interesting insights..
I would be in tears if I found out that I was being compared to tolkien.
They cut out the end of this interview where someone snuck up behind the interviewer with the knife, as George silently watched the assassination.
Its two different writing style. JRRT lean more on fantasy n adventure while GRRM lean more on the politics n backstabbing. SoIaF and LotR are both good books.
Absolutely agree on the perspective thing. After reading ASOIAF it's hard to go back to the "god" perspective.
I'd like to see George react to season 8, episode 3 ..
It probably bugs the hell out of him. I still enjoy the show, but let's not kid ourselves. it hasn't had the same feel or attention to detail since it passed the books
He stopped watching GOT
@@srimposible1853 yeah maybe but he can't ignore all the people currently saying the battle was bad. Plus he's still a part time consultant for the show
@@_MARSyt The Show is much better written than the books. The books need an editor.
No one gives a shit about the people whining over how they didn't like episode 3 of season 8.
This comment didn'g age well...
That pause after "none of *are* God" made me think he was going to crack a joke.
There was a time when every new Fantasy book was heralded as "Comparable to Tolkien at his best." People seem to think that between Tolkien and Martin nothing was ever produced ... Being compared to Tolkien is one of the easiest things to do, just write a fantasy novel and the publicity director will tag it for you.
"You Myopic Mantee"...
Such an eloquent man
I remember learning somewhere that there was a shift in omniscience viewpoint storytelling to first person story telling sometime in the 1900s. The former was acceptable until that time, which saw it as boring or simple.
GRR Martin and Stephen King will be truly studied and appreciated only by generations long after they are gone.
They are already studied and appreciated by millions of people... What are you talking about?
It's a good and intelligent answer because they are very different writers apart from the genre. People even say he inverted Tolkien. But I think as he says, different people. Martin is very boomer, very HBO if you like.He just doesn't have the legacy nobility or artistry Tolkien had. It's like comparing Beethoven to the Rolling Stones.
I mean, can you remember one moment from a song of Ice and fire so far, iconic moment, that doesn't involve violence? The aesthetic if Tolkien is like the great works of art, he gets your soul without having to bray the nerves. My opinion anyway.
I like Beethoven and the Rolling Stones by the way
I think Tolkein and Martin are masters in their own fields. Tolkein a as a poet, linguist and imaginateur who alows us to dream his dream. Martin as a writer of crystal-clear prose and maticulous world-building who allows us to live in his world.
Branson Sanderson described Martin's influence on the genre as combining Tolkien's subgenre of epic, romantic fantasy with grimdark heroic fantasy like Conan, which has largely defined much of modern fantasy.
Honestly i prefer ASOIAS over LOTR, but i would be heretic if i didn't say that both of the R.Rs are AMAZING. Tolkien wrote an amazing world filled with history, magic, wars, gods, monsters and so much more. And Martin also wrote an amazing world and even tho it isn't as filled as Tolkines, Martine created some of the best characters that i have ever read in any story, they are interesting, complex, funny, smart and every character has their own motivation. Joffery wants to stay as the king, Ramsey and my man Teryon want to be respected, Rob wants to aveng his father, Jon had the same motivation, but then it changed when he heard what Ramsey had done, my girl Denarys wants to stay on the Iron Throne and "break the wheel" (don't worry i know that most of these characters are dead, but i love then anyways). That's honestly why i kinda slightly prefer ASOIAF over LOTR, because i like characters more then the world in a fiction. But that's just my opinion.
I don’t read Game of Thrones nor watched it, however I cannot deny the amount respect I have for Martin.
Even he, i think, can admit that’s not even close
That last part on viewpoints....finally someone who agrees with me.
Only I use first-person viewpoints because it suits my writing style a lot better.
He is literally incapable of making a banal statement. I wonder how he feels about what the show is doing....
Businessbusiness he told the directors of how he thought the ending would be like, sp that’s probably right. The execution however..
Last I heard, George was disappointed with how the show was going. But my memory isn't the best, so take that with a grain of salt.
IgnoreMeI'mAnAutisticNEET it came out this week...
@@markushaahr9194 And he hasn't watched since season five. Your point? Clearly he's not happy with it, and he's watching Last Kingdom instead.
He thinks it's great. It is much better written than anything he's done this century.
George RR Martin is the BEST TO ME.I PRAY HE LIVES PAST A 100. Stay healthy George. You have books to write.
Stephen R Donaldson is the American Tolkien. though Martin can spend 3 pages describing a door knob with the best of them.
Well, his answers are great. I used to shun him as a Tolkien wannabe, a hollywood screenplay writer pretending to be a novelist, but I think I was wrong all along. Maybe it was just my prejudice towards TV; But now that the last GOT season is out, and no longer based on his books, and it sucks, I guess his work is the sole best thing of the series. The huge blockbuster budget and special effects look stupid without the story development based on his books. I am late, but I might start reading his stuff. Why not? I only started readin LOTR in 2003 months before the third movie was released and Im still a fan of the book.
I think Robert Jordan was more Tolkeinesque than George R R Martin. He's an amazing writer, don't get me wrong but I agree with him in saying they are quite different. :)
Michael Short. Maybe. I’m on book ten of WoT, but I haven’t read ASOIAF. It’s hard to say who’s more Tolkienesque, because all three have drastically different stories.
Every time I battle, its return of the KING !!
3:24 If George said that to me I would be terrified :D
How do you have an imagination as amazing as these guys.
I wonder the same thing. Maybe throw out all electronics for a year, and have your only source of entertainment be a pen and paper. Then maybe your fantasy would go wild.
George Martin isn't fit to refill Tolkien's inkwell. Tolkien is so far above Martin it's almost ludicrous to compare the two.
Suck my dick G.
GRRM is so far beyond that dead overhyped brit from u anime gaming redditors .. taking a liking for good vs evil dumbed down fairytale, then so be it. But don’t drag one of the best modern day fantasy writers and his legendary novels with that.
J R R Tolkien, George R R Martin it all makes sense
Tolkien writes with a detail that other writers gloss over. Reading Martins work I could tell it’s written by a guy imagining the experience. Tolkien’s writing tells you that he’s lived many of the experiences that his characters endure.
I loved the hobit as a child. Have read it a few times. I've also ready several other fantasy series. Strangely I've never read lotr. first time I tried years back I couldn't get into it. Maybe I'll try again
Lord of the Rings was actually written for the British people to give them a sense of national pride as he realised they have nothing but King Arthur. So he combined Viking, Celtic, and Saxon legends into one story.
It wasn't written to have a national pride, but to give a story in the form of legends to the creation of the country. Or at least, this was at first, before the boom of the Hobbit
Tolkien hated the Celts so you had been misinformed
@@guille3622, he loved his country tho
@@wserthmar8908 The elves are based on the "protectors of Britain" that the Celts believed inhabited the British Isles before the Celts arrived.
@@specialunit0428, “Needless to say they are not Celtic! Neither are the tales. I do know Celtic things (many in their original languages Irish and Welsh), and feel for them a certain distaste: largely for their fundamental unreason. They have bright colour, but are like a broken stained glass window reassembled without design. They are in fact ‘mad’ as your reader says-but I don’t believe I am.”
My friend described the fifth book as a thousand pages of “beans and doublets”.
I could barely get through the third.
Congratulations
i still don't get why people don't mention Robert E. Howard when they talk about epic fantasy pioneers .
Especially in relation to Martin.
Because his shit is obscure and greatly forgotten. People are pretty much only aware of one of his characters because of things other writers did with it.
j k rowling can eat her heart out she hasn't been called the new tolkien and i love both martin And tolkien
Agreed! The Two Kings
release the last 2 books before you go PLEASE
@gillysuit2 not like he had 8 years to work on them, he is lazy and undisciplined for a writer, he's good but he doesn't have the right mentality for a professional and it's fairly obvious he hasn't got his heart in it anymore
@gillysuit2 this book series is over 28 years old, cut some fucking slack to the people who are tired of waiting.
He will die before it is done so long as he puts off the main books for side book profits.
@@farsalor2627 how about *you* cut some slack to the guy who provided you with that entertainment so far? I'm quoting Neil Gaiman in this one, "George R. R. Martin is not your bitch.", he doesn't owe you another book, he specially doesn't owe you another book quickly. I assume you bought the previous ones and were satisfied, or you wouldn't be whining about the continuation. Enjoy and be thankful for what you have as of yet, and hope the new books will be released when they can.
João Otávio Dambrós Dezanet yeaaaahhhhh y'all be Martin's bitch waitin on those books! just shows how good they are. well worth the wait and if they don't come that sucks but a man's gotta do what a man does
João Otávio Dambrós Dezanet well said
The woulds they built have a very different reason for existing this is best shown when Martin spoke about what Tolkien got wrong and questioned what Arrogorse police’s where after he became king and those sorts of small insignificant (to what Tolkien was trying to do) details, it can also be seen in how Tolkien was giving us an epic set within a mythological would where as Martin in ice and fire gave us a story of court intrigue set in a fictional medieval would
You are the true successor of your inspiration ❤
The Only thing that G. Martin has in common with Tolkien is that he plagiarized the R.R. in his pen name...
With all due respect to Martin, Tolkien is far superior to him in terms of skill with both writing and storytelling.
While I have read both, kinda sad Steven Erickson never gets any mentions when it comes fantasy writers, his world building is better the Martin's I think, everything is just as complex, for the most part characters don't have plot armor, and his series is bigger giving you the reader more material and somehow weaving together many many separate stories into a cohesive whole with the main plot. I encourage anyone who likes good writing but especially fantasy to check out Erickson's stuff.
Martin is a King. Tolkien is a God.
the answer i expected, props to this man
Can i just use this chance to boast about the fact i'm family friends with the Tolkeins?
Clearly i'm doing it anyway because i find it cool lmao
Tim Tolkein and his family, you can tell he has his grandfather in him, a sculptur and eccentric with rather a disorderly lifestyle and driven by his immense creativity and love for his kids. John would be proud
Lucky
Great and respectful response from George. Certain Tolkien fans should learn from it and stop trashing this man for no particular reason(jokes aside). I personally am more of a fan of Tolkien than Martin, but just because Tolkien basically invented modern fantasy, it does not mean the other authors should not incorporate their own ideas into the genre and just stop writing.
While I my hopes that he will manage to finish ASoIAF series are not too high(He is 74 years old man, after all. A lot of people get quite forgetful and have trouble focusing once they reach that age), I think what he has done up to this point is simply marvellous.
Whining and disrespect will not help him finish the book.
Respect to both J.R.R and GRRM.
Look, with the exception of genre there is no comparison. LOTR is timeless. GOT is trendy.
One is forever. One will be forgotten.
This has the stink of someone who cried watching The Rings of Power and then trended towards manic depression once they saw how well House of the Dragon was doing. But if you think this has a happy ending, then you haven’t been paying attention
@@BigHomieGayAss1917 LMAO, nice comment 😂😂😂 You do realize that these shows are based on BOOKS?
The big difference between them is that Tolkien, with the kind of story he is telling, really doesn’t have such a thing as a society. Or if he does, it‘s very schematic and uncomplicated: say, Aragorn is now King of Gondor, he decides we gotta go to war with Sauron so that‘s what we do. We never find out what the peasants or the merchants might think about that. We find out from the nobility, but only in a personal capacity, not as an interest group.
Or take the riders of Rohan. Are they peasants drafted for war or are they perhaps feudal landowners sworn to protect the land in return for their overlordship? They could be soldier-settlers like the Liminateii or the Byzantine Stratiotii, or even (unlikely) a professional army? Who pays for their armament and horses? These are all things we never find out, things Tolkien doesn’t really seem interested in, but that would massively flesh out the groups of people fighting each other in Middle Earth. You don’t have to do it of course, it‘s ultimately a style choice, and Tolkien’s approach is in line with the type of story he is telling.
However, George R. R. Martin is the very opposite of that: I can think of very few fantasy writers that are better at fleshing out the world and it‘s people. Robb Stark is a feudal king, his army consists of feudal contingents supplied by his bannermen, a combination of their personal household fighters and peasant levies. When Robb wants to fight a war, he has to convince those same bannermen to go along with it and sweeten the deal for them once or twice; after all, they are leaving their own lands underhanded for the duration.
Now, many people will find that boring, but it‘s part of what makes GRRM an S-Tier character writer. Every character is clearly and actively shaped by the context they exist in, both past and present, and this gives those characters tremendous depth; among other things.
He's nothing like Tolkien, even after changing his name to be similar
People really acting like George has phenominal creativity when in reality hes probably the most plaigaristic author of the times. Even stole the RR from tolkien.
He’s like Tolkien if he was a nymphomaniac.
Backstory of Tolkiens boxoffice is billions his children making millions of his sillmarillions
Robert Jordan is the American Tolkien. George is about subversion of classical fantasy tropes.
Ian Hockabout please stop.
I completely agree. Sadly I am not sure where George RR Martin’s place will be in the pantheon of fantasy writers if he doesn’t finish his core work. The shows are great but realistically I am not sure how long they will endure compared to the written word.
Jay Mark Stocks I hear you. I think he will do it. I hope so anyway.
No comparison unfortunately. Tolkien finished his book.
He didn’t steal that RR thing. His real name is George Raymond Richard Martin
Shh, don't ruin the joke.
@@oscarnemo8084 Sorry to say, but all the people repeating the joke already ruined it. At least for me and other people I'm sure.
They’re both great world builders, but their writing styles are very different.