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The books that inspired GoT


Loops

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Well, this is more of a promotional piece to help sell the reissue of the books. There are many influences in ASOIAF, but I doubt that Druon´s books could be desribed as the "main" influence. PR fluff really!


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In the French court described by Druon, the words of a Martin character ring true: "Only the ladder is real. The climb is all there is."

Those are not GRRM's words... right ? Rather D&D IIRC ?

Well, this is more of a promotional piece to help sell the reissue of the books. There are many influences in ASOIAF, but I doubt that Druon´s books could be desribed as the "main" influence. PR fluff really!

Well, GRRM said it himself on numerous occasions.

And the relation is pretty straightforward when you know the Accursed Kings.

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I don't think it's the main influence but at the very least the Accursed Kings was an entertaining series that helped stimulate GRRM's interest in historical fiction and in some small part contributed to his heavy incorporation of it into fantasy.

He has also pointed to Ivanhoe multiple times and it's easy to see the parallels between the Andals/First Men tension and how it echoes the Saxon and Normans, with both groups having to coexist under the legacy of "the Conqueror." Both works make a big event out of tournaments while exposing how dangerous these flowery events actually were. Ivanhoe also mentioned how medieval England romanticized itself as being, or having once been, a "septarchy" despite the fact that any clear partition of seven identifiable kingdoms was obviously a fiction. And many during that period referred to the English Channel as "the narrow sea." Can't remember if anyone called it that in Ivanhoe but they did in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The White Company, a book GRRM recommends although does not attribute any inspiration to. Lastly, the second half of Ivanhoe deals with the kidnapping of a Saxon "Princess" although it is unlikely to shed any light on what actually happened at Harrenhall.

From what I understand, Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn was the work that inspired him, a Sci Fi writer to get into fantasy, convincing him that you could actuallly write it for adults.

And you can't downplay The Lord of the Rings. Martin has credited Tolkien with the killing off of main characters, Grey morality, and the technique of grouping POV characters together before separating them apart and bringing them back at different points.

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You can't forget Sharon Kay Penman's The Sunne in Splendour, either. The similarities between Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon and Penman's versions of Richard III and Edward IV, as well as the situations they find themselves in, are too striking to be a coincidence.


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I don't think it's the main influence but at the very least the Accursed Kings was an entertaining series that helped stimulate GRRM's interest in historical fiction and in some small part contributed to his heavy incorporation of it into fantasy.

Both Tyrion and Robert Baratheon obviously inherited traits from Robert d'Artois, though. And the dirty plots in medieval setting with important people dying at times they wouldn't die in usual fantasy was there - though it was normal, it's what happens in history and real life, quite unlike the way too many books are plotted.

Druon obviously isn't the only influence in this regard - Bernard Cornwell is another obvious one -, but his books clearly helped push GRR Martin towards very low fantasy, and something closer to a medieval novel put into a fictional world - GOT has something like 3 or 4 episodes of actual fantasy, and that's it.

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GOT has something like 3 or 4 episodes of actual fantasy, and that's it.

Huh? Are you sure you read the books? Dragons, dire wolves, shadow babies, undead ice people, Giants, magical swords, face shifting assassins, time traveling trees, magical midgets, raising the dead, seeing the future in flames, flame resistant Queens, magical walls of Ice, talking trees... Yes it's all presented in a certain gritty "dirty" way but ASOIAF is filled to the brim with "magic".

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Huh? Are you sure you read the books? Dragons, dire wolves, shadow babies, undead ice people, Giants, magical swords, face shifting assassins, time traveling trees, magical midgets, raising the dead, seeing the future in flames, flame resistant Queens, magical walls of Ice, talking trees... Yes it's all presented in a certain gritty "dirty" way but ASOIAF is filled to the brim with "magic".

Well, I meant Game of Thrones, as in the first book, not the whole series :P Real fantasy elements, as far as I can see, include the Others in the prologue, dead men assaulting Lord Commander Mormont, and dragons at the very end. Pretty much everything else would actually fit any real historical fiction set in the Middle-Ages.

Obviously, and GRRM himself said it, magic and fantasy stuff increase with each book. (which makes me wonder if it'd end up at a Malazan-level of magic thingies if Martin has to make 8 books to complete the story)

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You can't forget Sharon Kay Penman's The Sunne in Splendour, either. The similarities between Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon and Penman's versions of Richard III and Edward IV, as well as the situations they find themselves in, are too striking to be a coincidence.

There are arguably three Richard IIIs in ASOIAF. Ned is the Rickardian version - the decent Northern chap who comes undone. Tyrion is the Shakespearian version - the deformed schemer accused of murdering his royal nephew. And Stannis is a portrayal of the actual historical figure (or at least started out that way).

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Regarding Maurice Druon, I just remembered that I have read one of his books maybe 15 years ago, as young teenager. I still remember name of the book and now I know who written it ( I keep forgetting writer's names ). And if I remember this book and even exact place there it used to be at home it means that this author is worth a good words :)

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Huh? Are you sure you read the books? Dragons, dire wolves, shadow babies, undead ice people, Giants, magical swords, face shifting assassins, time traveling trees, magical midgets, raising the dead, seeing the future in flames, flame resistant Queens, magical walls of Ice, talking trees... Yes it's all presented in a certain gritty "dirty" way but ASOIAF is filled to the brim with "magic".

You forgot to mention the grumpkins and snarks. :cool4:

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Inspiration is a quite relative to say "Oh, I got inspired by this and that". People read different things across one's life and you get some ideas on your head, even without noticing, that surface when you're creating something and when they do, they're even a bit twisted than originally. So, it's almost impossible to say GRRM or any other author got inspired by this book but not that one.


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