ViserysLAD Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 Literary speaking. How good is Martin's writing ability. Will it be famous then forgotten like many other fantasy series or will it remain a classic like Lord of the Rings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaime Da Juiceman Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 I don't know, I think the fame he's gotten how has pretty much solidified his legacy, and it isn't undeserved. Sure, the last two books will be a make-or-break of sorts but whether he "makes" it or not, if I have kids, they're reading these novels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorral Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 I'm guessing here, because this is a mug's game. ASOIAF will be ranked in literary history of the 21st century much as Edward Bulwer-Lytton is ranked among his sister and brother 19th century writers. A writer can do, and most writers do do, far, far, far, far worse. And don't make any money either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViserysLAD Posted August 27, 2015 Author Share Posted August 27, 2015 I am happy to hear this. His prose is quite moving Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 They don't call him the American Tolkien for nothing. True. They call him that for marketing reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Arryn Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 They don't call him the American Tolkien for nothing. Eh...if anyone in history is famous for doing something great, you can be pretty sure someone has been called the American version at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Writhen Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 He is the American Tolkien for real. The second greatest story ever told. Tolkien can be third place lawl. :bowdown: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry of the Lawn Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Forget the test of time.... what about.....The Wheel of Time?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChillyPolly Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Literary speaking. How good is Martin's writing ability. Will it be famous then forgotten like many other fantasy series or will it remain a classic like Lord of the Rings? His writing ability is fine (though many of his writing choices are questionable). It is his ability as a story-teller that is subject to extreme doubt. The story that he is most famous for is one that remains unfinished, and is impossible to judge in its current state. Of his completed novels so far, the best has been THE ARMAGEDDON RAG. And that was a bit of an anticlimax at best. After that one, I'll think I'll go with THE DYING OF THE LIGHT for some nice worldbuilding moments and genuinely atmospheric passages. But as a story it is just awful. The American Tolkien has yet to demonstrate his ability to seal the deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PyroclasticFlow Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 ChillyPolly, I was very impressed with Fevre Dream, but I haven't read the novels you had mentioned. His storytelling in FD was a little slow, but it was different so I enjoyed. Will have to pick up the others and see for myself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChillyPolly Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 ChillyPolly, I was very impressed with Fevre Dream, but I haven't read the novels you had mentioned. His storytelling in FD was a little slow, but it was different so I enjoyed. Will have to pick up the others and see for myself Ack, don't get me started on FEVRE DREAM! Yeah, I could find good things to say about it too, but ... oh, the bad points! The characters! The plot! The resolution! How could he expect me to root for such people? He throws in a pair absolute cartoon villains (who use the n-word) for the illusion of good-guy vs. bad-guy contrast, but that is not enough to transform into heroes a pair of self-absorbed a-holes who regard others as expendable to their private schemes. On the nihilism scale, I would say THE DYING OF THE LIGHT is the most nihilistic. In FEVRE DREAM he is less militantly nihilistic and melancholy, but it is even more obviously a moral wasteland. In THE ARMAGEDDON RAG he seems to be groping for some moral perspective and sense of purpose. There is also the fix-up novel TUF VOYAGING, which I enjoyed in spots. Have not read WINDHAVEN. He has declared ASOIAF is not nihilistic, and that gives some cause for hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Why should we care? I care more about that ASoIaF will have a somewhat satisfactory conclusion (after two not so great books almost anything seems possible) within my (and as I am about 25 years his junior) GRRM's lifetime than about what people in 50 or 100 years will think. As ASoIF is not really a pioneer of its genre it will probably never have such an iconic status as e.g. LotR. But it seems significant enough to be remembered for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 I think Martin is (or was) a better short story writer than he is a novelist. This may actually be one of the structural reasons he's lost control of ASOIAF in the last couple of books. Bearing in mind though that what stands the test of time isn't necessarily what was initially popular. A hundred years ago, Abraham Merritt was a major fantasy author - who remembers him today? H.P. Lovecraft died in obscurity, only to be revived decades later. (And yes, the American Tolkien thing is pure marketing, nothing more). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 I still don't buy that ASoIaF had this wide spreading instant omg the rules have changed effect that some people claim it did. Although if we're talking his influence on the genre from his work as a whole, maybe. Edit: when did they start calling him that anyway? Cause for a long time I temver Jordan got called the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castel Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 I still don't buy that ASoIaF had this wide spreading instant omg the rules have changed effect that some people claim it did. Although if we're talking his influence on the genre from his work as a whole, maybe. Edit: when did they start calling him that anyway? Cause for a long time I temver Jordan got called the same thing. I think it certainly changed the perception of the people watching TV, for the rest of the genre...dunno. I would disagree with polish: it's not so much marketing as slogan-loving media denizens loving the idea of having a pithy name to attach to everyone.So...I guess,marketing for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoreOrLess Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 The "American Tolkien" for me would be Gene Wolfe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Well the TV show is its own monster, but people tend to act like the first book was a smashing success when it first came out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 No, I think it's more due to the effect that he's had on the fantasy genre, which, while not as dramatic as Tolkien's, it undeniable, whatever you think of the series at this point. One thing that I think may cause a bit of confusing with this topic is that it asks two questions. 1) How good is Martin's literary ability, and 2) Will his work stand the test of time? Two very different questions. Whether you believe Martin is as good a writer as Tolkien is up for debate, but the impact of his work on the genre as a whole is hard to ignore. Actually, I'll happily deny it. Martin is no more influential on the genre than Stephen Donaldson. He's also less influential on the genre than Jack Vance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crixus Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Yes, it's a gimmick. Everything is these days. Overall, I think the ending of ASOIAF will be the deciding factor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crixus Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Yes, it's a gimmick. Everything is these days. Overall, I think the ending of ASOIAF will be the deciding factor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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