devoid33 Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Since they both have similar elements(dragons, magic etc) I would like to hear your opinionI think Martin because he has a thin line between too much fantasy and reality unlike Tolkien. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Éadaoin Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 This is a cop out, but I really don't think I can choose. I love both of them for different reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mladen Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 This is a cop out, but I really don't think I can choose. I love both of them for different reasons. :agree: . I would say that Tolkien is closer to my romantic side, and Martin to my realistic side Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryk Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 It's hard not to prefer ASOIF slightly, since it caters to modern sensibilities much better.But it sucks to have to say one of them's better then the other. They're products of different eras, but both made huge contributions to the fantasy genre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sworn Shield Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Martin is the better writer of the two and has better characters, which I think is because he has a background in writing scripts for TV as well as being an author.As a fantasy novel Tolkien has created something more magical and mystical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ab aeterno Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Martin is the better writer of the two and has better characters, which I think is because he has a background in writing scripts for TV as well as being an author.As a fantasy novel Tolkien has created something more magical and mystical.I think I agree with this, really.The Lord of the Rings is fantastic, the overall story is amazing and it is literally the standard for epic fantasy; one of the most famous stories of all time. Having said that, I often find Tolkien's prose dry and tedious, something I've never found with Martin. Martin's writing is much more engaging and his characters much deeper and more nuanced, in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theda Baratheon Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Tolkien has practically made fantasy what it is today. GRRM has created a very alluring, compelling universe with equally alluring and compelling characters. Let's not make a VS out of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
They see me R'hollin Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Tolkien practically defined the genre. A lot of what Martin wrote has elements of Tolkien. Also, the universe of Middle Earth and beyond is far more complex and vast than that of Westeros, Essos etc... Although to their credit I think both of them are outstanding in sheer complexity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
princeimrahil Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 :agree: . I would say that Tolkien is closer to my romantic side, and Martin to my realistic sideI'd say "gritty" rather than "realistic," but otherwise I think you've nailed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great Walrus Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Ehh, I gotta choose Martin, Tolkein may be a great write in his own right, but Martin's worlds are more complex and realistic... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stannis Eats No Peaches Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 I prefer Martin's writing style but LOTR is more...epic, if you know what I mean.Ehh, I gotta choose Martin, Tolkein may be a great write in his own right, but Martin's worlds are more complex and realistic...I'm going to have to disagree with you there, Walrus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluesnow Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 I haven't read Tolkein in quite a while... and I plan on rereading it soon... but from what I can remember I was more emotionally involved with GRRM's story telling style. The only time I really remember getting a WOW moment from LOTR was a Sam chapter with him and a spider xD To me a book is measure by how emotionally invested I am in it... so in this aspect Martin wins. Martin creates amazing imagery and deeper characters. Tolkien I think created a greater fantasy world, and some amazing action sequences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bright Blue Eyes Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 Tolkien or Martin or Shakespeare or Homer? All good authors. All comparable. All different eras. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ame Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 Since they both have similar elements(dragons, magic etc) I would like to hear your opinionI think Martin because he has a thin line between too much fantasy and reality unlike Tolkien.Very clearly Tolkien; it isn't about length. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bran Swift Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 They're products of different eras, but both made huge contributions to the fantasy genre.This is exactly how I feel, and in fact, whenever GRRM is asked how he feels about being compared to Tolkien, he says much the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Er Rn Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 This is a cop out, but I really don't think I can choose. I love both of them for different reasons.I'd say "gritty" rather than "realistic," but otherwise I think you've nailed it.:agree: sums it up pretty perfectly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomWillcox Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 Since they both have similar elements(dragons, magic etc) I would like to hear your opinionI think Martin because he has a thin line between too much fantasy and reality unlike Tolkien.Did my dissertation on Tolkien, and I have to say that he wipes the floor with Martin. I love ASOIAF, but there are no passages in it that come close to containing the same author's skill as say the Council of Elrond, where about 30-odd different and linguistically distinct voices are heard through about 7 people. Martin has some bad habits when it comes to cliffhangers, like AFfC in which just about every chapter builds to a cliffhanger (This is probably a result of him being a TV episode writer.) Tolkien has a much better understanding of how to build tension, for example in Moria where you keep hearing drums and other noises and then things pass. Cliffhangers are good occasionally but when used to the extent Martin does they end up deadening the reader to the tension.A good example of Martin's repetitions and how this causes problems for writing is in Jon's 'death'. We have had this trick of an apparent death *so* many times that we know he isn't really dead, and it just is irritating. It's bad writing to continually use fake deaths, but worse to spend 5 books developing Jon's character only to kill him off now. As for Tolkien's lack of realism...well COTF and Others aren't real. Tolkien smashes everyone on the grounds of "applicability", which is how you can relate to lots of different characters in different ways. One of Tolkien's points is how 'realism' isn't enough to address and portray the sheer horror and evil he encountered in WWI trenches...but this last paragraph is a topic for an 8000-word essay...Tolkien is, for me, when you take a step back and really look at their works, the much more skilful writer and has at least three different levels to his middle-earth mythology. But I do love Martin, even if we massively overrate him as an author on here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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