'Fantasy is changing' - George R. R. Martin | From THE LORD OF THE RINGS to HOUSE OF THE DRAGON

George R. R. Martin discusses the evolution of the fantasy genre since J. R. R. Tolkien's 1954 masterpiece, THE LORD OF THE RINGS.

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[John_The_Fourth]

I have a bad feeling he’s gonna die before he finishes the series. He might finish Winds of Winter, but Dream of Spring… who knows man who knows.

[KossolaxtheForesworn]

tolkiens influence is undeniable. the orcs and elves as we know them are solely due to him.
but I do like it when writers take a different direction and dont try to imitate anybody too closely.

[aelisif]

That's why I read GRRM's books because his fantasy is still melded with realistic reactions and how each of his characters affect one another

[AndrewFullerton]

There's one thing that more authors need to imitate from Tolkien: restraint. He could have kept going after RotK, I believe he even has a scrapped draft or two of a chapter, but he realised what was his story and what were distractions.

There's a reason so much is resigned to appendices, letters, and posthumous compilations -- imagine if he were so fixated on cramming all of that in to a single series. LotR could easily have been 6 volumes long and not even get to Minas Tirith before he died. Would his impact on culture be better for it?

[mr.rubright]

Truly the one thing I loved about ASOIAF wasn't really the fantasy, characters, or the world. But that people died. Not the run of the mill people either. Very important characters died. Ones you hated, ones you liked, and ones you loved.

Because that is life. People die all the time. People you think would never die, well die. It's isn't always a blaze of glory either. That is what I loved.

[channelswolfbrigade]

See, THIS is what he really thought about Tolkien’s story. It isn’t some kid’s story to him, it’s not some ridiculous tale, it is THE fantasy story that so many people have attempted to copy to the point that it’s seen as a trope. Game of Thrones wasn’t a story that attempted to discredit LOTR, it was a story that became its own thing out of respect to the works of Tolkien. I don’t know why he’s said so many different things about why GOT is different to Tolkien, but I think that this is what he really thinks.

[FriesischeKuh]

At first, I only wanted chapters from the Stark perspective, but as I got further into the books, I started to appreciate the other viewpoints. Although I saw them as “evil” at first, they really just wanted to protect their positions, their families, and livelihoods, not all too much different from anyone else in the world

[fishcleanerninjacookie]

His greatest work is the Silmarillion, and it also greatly enhances your appreciation for LOTR having the basic lore knowledge from that. Unfinished Tales is underrated as well

[davidfrem]

Hello sir, I am 12 and I am actually writing a book of my own, I admire Tolkien and his works .I am planning on finishing it and the end of the year

[pretty]

Thanks to George for supporting Brandon when he was a new author. Most fantasy such as wot is based off Tolkien but Brandon’s work is so different.

[ReggiePerez]

Truly am happy about the words he says about the father of fantasy novels. Tolkien created a world many imitators tried to create, but I believe George R.R. Martian was able to capture in his novels.

[Salt-Oil]

I love his perspective on fantasy fiction and it's a big influence on my creative process.

[dain]

The thing about tolkien is that he said he created the lord of the rings to be a mythological/cultural story for england bc they lost so many of their storys in the pagan/Christian conflict, so england kind of lost its cultural identity. So tolkien purposely put the thems of obvious good and evil bc its supposed to be an archetypal type of story. Thats why its annoying when you see the rings of power show mutilate his work, they dont give it the respect it should.

[davidtreece]

Love this. Respect for the past but not trying to poorly imitate it.

[brandonralphs]

This is why this man is my favorite author 🖤

[user]

The music with his words delivery sounds epic

[katitatsu]

Fantasy for wider audiences is changing. But great fantasy novels that differ from Tolkien existed before GOT happened or after.

[UliaSamsonova]

He's such a great and articulate man

[joze]

This is only limited to the Anglophone world. In German, Russian, and Spanish speaking fantasy the narratives are different. There are plenty of Tolkinesk books there, too, but I think the majority of popular fantasy books when I grew up were somewhat close to magical realism, or something which is very out of the box.

One example that even Anglos would know is the not very Tolkinesk epos of the never ending story.

[zule]

Background music Sebastian Duh-The Warrior's Repose