I understand why people are tempted to debate Tolkien vs. Martin. Both authors created epic fantasy worlds that have achieved tremendous renown. Yet, the debate is a bit silly. 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'A Song of Ice and Fire' each have their own aims. These men are not opponents, nor are their works competing for the same end. They each deserve their own honors and due credit for their amazing creations.
Yeah your damn right bro... That's like comparing apples and oranges, they might both be fruits but have totally different taste and textures! (Hope that simile makes sense)
***** By no means am I dissing GRRM work. I think GRRM work is better than Tolkiens imo but I believe that LotR paved the way for modern fantasy and without it, GoT would be somewhat different.
A 68 years old man who has an imagination that can make a strongly structured world like the world in game of thrones should be respected. I am 20 years old and i hardly can tell my little sister a stupid story! You're my hero old man.
17:34: "What I never get any complaints about, of course, is the violence. And this is uniquely American here, that I can describe, in exquisite detail, an axe entering a man's skull and splattering blood and brains. Not a peep. I describe a penis entering a vagina in equivalent detail, the world has ended." This is so damn true.
when he talks about watching ships in the beginning it reminds me of the scene where Sansa is playing a game, making up stories about the ships leaving King's Landing.. invent a story about where they're going and why lol
He was so worried that no one would buy his books because the show is surpassing them... So ridiculous!! George we will want your story more than the shows story! I want to read your true vision!
He should just worry about finishing them. People are going to want more and the books are completely different than the show anyways, it’s really like two separate versions.
Honestly regarding the Tolkien vs Martin debate, they where aimed at complete different audiences. Tolkien started writing his books for his children whilst Martin wrote A Song of Ice and Fire in a realistic medieval way, focusing on every aspect of the Medieval world; including sex and the way they lived rather than just the tale as Tolkien did. They're completely different in terms of writing and don't deserve a comparison just because they're set in a medical era and revolve around fantasy.
The man who created the greatest story ever told and the best part is it isn't even finished! His imagination literally brings out tears. Love you GRRM!
You can see George's face becoming dull when the interviewer switches from books to TV. I mean Come on!!! I know most of the people have watched the TV but plzzzz give George some fucking credit for his abso- fucking - lutely great books.
God i hope i make it as a writer while he is still alive...one day i want to meet him and Rowling in person...and just tell them, they are why i wanted to do this
It absolutely makes me want to scream because of the fact that he KNOWS HOW IT'S GOING TO END. HE KNOWS. And we have no idea whatsoever. HE KNOWS WHO LIVES AND WHO DIES. How can I live with knowing that he knows how everything ends? How?
completely agree with Martin when the interviewer brought up how she loves Cersei. Obviously she has not read the books and only watched the series, because in the series Cersei isn't even as half as bad as she is in the books. In the series they make Cersei look like a saint and blame the whole thing on Joffrey. In my opinion it was the opposite with Joffrey being a terrible thing because of being brought up under Cersei
I've read the books and absolutely LOVE Cersei Lannister. As a matter of fact my favorite book is A Feast for Crows is my favorite book in the series because Queen Cersei Lannister's chapters are so enjoyable. I fucking hate you people who love to assume things. Just because you didn't enjoy a character doesn't mean other won't as well. You aren't this enlightened person whose opinion is the only one that matters we all have different opinions and we all have different tastes.
And what about Joffrey's two fathers? He has two fathers one that thinks he is the father and the other that KNOWS he is the father. Aren't they to blame for not taking an interest on their child? So typical to blame the woman and completely look away from the sins of males. Fucking disgusting!
the death of ned stark was not a surprise to me given the actor that was playing him... that said i have been surprised MANY times of other characters being killed off.
I feel that it was a little tasteless to start asking game of thrones fans wich is "better" Tolkien or Martin, especialy considering this is a show on Martin so there hardly gonna show anyone saying Tolkien.
If Brandon Sanderson books were adapted to TV he would probably be bigger than George. Unfortunetly money it takes to adapt a Sanderson book would be astronomical
I really want to see The Way of Kings being adapted into a tv show. It will be miles ahead of game of thrones. The world created by brandon sanderson is just epic. Personally i like Both the series. The storm light archive and ASOIAF. But as a die hard sanderson fan it would be a dream come true to see his books being turned into a tv show. Even mistborn is very good. ALSO Patrick Rothfuss' books can be adapted . He is one of my fav fantasy writers. The Name of the wind is awesome.
shonmorley homez I love Brandon Sanderson work, for reasons in which I think would end up on a different result than what you're said. Most of Brandon's books that I've read are far lighter than A Song of Ice and Fire, granted I haven't read any other George's work so I can't say much. Not necessarily a bad thing I must say, but as much as I respect Brandon's books and how amazingly good his imaginations were, the complexity and the number of the characters, the different perspective on motivations and politics involved, the world building and how realistically and out of the ordinary the character development works in ASoIaF by far surpassed anything Brandon has ever done. I don't think even the legendary Tolkien's world can be made bigger than Game of Throne's world. It's not just about the settings imo, but the way ASoIaF presents the narrative from dozens of different perspective with a full fledged detailed character development is what made the world as big as it is.
I like how this dude is real and doesn't throw in words no one has ever heard of to make himself sound smarter, even though he could. Haha he's talking about how his influences were comic books. He could have made some bullshit up about being inspired by a Tale of Two Cities or something. Cool guy. Real. That's what makes his work so good. Because he's real about the dark nature of human beings and doesn't hold back. And because his characters are more complex than some people I know in real life LOL.
The people who think The Lord of the Rings is the only creation of Tolkien has either never read Tolkien or did not understand any of the thematic material of that masterpiece created. These are contemporary stories. The themes of material is weak compared to those tackled by Tolkien . So please stop comparing him to Tolkien
sanch Sanchayan I think people are comparing Tolkien's masterpiece to Martin's masterpiece, not Tolkien to Martin. LOTR and ASOIAF are both epic fantasy tales, arguably the most epic fantasy tales written. Both are incredibly influential but they are also very different. You can say which you prefer, but you cannot objectively declare one better than the other.
Livwen Absotol I first heard of ASOIAF from Warcraft players who'd read the book (back in 2006) and saw a lot of its influence in WoW. I looked it up at the time and websites that I founded rated it above HP and below LOTR. I personally have only read LOTR, though, so I'm basing this on the opinions of others.
+Koviko LOTR is pretty simple and straightforward, but if you start reading asoiaf there's just so much happening that it makes you wonder how the hell he thought of it. The show is only 25% of the iceberg at best. I'm not an experienced reader by any means, but when I caved in and bought the box set of asoiaf after seeing the show, it was very easy to read until I passed out.
Clone82 Nope. As you can see from this picture: img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130111180246/gameofthrones/images/2/22/Sandor_profile.jpg the right half of his forehead is supposed to be all rugged, but in the video it all smooth, which you can see better when he bows to Joffrey and his hair comes forward. I suppose they didn't want to bother spending god knows how many hours applying makeup to the guy for a short 5 second scene!
bennemann I'm aware of what his face is supposed to look like. You just can't see the makeup very well in this shot in this video because of the poor video quality. But the burn marks are visible in this scene on an HD source (such as the Blu-rays or when this aired on HBO).
Tolkien opened up a whole new world of fantasy. Although I enjoy Martin much more, I've read all Tolkien ever wrote and the guy demands huge respect for what he's done. I'm so happy that another great author is creating masterpieces for me to enjoy in my generation.
Thank you for that brilliant interview! I'm always surprised at how people who are fans have their own unique questions and thoughts about the saga. "Did you go to school with Joffrey Lannister?" what an interesting question :)
I feel Tolkien is the OG in depth world of fantasy author that no one can really compare too. The man invented a tremendous amount of languages. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are just stories in Tolkien's massive world. At the end of the day I feel Tolkien's work is the reason there even is a Game of thrones.
Tolkien, and to a lesser extent, Lewis, defined the Fantasy-Fiction genre in the first place. Martin's world is a very American 'gun-ho', violent and dark world - but it's good. Tolkien's is a symbolic, sad, thoughtful world.
George Martin will be the first one to agree you on Tolkien's influence, along with Lovecraft and a handful of others. The greatest writers are always the ones who take advantage of what has been laid down before them by the past legends, and build from there.
Though I believe the same thing that those characters will survive I do have to mention...There are a FUUUCKKK TON of characters that we cannot predict anything happening to.
JRR Tolkien was a genius, and for many years, he was alone in the hall of fame of epic stories. George R.R Martin has created a story and a world that deserves a place next to Tolkien. Mr. Martin, the series of Ice and fire are fenomenal, my hat off to you sir, best series i have read in a very long time, and i have yet to read a Dance with Dragons.
The television show is his best promotional vehicle for his books. He is smart enough to realize that all he needs to do is remind people that they're books, then just talk about the show. People get hooked on the show, then a number of them buy the books.
What a wonderful interview! I really liked the way the interviewer asked about Georges inspiration for some of his characters. I have wondered about the same thing myself and it's great to have an answer to my question.
You CAN predict who lives and who don't, though. Nobody ever die without reason, and the ones who die have had it coming for at least 300 pages. Just reading about Robb and all the stupid mistakes he makes, it's no wonder he eventually meets the reaper. It might come as a shock if you're used to common movies and TV shows where stupid actions don't seem to have any significant consequence. In Westeros however, all actions have consequences, and Robb makes one mistake after the other, spiraling down and down and down. Catelyn isn't really at fault, but she was in the vicinity, which is also dangerous. Anybody who's anywhere near the Iron Throne is already doomed. You win or you die.
thefifth5hot It was very predictable, so was Joffrey, Robb and Balon's deaths. Melisandre did the the whole magic eel death thingie, only a few chapters before the three of them died. Renly pissed off Stannis, and again (or rather before) Melisandre did the whole magic show with the shadow baby thing. It may have taken people by suprise at first, but now everyone knows her powers are real. Stannis went out of his way to kill Renly, it was just a matter of whether he would succeed or not.
People often don't recognize greatness when it first comes, shame really, he deserved a good financial start to the series, but it's a good thing it turned out so well for him.
Am I the only one who is slightly irked when British people use the word "series" in place of "season"? It just seems to be a pet peeve of mine. Normally I love the way the British talk but not when they misuse the term "series" lol
sonofeast11 So? You also misuse it. The Chinese invented the first firearm but does that mean that all Chinese people are experts with firearms and above being corrected by all other cultures who adopted them later on? No of course not that's ridiculous. And this notion that just because your ancestors chose not to cross the Atlantic that it suddenly means it's YOUR language is equally ridiculous. Trace either of our ancestries back far enough and you'll find the same Celtic, Anglo, and Saxon roots. It's not as if my ancestors moved off the island of Britain before the formation of the English language you idiot. They are just as responsible for it as yours are.
@sonofeast11 you say your people created the English language well so did most Americans "people" for their descendants came from English speaking Europe. So please just stop you sound like an idiot
Roseand Stem Right? I would actually be willing to admit the argument that language isn't set in stone and whose to say a usage of a word isn't correct or not because languages evolve and change but the argument these people have gave is just stupid.
i've allways said, it's gonna end when the people of the seven kingdoms get tired of all the games, rebel, and erect westeros's first communist republic.
Lopt The Treacherous There is a WORLD of difference between accents/mispronunciation an saying the name Martin as "Mar'in". I would ESPECIALLY expect better of a journalist
Lopt The Treacherous You couldn't be more wrong Grace Dent is from Carlisle which is tremendously Northern. Missing out your T's isn't accentual it is just poor pronunciation (I'm also Northern, I know how to say my T's)
Very similarly to a lot of would-be authors/writers. I, too, had a love of literature/books from a young age. The BFG by Roald Dahl, The Boxcar Children, The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, by JRR Tolkien, and Harry Potter, by Joanne Rowling. So many thoughts. First of all, I am attempting to be an author. Currently, I am working on a four-book series called "Elf Sisters". The first book is already uploaded on Amazon's Kindle/KDP. I plan on continuing this series to its conclusion. The problem, would be financing it. I currently have very little financial backing for it. But I am still trucking through it. The themes that I am trying to address in this series are: Sisterly bonds, Light vs Darkness, magic, and spirituality. I draw upon my own faith for Light vs. Darkness and spirituality. If it does well, hooray for me. If not, well at least I can say that I published a literary series. Something that only a great aunt of mine has done in our family. As a new author, it'll be difficult. But I am still going to write the books that I want to write. Which is what any author/writer should do.
Wow. You were able to judge my whole character based only on an opinion of a completely objective piece of work, that I have, and with such impressive articulation! Jeez, I would hope to be as clever as you one day but considering I'm not a fan of GOT, I probably miss out on the same level of intellectual stimulation as you... :/
Why are you commenting on a Game of Thrones video if you don't like it? Your only reason is to create controversy by opposing people's opinion, if you're not a fan that's fine, but don't go calling it "garbage" when it's better than anything you could write.
I can watch what the fuck I want, pal. Furthermore I didn't use offesive language or actively insult anybody in my comment. I itterated my thoughts without the intention of stirring shit. So excuse me, guy because you call ME a 'twat' which is totally unwarented. The irony of you initial comment is lost on you. Wise up.
Calm down mate, I encourage you to read some George R.R. Martin, you obviously need some escapism from your depressing life which has left you angry at society.
I really hope he lives long enough to finish the series. I don't know what I'll do if he doesn't. I had never once read even a chapter book all the way through before I started watching Game of Thrones. When Season 2 began, I bought the first installment at a Books-a-Million and by August, I had finished A Dance With Dragons. This is the only novel I've invested myself in and I love it just as much as the TV show if not more.
Absolutely! J.R.R. is an absolute master of fiction. He just lived in another time, was affected by different things and most importantly didn't write fantasy (he wrote mythology - that was his intention anyway, which I think turned out).
That's why I really enjoy characters who's motivations aren't solely what's good & righteous. Who's to judge what's right & what's wrong anyway. It's always been embedded into her mind that family is everything, so she really cherishes her children, & when I see how Joffrey treats her in return it's p heart breaking but I enjoy seeing it all the same, it makes me so curious as to when she'll hit her breaking point.
What a wonderful writer, truly my favorite show ever. I discovered the show before I discovered the books. I haven't wanted to pick up the books to spoil the show for me. I thought the interviewer did a great job, I have a much more profound respect for this writer after watching this.
That's amazing, I mean just looking at his picture as a child and hearing how small his world was when he was small with nothing but those ships that travel far too help him imagine about anywhere else, no one could've ever guessed the incredible universe and the diversity of characters that he writes, this teaches me to never underestimate anyone =D
Damn straight man! I don't get why people need to cuss and criticise Tolkien when George R.R. Martin comes up. The two are both superb writers, there's no need to argue about them.
I know, right. They are like two different extents of the fantasy genre. They both have their own styles and both are very good writers in their own ways. They are similar, yet completely different at the same time.
