The_Khan said:
Hi, my friend. He wrote fantasy, scifi, and horror and has done a terrific job in all three. You must have seen that old horror movie called "Nightflyers", he wrote that. Maybe you've heard of Wild Cards, he did that too. But a lot of people knew him in his days of directing "Beauty and the Beast", the series they used to give back in the 80's. He's done a lot and you will enjoy he's stories.
Hi. I just finished an essay for my freshman english class. It is poor ,but I am on a schedule. I needed product. If you bother to read it, you might as well let me know what you think.
There are very few giants left in the sword and sorcery genre. With the loss of Roger Zelazny, Anne McCaffrey and Fritz Leiber in the nineties, the ranks of the great sword and sorcery authors were decimated. While the few true remaining giants of the genre, such as Jack Vance and Fred Saberhagen, grow ever longer in the tooth, the emerging stars of this decade (like David Farland, who is rapidly publishing a commendable fantasy series The Runelords) scramble to assemble their legacies. Alas, there is a man whose work bridges the passing of the old guard while heralding the arrival of the not yet well known: George R.R. Martin is a dynamic fantasist whose relevancy can not be denied. He sold his first story in 1971 and has been writing ever since. He spent ten years in Hollywood working as a screenwriter for feature films and television. Two popular examples of Martin’s work as writer-producer-story editor for a television series are Beauty and the Beast and The Twilight Zone. Unfortunately for booklovers, he did not publish any fantasy novels during this period of his career. However, Martin returned to writing high fantasy with 1996’s A Game of Thrones, the first book in his A Song of Ice and Fire series. “The best of the epic fantasies,” says Marion Zimmer Bradley (Martin I). The Publishers Weekly website lists the book among the bestsellers for 2000 with over 125,000 copies sold. Robert Jordan describes it on his Web site as “…brilliant” and, since Jordan is considered King of epic fantasy, this is quite a compliment. Although Martin has published fantasy longer than Jordan, Jordan’s popular Wheel of Time series has sold better. However, it is telling that Martin appears on Jordan’s recommended reading list online and not the other way around. While Jordan was building a reputation in fantasy, Martin was working in other media. Some publishers think that Martin is a prime contender for Jordan’s crown, but many fantasy buffs feel he is the sovereign returned to depose the usurper (Twelve 4,Maryles and Riippa).
The main characters in Martin’s book, A Game of Thrones, engage in a similar endeavor. The story centers on the Starks of Winterfell. They are one of five factions vying to claim the vacant throne of Westeros. The Starks are a family as hard and unforgiving as the frozen northlands they call home. The Stark children share an unusual bond with a litter of dire wolf cubs. Meanwhile, Lord Eddard Stark pays for his loyalty to the former monarch of the realm when he questions the legitimacy of the dead king’s heir. Danger descends upon the six Stark children as war erupts among the feudal families. Several times, the children are saved by the intervention of their pet dire wolves.
The relationship between each child and his wolf explores the common fantasy trope, “There is a beast within us all-sometimes hidden but never far from the surface.” Martin masterfully blends German werewolf mythology and Native American religion. Martin draws on the kinaaldà ritual of certain southwestern tribes and their stories about Changing Woman (Williams 49-59), then he spices the mixture with Hollywood horror film lore to create a uniquely American version of a skin-changer.
Martin reveals his major influences by his portrayal of the machinations of the feudal lords and by the setting in which the story takes place.
Though Martin writes in the tradition established by Robert E. Howard in 1932, the behavior of the principal characters in A Game of Thrones is most reminiscent of T. H. White’s A Once and Future King. The maneuvering of various nobles forms an intricate web of intrigue, passion and betrayal. The characters hold the fate of men and nations in their hands, but it is personal relationships that compel their decisions. Often poignant, the consequences of the characters’ decisions are unintentionally ironic.
Martin pays homage to J.R.R. Tolkien with the setting of the story. A supernatural force of dreadful power prepares to overwhelm the lords’ lands south of the Wall. TThe Wall is an ancient fortification that proved effective against incursions from the undead Others in times past, but the Wall is in disrepair and poorly manned. No one alive remembers the last time the Others assaulted the Wall. This leads to complacency among lords farthest from the threat. In addition, a summer lasting for years is finally drawing to a close, and a winter that could last decades is imminent.
With the series A Song of Ice and Fire, George R. R. Martin establishes himself as the fantasist who best embodies the virtues of both his diminishing elders and the innovators of today.
Works Cited
Farland, David. The Runelords, vol.1-3. New York: Tor, 2001
Jordan, Robert. “Robert Jordan Bibliography” Fantastic Fiction. 1 Nov 2003. 1 Nov 2003
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/authors/Robert_Jordan.htm
Martin, George R.R. A Game of Thrones. A Song of Ice and Fire, vol. 1. New York: Bantam, 1996. ---. “George R.R. Martin Bibliography” Fantastic Fiction. 1 Nov 2003. 1 Nov 2003
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/authors/Robert_Jordan.htm
Maryles and Riippa. “How They Landed On Top.” Publishers Weekly 3.19
(2001). 1 Nov. 2003 Home> Features > HARDCOVER Bestsellers of 2000
http://publishersweekly.reviewsnews...orge+r.r.+martin&publication=publishersweekly
Twelve. Online posting #56. 10.22 (2003), 08:15 AM chronicles-network.net 1 Nov.
2003.
http://www.chronicles-network.net/forum/showthread.php?t=629&page=4&pp=15
Williams, Terry Tempest. Pieces of White Shell: A Journey to Navajo Land. New York:
Simon & Schuster, 1983
