The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

[Threviel]

Martin is an ignorant hack. Sure, he can craft stories and tell them well, but he does not in any way what so ever grok history.

That pedant blog is a good read and a good place to compare Tolkien and Martin.

[Syt]

I started reading Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson (originally from a list of "fantasy series that supposedly end satisfyingly).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardens_of_the_Moon

I kinda got stuck 25 or 30% in. He throws a lot of stuff at you and - as it seems to me at least - often presents it in a way as if you should be familiar with past events and certain places and characters he references. That can be great to draw you in and get you intrigued, but it also made me feel fairly lost.

It's a ten book series for those interested.

[Habbaku]

Martin is an ignorant hack. Sure, he can craft stories and tell them well, but he does not in any way what so ever grok history.

[Jacob]

The problem with Tolkien is that almost all his characters are cardboard cutouts. I still love his stuff, but damn.

"Archetypes", dear the Brain. We call them "archetypes".

[Habbaku]

I started reading Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson (originally from a list of "fantasy series that supposedly end satisfyingly).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardens_of_the_Moon

I kinda got stuck 25 or 30% in. He throws a lot of stuff at you and - as it seems to me at least - often presents it in a way as if you should be familiar with past events and certain places and characters he references. That can be great to draw you in and get you intrigued, but it also made me feel fairly lost.

I abandoned the series at about the same point for the same reason. I don't think I'll ever return to it.

[The Brain]

The problem with Tolkien is that almost all his characters are cardboard cutouts. I still love his stuff, but damn.

"Archetypes", dear the Brain. We call them "archetypes".

Sorry, George Lucas.

[Syt]

I started reading Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson (originally from a list of "fantasy series that supposedly end satisfyingly).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardens_of_the_Moon

I kinda got stuck 25 or 30% in. He throws a lot of stuff at you and - as it seems to me at least - often presents it in a way as if you should be familiar with past events and certain places and characters he references. That can be great to draw you in and get you intrigued, but it also made me feel fairly lost.

I abandoned the series at about the same point for the same reason. I don't think I'll ever return to it.

In my case it might not have helped that I started it as audio book (and then switched to kindle).

[Malthus]

Yeah, Tolkien is probably one of the reasons I don't read much fantasy honestly - it's just not good enough in comparison.

I think the problem is that far too many try to emulate (copy) his work.  Any reproduction is bound to be pale by comparison.  But every once in a while someone tries to do something original.  Martin is a good example, and one of my favs Guy Gavriel Kay.

By the way, Kay was actually on a high school basketball team and was a bench warmer (one of my partners was on the same team).  That little tidbit will be a bit more meaningful for people who read his early novels. 

I like Kay's stuff - his thing is to create fantasy worlds patterned after actual history, which I enjoy.

Another work of completely non-Tolkien fantasy is Gormenghast/Titus Groan, which I like but is not for everyone.

[Jacob]

Another work of completely non-Tolkien fantasy is Gormenghast/Titus Groan, which I like but is not for everyone.

Yeah, those were pretty interesting. I read the frist two or three, but not all IIRC.

[Eddie Teach]

Martin is an ignorant hack. Sure, he can craft stories and tell them well, but he does not in any way what so ever grok history.

His job is to craft stories, not history.

[grumbler]

Martin is an ignorant hack. Sure, he can craft stories and tell them well, but he does not in any way what so ever grok history.

His job is to craft stories, not history.

Though he did craft a history, and a pretty good one.

[Jacob]

I'm not particularly fond of Martin, but I can definitely see the itch he scratches for the folks that enjoy him.

[jimmy olsen]

Martin is an ignorant hack. Sure, he can craft stories and tell them well, but he does not in any way what so ever grok history.

That pedant blog is a good read and a good place to compare Tolkien and Martin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAAp_luluo0

[Threviel]

Martins descriptions of logistics, strategy, tactics and so on are on a low level. It's like a school kid reading some history and playing some games and then building a world based on that.

Yeah, he writes a good story, but it's not consequent and it is unrealistic by its own standard and rules. He is not alone in that, he is head and shoulders above most fantasy writers, but that is damning with faint praise.

[The Larch]

Martins descriptions of logistics, strategy, tactics and so on are on a low level.

Jeez, the guy is writing novels, not military essays. If you're bothered by that maybe you're too much of a nerd for those topics to enjoy the story, which is what really matters. Is the charge of the Rohirrim ok, then? 

I mean, Martin is in no way a perfect writer, there are other aspects of his writing and world building that I don't enjoy (IMO, the guy has no sense of scale whatsoever), but it's not something that prevents me from appreciating the story he's telling as a whole.