re: #305 Cato the Elder

I have to wonder, cynical bastard that I am, whether George Martin inserted the “R.R.” like John Kerry did the “F.” so he could be a little more JFKish.

The thing I admire about Tolkien is that he did the whole backstory first, including fully-fleshed out languages and scripts, with no idea it would ever be published. Then he wrote “The Hobbit” for his children. Then he set about LotR, also with little hope that it was publishable. The children’s book was a hit, and the rest is history.

To my knowledge there are masses of notebooks that have still not seen the light of day.

His son Christopher is very much in the business of publishing them and reconstructing them. There are something like 12 volumes already out in print.

I agree that Tolkien was a genius in what he did, and I adore him. What makes his work unique is exactly what you described - legendary back story, culture and languages built first, plot and characters later. And it shows, both in the good way and the bad way. Let’s face it Tolkien really can not write dialog.

Martin started his books thinking he would base a fantasy world around the Wars of the Roses. It is pretty transparent. Somewhere about the 30th page and ever after though, his characters become so alive and his world so hintingly epic that the writing almost got away from him. You feel as if he is channeling people and writing a history at the same time.