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Originally Posted by Galadriel
I noticed a few names that sounded suspiciously similar to Tolkien's work when I read A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. For example, Tyrion, Valar morghulis, Daeron etc. I read a lot more, but right now I'm running out But Martin happened to let slip that Tolkien had a huge influence on his work.
However, I must admit, Martin clearly made his own, very original plot line and characters. In truth, and it pains me to say this, his characters are much more developed than Tolkien's, who made it a general rule (with a few exceptions) that beautiful=good and ugly=bad. Martin works the other way round. Most of the ugly characters are good ones, and many, many of the beautiful ones are evil to the core. Plus, the story is based on the medieval era, and I wouldn't exactly qualify it as 'fantasy'. Low fantasy perhaps, but nothing more. Anybody read it?
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Yep. Personally, I enjoyed it, but Martin is not among my favouritest fantasy authors. Could do with a bit more simplicity, not so archetypal female characters and less bloodshed. (When every second character dies, at some point you stop empathising with them because you don't want to get attached to a character who is very likely to die anyway...)
Although, if you or someone else simply wants to recommend or briefly discuss fantasy books otherwise than just in relation with Tolkien, there is this thread:
What other fantasy books do YOU read?