George R.R. Martin
My first author for the Natural Born
Writer's blog is George R.R. Martin. This is not a book review or a fan site,
though I am a fan, but a forum to discuss gifted writers. I have listened to
the entire Song of Ice and Fire series twice on audio book during the last two
years. I have started reading them on my Kindle as well, though I have many
other authors and genres that I read and tend to wander about through the
"pages".
A few quick thoughts to begin the
exploration of why I believe George R.R. Martin is a Natural Born Writer:
First of all, I believe that some
individuals have more natural ability than others, but that most of the
greatest are great because they love what they do. That, in my humble opinion,
is a prerequisite. No one can truly achieve excellence without a passion for
the craft, because without that passion, doing the herculean amount of work
required to be the best is unrealistic. Thus part of my exploration of GRRM as
a writer will be reading whatever biographical material I can find. Since this
is no scholarly journal, and is primarily for my own thoughts and reflections,
I will take the liberty of reading where my fancy takes me, which will more
than likely be in the fictitious world of GRRM.
Here are the works of GRRM that I
have read (repeatedly) thus far:
1) A Game
of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book 1
2) A
Clash of Kings: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book 2
3) A
Storm of Swords: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book 3
4) A
Feast for Crows: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book 4
5) A
Dance with Dragons: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book 5
From time to time I will add comments to this blog post and will create other threads for other Natural Born Writers.
Be safe,
Scott Moon
The Song of Ice and Fire books portray medieval/ fantasy life as being brutal and precarious. It is a world of might makes right and human life is not precious. The tone of his writing reminds me of Bernard Cornwell (the Sharpe’s Rifles series) and Ken Follet (The Pillars of Earth and World Without End). The only author consistently darker that I have read is Cormac McCarthy, and that's dark.
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff, Scott! I completely agree with your thoughts on GRRM. The man is brilliant. I'll definitely be back to check for updates!!
ReplyDeleteI will periodically post a review of the five main GRRM books. Please comment, disagree, agree, or participate as you would like. I will add additional posts to each author as time goes by. My next post on GRRM will likely be about his Key Note Speech in Lincoln, Nebraska. For now, here is my first book review on this Natural Born Writer.
ReplyDeleteA GAME OF THRONES
By George R.R. Martin
My Amazon review (short and sweet):
You may have read the other 2000 reviews on this book, so I won't go into great detail. I love the Song of Ice and Fire books. I have the entire audio book series (and am listening to A Dance with Dragons for the second time). I started reading the Kindle version and even began typing in The Game of Thrones just to get deeper into the feel of the writing. The HBO series is okay, but the books are fantastic.
My full review:
A Game of Thrones begins with a mysterious attack north of The Wall and establishes that something supernatural or perhaps magical is threatening the world. With the prologue out of the way, the Starks are introduced (and six dire wolves) and the story moves into the family drama and political intrigue that make up the scaffolding that the (many) characters live and play on.
What makes the book so enjoyable? It is easy to suspend disbelief. People in the story believe in magic, but rarely experience it. The lives of most people, even the nobles, are desperate and survival is hard earned. Martin has an excellent command of world building, down to the smallest detail. He writes dialogue that seems effortless and natural. Characters stay true to who they are and point of view is controlled, which is no small task with the multitude of main characters in the book.
Since so many people have read the first book or at least seen the HBO series, I am not going to worry about spoilers. When Eddard Stark dies, I knew this book was different. I had been trying to decide who was the main character, and was leaning toward Eddard. I liked Eddard, I respected Eddard. Everyone in the story depended on Eddard. But the plot demanded he die, and he did. As I came to truly believe that Martin had the courage to slay any character, I started making bets with myself as to who would live and what they would do. Currently I don’t think that Daenarys or Tyrion can be offed. But I have read all five books and been wrong about many other major characters. In this book, the stakes are real.