At this point I've just started watching war of the roses documentaries. That period of history is surprisingly entertaining and has an actual ending.
GRRM tried to inlay fantasy into this period for what ever reasons, perhaps to stand out. I don't think it has to be high fantasy, it's not really. They live in a world that barely has a hold on magic, most don't even believe it. As far as the common man is concerned, it doesn't impact anything until dragons appear and the white walkers actually come. I like this practical yet shocking aspect to the magic. I don't know who started co -opting high fantasy as a label for GoT, but it couldn't be farther from the truth.
Another interesting aspect, the motive of the gods are never really clear. They seem to act more on their own misguided virtues rather than outcomes, like living beings that lack foresight but perhaps just don't value human life. Even the gods are cruel in this universe. That's not unlike a lot of mythology and it lines up with the tone of the books.
The show did not do a good job elucidating on these aspects. It got far worse as it went on. The show IS the result of trying to tie a high fantasy ending into this universe. It DOESN'T WORK but that's not obvious because the show was never really in harmony with the tone of the books. The point of the books is that there is no justice, only chance and power...a lesson learned in the war of the roses.
I appreciate his ability and process of writing where he follows the natural creative flow, but he needs to keep mining it until there's a conclusion. Without that diligence, he's useless. He's inept in the sense that he hasn't realized his process requires completing a whole story first then pruning the loose ends afterwards. He can't do that when he's releasing the books before conclusion. This process is stuck, and will NOT resolve.
Blaming his laziness on fascism is an excuse and appeal to the masses like a corporation taking ESG money because they can't stay afloat otherwise. He doesn't really believe that, and we don't need to inject Tolkien into everything.
GRRM tried to inlay fantasy into this period for what ever reasons, perhaps to stand out. I don't think it has to be high fantasy, it's not really. They live in a world that barely has a hold on magic, most don't even believe it. As far as the common man is concerned, it doesn't impact anything until dragons appear and the white walkers actually come. I like this practical yet shocking aspect to the magic. I don't know who started co -opting high fantasy as a label for GoT, but it couldn't be farther from the truth.
Another interesting aspect, the motive of the gods are never really clear. They seem to act more on their own misguided virtues rather than outcomes, like living beings that lack foresight but perhaps just don't value human life. Even the gods are cruel in this universe. That's not unlike a lot of mythology and it lines up with the tone of the books.
The show did not do a good job elucidating on these aspects. It got far worse as it went on. The show IS the result of trying to tie a high fantasy ending into this universe. It DOESN'T WORK but that's not obvious because the show was never really in harmony with the tone of the books. The point of the books is that there is no justice, only chance and power...a lesson learned in the war of the roses.
I appreciate his ability and process of writing where he follows the natural creative flow, but he needs to keep mining it until there's a conclusion. Without that diligence, he's useless. He's inept in the sense that he hasn't realized his process requires completing a whole story first then pruning the loose ends afterwards. He can't do that when he's releasing the books before conclusion. This process is stuck, and will NOT resolve.
Blaming his laziness on fascism is an excuse and appeal to the masses like a corporation taking ESG money because they can't stay afloat otherwise. He doesn't really believe that, and we don't need to inject Tolkien into everything.
