"Oh, You're One of Those"

Yesterday was a big day for the fantasy world. George Rex Rufus Martin's fifth installment of his series A Song of Ice and Fire hit bookstore shelves. If you're not familiar with the series by name you've probably heard of HBO's new series Game of Thrones, which is based on the series of books, and took it's name from the first novel in the series. We, in the fantasy world, have been waiting on A Dance With Dragons for six years. It's been eleven years since we've read from the perspective of Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, and Daenerys Targaryen. Outside of the fantasy genre you don't have authors that write stories in a series. Fans of other genres can't understand or really sympathize with fantasy fans. Authors of other genres most often write stand alone novels, and sometimes write stories focused on characters from another book. The only writer I can think of who's written a sprawling series, and has taken years between books is Stephen King. Between certain books of The Dark Tower series there were six year gaps. Waiting that long to continue the journey with characters you've been relationship with creates anticipation and excitement. It can also be frustrating and saddening at times. The best you can do is re-read the previous novels. The worst you can do is lose hope in the writer, and quit reading the series altogether.

If you've never read George R.R. Martin you have neglected one of the most brilliant writers of our time. Notice that I did not say one of the most brilliant fantasy writers of our time. G.R.R Martin is such a fantastic writer that the New York Times dubbed him many years ago, "The American Tolkien." Personally, I've never been a big fan of Tolkien. Tolkien was an awesome world-builder, wrote beautiful prose, but told boring stories. Now, not everyone feels that way. That's just me talking. The Hobbit is one of my favorite books. It's one of the first fantasy novels I ever read. I have re-read it at least three times. One day when I have children I plan for it to be one of the first books I ever read to them. However, I read The Lord of the Rings trilogy once and vowed to never read it again. It weren't my cup o' tea. Coming back to my point. To only dub Martin as "The American Tolkien" is an injustice:

First, A Song of Ice and Fire and The Lord of the Rings are two different beasts. LOTR is a traditional hero's journey, and probably the prime example of such. Ice and Fire is a complicated story, the world of Westeros is much more brutal than Middle-Earth, it includes thousands of characters, and the most shocking plot twists ever written on the page.

Second, Martin and Tolkien are two different writers, from two different time periods, telling very different stories. As I said, Tolkien was a great world builder but wasn't the best story-teller. Martin has built an interesting world and is telling an engrossing story. Not only is Martin a great story-teller but he's a wonderful writer. I love his prose, his description, his language, and dialogue. He's the best example of fantasy done right.

This brings me to the point of my post. It bothers me that so many people, from the general public to the literary snobs, are so willing to turn their nose to the Science Fiction and Fantasy genre. Now, the general public is much more accepting of the SF&F genre. Literary snobs looks upon it with disdain. The New York Times said this about Martin:

Martin will never win a Pulitzer or a National Book Award, but his skill as a crafter of narrative exceeds that of almost any literary novelist writing today. Throughout the book I was reminded of Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad (which did win a Pulitzer), as well as Anthony Powell's (similarly floridly titled) A Dance to the Music of Time. But even Powell can't twist a plot like Martin. A Dance with Dragons is a big book, topping out at 1,016 pages, but it turns on a dime. Reading a novel is a little like commanding a battle: you're always reconnoitering, trying to guess where the author will go next, what's a feint and where the action is really heading. I don't know when I have ever been as comprehensively and pleasurably outgeneraled as I am when I read Martin. He raises and raises the stakes, long past when any other writer would have walked away from the table, and just when you think he's done, he goes all in. There is, apparently, no piece he will not sacrifice, no character that you (and one suspects, he) love so much that he will not orchestrate that character's doom.

If there's any fantasy novel that would be worthy of the Pulitzer it would be A Game of Thrones or even A Storm of Swords. G.R.R Martin has never said that he wrote the first novel to be reflective of our political landscape. He wrote the book all through the early 90's and A Game of Thrones was released in 1996, the book was written many years before much of what has happened in our government recently, but the situations of the book are so applicable. Of course, A Game of Thrones is loosely based around The War of the Roses.

The sad thing is this: George Martin will never be considered for a Pulitzer Prize or a National Book Award because of the genre he writes in.

Everyone where I work pretty much know that I write, and am aspiring to be a published author. I recently had a conversation with a co-worker that went something like this:

"What kind of novel are you writing?"

"A fantasy."

"Are there people?"

"Yes, but in a fantasy world. On a different planet."

"Oh . . . you're one of those."

With those words my co-worker turned and walked away. I've never really taken any flack for wanting to become a published author. I do, however, get made fun of a good deal for being an avid fantasy reader. It doesn't really bother me. Most people make their comments in good humor, and I can always remind them that geeks rule the world. Other people aren't so good natured. It's something that every fantasy fan and author has to deal with. You can be considered literary because you're not telling stories with that aren't taking place in the "real world," or fantasy authors are good story-tellers but not good writers. The latter comment really irks the shit out of me.

Reading George Martin's writing amazes me how true to life his characters behave. One of the frustrating things about the fantasy genre is that your heroes are honorable and good and the villains are evil and despicable. Basically the world's are black and white and most fantasy was written as such until Martin came along. Westeros is a world of gray. There is no black and white and no character is truly honorable. Eddard Stark does his best to remain honorable in all his decisions, but even his honor causes him to make mistakes. Martin's characters are selfish and they look out for their own tail's. They all want to sit upon, or have a piece of, the Iron Thrones. Whatever it takes to claim that seat let all others be damned. If Martin's story didn't take place in an imaginative world, have occurrences of magic, and allow the existence of fantastic creatures he'd probably be classified as Historical Thriller. His story is that true to life.

One of the worst blanket statements applied to fantasy writers/authors is that they're bad writers. When people make this statement I want to ask them if they've ever read China Mieville, Patrick Rothfuss, Neil Gaiman, or Ursula K. Le Guin (for God's sake!). They haven't and they can continue to make their blanket statement because you'll never see a fantasy writer's name included in a list with: Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Steinbeck, Leo Tolstoy, James Joyce, et cetera et cetera. The thing is that some of the best writing I've ever read was written by fantasy writers. Of course I'm biased, but until you read Ursula K. Le Guin you can take your blanket statements and burn them. The lady is scary brilliant and writes words so tasty you want to lick them off of the page.

A Song of Ice and Fire is said to be the fantasy series for people who hate fantasy. I have a friend who wouldn't read any of the fantasy novels I recommended to him. Then one day I pressured him into reading A Game of Thrones. He checked it out and read it at break neck speed. As soon as he finished Thrones he moved on to A Clash of Kings. One day I asked him if Martin changed his opinion about fantasy and he told me while reading these books he was reminded of why he loved fantasy so much as a kid, and if I could recommend fantasy writers as good as Martin he'd be a lifetime fantasy reader. It's a good thing I've spend the better part of 26 years reading nothing but fantasy. Ha!

There are great fantasy writers out there. There are fantasy writers who stand toe to toe with the literary greats. There are fantasy writers who behead the literary greats with the ink of their pen. Will the Science Fiction and Fantasy genre ever have the respect of the literary snobs? No, but it doesn't really matter. I don't think the literary snobs respect a whole lot besides the writers they run in circles with (sniffing one another's butts). The most profitable writer in history is a fantasy writer. Of your Top 25 all time domesting grossing movies 22 of them are either Science Fiction or Fantasy movies. Money's not everything. Check out any Hugo or Nebula award winning Science Fiction and Fantasy author and you will find some of the best writing you've been exposed to.

ADDENDUM: Until you've read Gene Wolfe (!!!) you cannot make the statement that Science Fiction and Fantasy authors are not great writers. Michael Swanwick said of Gene Wolfe, "But among living writers, there is nobody who can even approach Gene Wolfe for brilliance of prose, clarity of thought, and depth in meaning." There is no one as skillful with the unreliable narrator as Gene Wolfe. He must be read.