Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

J. R. R. Tolkien labored at his mythology for a majority of his adult life, from the trenches of World War I until his death. He mostly thought it unpublishable. He was interested in the great histories, in the sweeping sagas, in the stories that were written not as modern novels, but as texts that might have jumped straight out of the world he created. Some of Tolkien's mythological material made it into 'The Lord of the Rings.' Much of it did not. He wanted to publish the histories--the Silmarillion saga--alongside the books we all know today, but the publishers turned him down repeatedly. He died without seeing any of that work published, and when his son Christopher tried to make one cohesive text from the massive amounts of material, much of it was bastardized. Only later did Christopher edit and release over a dozen volumes of original texts, showing us a bit more of the scope of the history Tolkien had imagined. Why am I telling you this about Tolkien in a review for GRR Martin? This should seem fairly obvious by now: GRR Martin has the same longing Tolkien did. He has the same love of the grand, sweeping historical epic. So far he has been giving us his 'Lord of the Rings,' his drama of the minutiae, but in the process he got caught up in the grand and glorious visions of the Targaryens, just as Tolkien was swept up into the glories of the First Age. It’s no mistake this book is being called the “GRRMillion.” Martin's popularity is granting him a chance that Tolkien unfortunately never had in his lifetime: To create his myth IN FULL. To give us the grand sweep of things in the greater world, beyond just the characters we know and love in 'A Song of Ice and Fire.' Please accept this book for what it is, rather than complaining about what it does not aim to be. And what exactly is it? An artefact from Westeros. It should be read not as a book Martin wrote, but one he transcribed, from the original text by Archmaester Gyldayn. It will require some work on the part of the reader. The lines have been drawn, and we are being asked to fill in the colors with our imaginations. This participatory reading is what can make history so engaging—it takes work, but the work pays off. We have two choices: We can claw after the next GoT book, complaining that the author hasn’t yet met our demands. Or we can allow the author a chance to fill out his universe. For my part, this stuff is more exciting than the series proper. We get to see the bigger picture that all of the Song of Ice and Fire is a part of. If you don't want this sort of thing, simply move on rather than ruining the experience for others. I remember what it felt like to sit down one day as a boy and open 'The Silmarillion.' I was holding the Bible of the Elves. It was a piece of that world. It was a text that might have been read by a scholar in Minas Tirith. It was magic. Martin has the chance to give us this now. Imagine being Samwell Tarly, sitting in the Citadel's library, opening up this ponderous and magical tome about the history of the Targaryens for the first time. Why now, though? Why not wait until he's finished telling the main story? For my part, I'd rather follow the passion of a writer than get mediocre work demanded by fans. Martin created this universe for us; let him follow his vision for how it should proceed. He was caught up in the glorious history of his universe as he was telling his story, and he wants us to have it in all of its rich complexity. I can only wish that Tolkien had had the same opportunity in his lifetime. We only see fragments of what that might have been. But Martin is giving us his own great mythology, in his own lifetime, whole and complete; and I am a boy again with wonder. This, my friends, is going to be a feast.