Many of the world’s most acclaimed authors are opening up about the classic works of literature that helped shape their bestselling novels, offering fresh insights into their creative minds. Now, George R.R. Martin, the author of the iconic A Song of Ice and Fire books, upon which Game of Thrones is based, has revealed his top pick – and it’s an absolute classic.
Throughout much of his career, critics and fans alike have drawn countless parallels between Martin’s fantasy epic and that of J.R.R. Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings series. Tolkein is often heralded as the forerunner of the literary fantasy epic and Martin himself has expressed the deep impact Tolkein’s work had on him as both a writer and a storyteller. “When I started writing Game of Thrones, one of the things I did was to look at Lord of the Rings and see what Tolkien did and tried to take some lessons from it,” he said, according to Winter Is Coming in 2019.
Firstly, there are the obvious similarities – their depictions of fantasy kingdoms, large-winged dragons and dwarves.
“A big lesson was his handling of magic. You know, I think a lot of epic fantasy has too much magic. But Middle-earth is suffused with a sense of magic, it’s always on the peripheral and it’s used to set the stage,” the author continued.
“Gandalf is a wizard, but when Orcs attack, he draws a sword and fights them. He doesn’t just magically disappear them away, like what happens in so many other stories.”
A similar take is clearly seen in Martin’s work, when clearly magical characters, such as Melisandre, a Red Priestess, who is unable to simply wave her hands and kill her enemies.
“I knew I wanted magic in Westeros but to keep it in the background,” Martin continued. “Keep it low-key and mysterious.”
The narrative structure is also very similar. At the beginning of Lord of the Rings, it begins in the small Shire, picking up more people along the way.
“Now if you look at Game of Thrones, everybody except Dany starts out in Winterfell, then certain things drive them apart, and then they’re scattered all over the world,” explained Martin.
Martin is far from the only author to have taken inspiration from authors of the past. Harry Potter author, J.K. Rowling, drew inspiration from folklore, non-fiction and other authors like Roald Dahl and Ursula K. Le Guin, author the Earthsea fantasy series.