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Blurbs are not generally very original in their comparisons - would kind of defeat their purpose. Legolas Send a noteboard - 09/12/2011 10:42:17 PM
I think we are at least 2 generations removed from Tolkien. I can't tell you how irritating it is to pick up a book and see a blurb about how the author is a modern Tolkien. I'm sorry, but I didn't grow up on Tolkien. I grew up on Jordan, Weis and Hickman, Salvatore, even Martin. There is a whole new slew of great authors, like Abercrombie, Sanderson, Butcher, Rothfuss, Erikson. Tolkien was the pretty much the first to set the stage for modern fantasy. That's it. Stop treating the guy like he's still relevant. Because, personally, I found Lord of the Rings to be almost unreadable. It makes for a good sleep aid, though.

After all, the point of a blurb is that they want to attract your attention and make you ultimately buy the book with just a handful of words. So it's not really the place to look for intelligent comparisons.

On the other hand, precisely that might be a reason to, as you say, name Jordan or Martin rather than Tolkien. But then, that does happen often enough... I've read very little fantasy of the last five or so years, but I do recall seeing several fantasy books that had praise from Jordan and Erikson in their blurbs at least.

Of course, Tolkien is still extremely relevant, even without the movies, but I agree that it's silly to compare every fantasy author to him - especially the ones who don't reach to his ankles. Martin certainly does, but as others have noted above, his similarity to Tolkien is mostly limited to the genre.
Face it people, it's time to start comparing these new authors to Jordan, maybe even Martin. Tolkien is like 60+ years ago. Do authors still get compared to Homer? The state of fantasy right now is light years past what Tolkien came up with. I partially blame Peter Jackson, of course. What he did with that material was freaking brilliant. It made Lord of the Rings relevant again. So, of course, all credit goes back to Tolkien now. But if I ever became a writer, I would credit Jordan, et al. and never mention Tolkien. That time is done. It's over. Move on. Jordan and Martin are the standards now.

Of course Tolkien will always be the godfather of the genre - without him there's no Jordan or Martin. There are others who have made great contributions to the originality of the genre, too, though I haven't really read many of those and so won't try naming names. But fair enough, one credits the writers who were a direct influence on one's writing, there's no point in trying to go back up all the chain to the "original" influence, or else people would be crediting nobody but Homer.

I'm afraid it will still take a few generations before Tolkien ceased to be mentioned so often, though - and even then, it would require new authors standing up to replace him. With all due respect to the authors of the main epic fantasies of today, many of whose books I loved, I can't see any of them being big names still sixty years hence.
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Aren't the Tolkien comparisons getting a little...old? - 09/12/2011 09:51:39 PM 2863 Views
The comparison bothers me, but not because Tolkien isn't relevant. - 09/12/2011 10:05:22 PM 1729 Views
I agree with this. - 09/12/2011 10:21:34 PM 1760 Views
Re: I agree with this. - 10/12/2011 07:09:33 PM 1693 Views
Exactly *NM* - 12/12/2011 12:09:19 PM 861 Views
Only when shit works are being compared to him - 09/12/2011 10:22:26 PM 1621 Views
Larry, - 10/12/2011 01:13:18 AM 1636 Views
Snide dismissal that will be passed off as for his own entertainment. - 10/12/2011 04:55:43 AM 1551 Views
We get a lot of that around here. *NM* - 10/12/2011 05:18:01 AM 645 Views
makes me wonder... - 10/12/2011 04:37:33 PM 1537 Views
Re: makes me wonder... - 11/12/2011 03:03:15 AM 1501 Views
Well-deserved condescension. - 11/12/2011 03:54:27 AM 1672 Views
You're sure about that? - 11/12/2011 04:20:26 AM 1893 Views
Re: You're sure about that? - 11/12/2011 05:25:08 AM 1622 Views
Re: You're sure about that? - 11/12/2011 06:03:02 AM 1484 Views
i think you shouldn't judge a whole world's school programs on your school - 11/12/2011 06:42:30 AM 1537 Views
Yeah, I'm limited in my knowledge, lol - 11/12/2011 08:03:26 AM 1550 Views
My school was...not great. - 11/12/2011 04:02:36 PM 1575 Views
I'm 24. - 11/12/2011 03:49:06 PM 1491 Views
If you're arguing that children should be able to read genre fiction, fine. - 11/12/2011 08:52:27 PM 1419 Views
Well, I suppose it depends on the type of genre being read - 11/12/2011 09:36:16 PM 1651 Views
How often do you hear the challenging writers mentioned at this site? - 12/12/2011 02:03:05 PM 1390 Views
Only when you, me, and a couple others write reviews - 12/12/2011 04:21:14 PM 1794 Views
Oh, it was the same as it always is - 12/12/2011 05:23:56 PM 1502 Views
True - 12/12/2011 06:29:10 PM 1591 Views
One note - 13/12/2011 12:17:48 AM 1595 Views
Perhaps - 13/12/2011 12:49:34 AM 1531 Views
*Sighs* Such is the plight of those shining few intelects... - 23/12/2011 01:15:47 AM 1578 Views
Much of the actual "Classics", that is, Greek and Latin originals, kids would eat up. - 12/12/2011 03:13:03 AM 1403 Views
Try teaching Apuleius in schools... *NM* - 12/12/2011 04:12:49 AM 764 Views
Plato is exciting, brutal and scandalous? - 12/12/2011 09:59:13 PM 1467 Views
You're upfront and honest about it; he isn't. The difference matters to me. *NM* - 11/12/2011 05:18:42 AM 813 Views
Uhh...uh... - 11/12/2011 05:34:23 AM 1503 Views
this is a bit off topic, but out of curiousity... - 11/12/2011 06:28:35 AM 1611 Views
There are no special snowflakes, are there? - 11/12/2011 09:39:21 PM 1418 Views
There are many way of widening one's horizons and broadening one's mind. - 11/12/2011 10:08:24 PM 1178 Views
I said as much in my comment - 11/12/2011 10:20:03 PM 1446 Views
What I don't like- - 12/12/2011 04:28:55 AM 1533 Views
Why don't you name something, then? - 12/12/2011 04:40:29 AM 1484 Views
Sure. - 13/12/2011 07:30:56 AM 1312 Views
Mentioning Ender's Game pretty much shot your argument in the foot. - 13/12/2011 02:02:59 PM 1423 Views
You dismiss the entire video game medium because many games lack value. - 13/12/2011 03:59:11 PM 1568 Views
You're like the McDonald's paid advocate trying to say Big Macs are actually healthy. - 13/12/2011 05:46:37 PM 1374 Views
McDonalds food is inherently unhealthy. - 13/12/2011 06:02:18 PM 1516 Views
For the sake of argument ... - 13/12/2011 04:09:51 PM 1418 Views
Stephenson is not literature, that's for damn sure. - 13/12/2011 05:49:24 PM 1366 Views
Thank you, The Voice of Lews Therin. *NM* - 16/12/2011 05:14:42 AM 830 Views
I'll leave it up to others to define as they wish against their self-conceptions of me - 10/12/2011 10:52:54 AM 1529 Views
that's alright. I really have no desire to stroke your twit-ego. *NM* - 10/12/2011 04:36:56 PM 623 Views
Considering the firestorm I appear to have touched off, that may be best. - 12/12/2011 12:57:49 PM 1515 Views
I know, John - 12/12/2011 04:27:04 PM 1406 Views
Re: I know, John - 12/12/2011 05:06:26 PM 1468 Views
As I've said in the past, I'd be scared if anyone agreed with me anywhere approaching 100% - 12/12/2011 06:33:52 PM 1402 Views
Re: As I've said in the past, I'd be scared if anyone agreed with me anywhere approaching 100% - 12/12/2011 07:13:37 PM 1480 Views
Same guy - 12/12/2011 07:26:13 PM 1526 Views
Ha! Excellent point. *NM* - 11/12/2011 03:44:52 AM 750 Views
Blurbs are not generally very original in their comparisons - would kind of defeat their purpose. - 09/12/2011 10:42:17 PM 1506 Views
I have to agree. - 09/12/2011 10:54:06 PM 1520 Views
They're there for marketing - 10/12/2011 12:20:17 AM 1506 Views
Most of those comparisons are like that anyway - 10/12/2011 05:32:45 PM 1638 Views
Maybe if so much of the genre weren't crap derivative works it wouldn't be so common. *NM* - 11/12/2011 03:44:24 AM 745 Views
To be fair, a lot of it isn't. - 11/12/2011 04:06:07 AM 1455 Views
I suspect that if it really isn't derivative it's not being compared to Tolkien in the first place. - 11/12/2011 04:18:57 AM 1387 Views
That's true. - 11/12/2011 11:08:01 AM 1376 Views
Maybe they mean something else by using his name. - 11/12/2011 03:50:15 AM 1460 Views
When they don't work, yes. - 11/12/2011 03:18:44 PM 1462 Views
The Tolkien fanaticism gets old. And yes, for me it is unreadable. - 11/12/2011 11:37:53 PM 1446 Views
Yes *NM* - 22/12/2011 07:08:38 PM 864 Views

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