ABSTRACT
More innovative, particularly in a post-Tolkienian context, is the muck in which Grossman states the game of thrones is being conducted. George R. R. Martin’s innumerable references to dirt and ordure are not merely gestures towards realism. Martin’s ironic modality demonstrates why his novels feel so different from J. R. R. Tolkien’s despite sharing a fundamental concern for the moral unpredictability of humanity. An equivalency between writers is only useful insofar as it illustrates something further about one or another of the authors in question. With that point in mind, however, it is interesting to observe the remarkable parallels between Martin and Terry Pratchett. Pratchett invests considerable creativity pouring affectionate scorn on the excesses of Frye’s higher modes, often by having his loftier characters overlook simple practicalities: The air took on a thick, greasy feel, and the deep shadows around Mort became edged with blue and purple rainbows.
