JRR Tolkien, George RR Martin, and writing morally dubious characters

From Reading Tolkien by Benjamin Bassett

May 8, 2022 · 2h 7m · Season 2 · Episode 5

About this episode

The episode discusses the portrayal of morally dubious characters in the works of JRR Tolkien and George RR Martin, comparing their approaches and biases.

In this episode Sridhar and I discuss the upcoming Amazon show, Rings of Power , and the prequel to Game of Thrones - House of the Dragon . The discussion turns to the variant means by which Tolkien and Martin approach morally dubious characters like Gollum, or the Lannisters. Both of us are unrepentent in our bias to Tolkien, and I frequently argue that much of what is said to constitute Martin' s genius is done better elsewhere, and frequently with much greater nuance. So, if you're a Martin fan, you will probably find a lot here to argue with.

People in this episode

Host: Benjamin Bassett

Guest: Sridhar

Topics covered

morally dubious characters
Tolkien vs Martin
Rings of Power
House of the Dragon
character analysis
fantasy literature

Keywords

Tolkien
Martin
Gollum
Lannisters
fantasy
character development
Rings of Power
House of the Dragon

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Rings of Power, House of the Dragon