My latest post at the Catholic Sistas blog examines a disturbing trend in the fantasy genre of books:
This isn’t the first series to try to go this route. The first fantasy series that I ever stopped reading, mid-book, was Terry Goodkind’s Wizards First Rule. It starts with some semi-promising characters and story ideas before devolving into sadistic sexual acts. No thanks.
Read the rest here. And for some hope, check out this promising new fantasy novel by Russ Rentler’s nephew.
Hey Devin!
I read your post earlier. While you’re right in that there is a lot of graphic sex in those books (and I’ve read all of them), I think it deserves to be pointed out that there are a number of instances in which the sexual acts aren’t meant to be seen as good. Just like in real life, sex in these books is also used as a way to dominate over another person (usually, a man over a woman) and serve as another example of just how harsh the reality Martin built really is.
To be sure, some of it is unnecessary, but some of it does serve another purpose.
Amy discovered George MacDonald, and she’s reading the Princess and the Goblin to our daughter. It’s fun so far!
I find George “R.R.” Martin frustrating. Ever heard of J. “R. R.” Tolkien? Gee I wonder where he stole his R. R. from.
I listened to all the audio of his books, and he is no Tolkien. It is sad because he has a lot of potential and good ideas, but he squanders them with graphic sex and violence and depraved people. He builds a nice house and then lets his dog pee in it.
Tolkien had no lack whatsoever for frighteningly evil characters. In fact, he outdid Martin exponentially in his evil characters. Nothing in Martin rivals Sauron or the ringwraiths or the Nazgul (shiver). So anyone who says he needs to describe these depraved acts graphically in order to be realistic is out to lunch! I think he describes them because he hates God and is simply a dirty old man. Period. To some writers, showing man at his worst is their way of commenting on God. I strongly believe this is Martins view.
Where Tolkien shows the contrast between good and evil as a yawning gulf, with some people perhaps going back and forth, Martin has no contrast. There is only a swirling grey hippie boringness to his portrayal of good and evil. He does show good, and these are the charachters I like, but it is clear to the reader that these good charachters are not necessarily who we are supposed to identify with.
But I am a hipocrite, because I watch Game of Thrones. I try to fast forward the crud, but I love the fantasy genre so much I just have to watch. I wish it could be “Mormonized” and have a lot of the junk removed. With selective panning and scanning, deleting sex scenes and muting language, it could be a halfway good show compared to much of what passes for entertainment.
What’s wrong with Sully-ing? It’s a good name!
Hey Devin. I responded to your main post over at Catholic Sistas, but I just wanted to thank you for mentioning my book, and I really hope you enjoy it!
-Rob
Rob, great to hear from you! I am enjoying the book and will write a review for it on my blog and on amazon. You have inspired me to want to write fiction, too.