Martin and Me
Inevitably, there have been comparisons
of my “Donzalo’s Destiny” books to the “A Song of Fire and
Ice” series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin. This, I
understand, but I have gone out of my way to not read any of Martin’s
books nor watch the television series based on them. And I’ve been
working on the Donzalo saga for quite a while anyway — I wrote the
first draft of the first novella somewhere around fifteen years ago.
The actual world in which it is set, however, goes back quite a bit
further.
Martin seems to have used the War of
the Roses as a partial template for his novels and I will admit to
drawing inspiration from the Thirty Years War myself (or, more
properly, the century that led up to it). I have also most certainly
drawn inspiration from every author I’ve ever read but I would have
to say the influences of Michael Moorcock and Roger Zelazny seem the
most obvious.
Indeed, Moorcock’s ‘The Warhound
and the World’s Pain’ is a pretty direct influence, being set in
a similar place and time. And my voice, I think, is much more similar
to the two authors I have named here — or so I would hope!
Anyway, there was a new chapter from
Martin’s saga posted online this morning so I decided it was,
perhaps, time to check out his work. I found it clumsily wordy and
plodding and not at all my cup of fiction. The novels, I think, will
remain unread.
Which is just as well. When there are
so many extraordinary authors of fantasy from the past to whom I can
look – Tolkien and Cabell and Dunsany and even E.R. Burroughs – I
most certainly don’t need Martin.
I have started, after a short hiatus to
clear my mind, to write on the third Donzalo book, tentatively titled
‘The Sign of the Arrow.’ I really should be on other projects
(such as some much-postponed illustrated work) but young Donzalo and
his large supporting cast are pushing their way to the front once
more. We shall see if I keep at it!
Incidentally, my Donzalo ebooks have not yet shown up at Kobo or Amazon but remain available at iBooks and Barnes & Noble, along with some of my other titles. Just search for Stephen Brooke. And, of course, they are also at arachispress.com.
Incidentally, my Donzalo ebooks have not yet shown up at Kobo or Amazon but remain available at iBooks and Barnes & Noble, along with some of my other titles. Just search for Stephen Brooke. And, of course, they are also at arachispress.com.
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