There is a new Q&A with GRRM on nymag.com. Here's a teaser:Some of your hard-core readers, myself included, have spent a lot of time speculating about how many different kinds of magic there are in your world. Or is it all the manifestation of the same mysterious supernatural forces?
That's something I like to reveal little by little.
I can tell you generally that when treating with magic in fantasy, you have to keep it magical. Many fantasy writers work out these detailed systems, and rules, and I think that's a mistake.
For magic to be effective in a literary sense, it has to be unknowable and strange and dangerous, with forces that can't be predicted or controlled. That makes it, I think, much more interesting and evocative. It functions as a symbol or metaphor of all the forces in the universe we don't understand and maybe never will.
Follow this link to read the full interview.
4 commentaires:
It works for his story, but for some stories the rules do need to be defined. I agree with Brandon Sanderson on this one:
http://www.brandonsanderson.com/article/40/Sandersons-First-Law
Kudos for the interview, Pat! Good stuff. How about Bakker's third part, is there gonna be any?
Lots of good stuff here. I like the contrast with Brandon Sanderson when he responds to the magic question. Also some things brought to light that I didn't pick up on while reading.
It's so weird to hear a professional author unabashedly say they haven't worked on the next book in years and have no plans to start for another few months.
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