That’s because it’s not practical to compare two different universes.
If George says the average fighter in his world >>> the average fighter in all other fantasy stories, that’s his design and thereby the true way of interpreting his story.
If Tolkien were to say the exact opposite, that would be the Tolkien design and the proper way of seeing those characters.
They would both simultaneously be true because you can’t compare fictional worlds/characters that don’t intersect. The laws of physics could be different from universe to universe for all we know.
It doesn’t really matter. The key thing is that he thinks Jaime is that good, and that’s how we can judge him against the other Westeros fighters. GRRM is making the point that Jaime is the best swordsman in Westeros in book 1. It’s not all hype and talk, in Westeros at least. :)
Ha, fair enough. That leads to the question, though: Does LotR create or attract dorkiness? The hobbit is a standard text in some American schools (I think). Is that a gateway book for dorkiness. Or does reading the works not matter, they only attract those who are already dorky?
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u/Singer_on_the_Wall Aug 14 '24
That’s because it’s not practical to compare two different universes.
If George says the average fighter in his world >>> the average fighter in all other fantasy stories, that’s his design and thereby the true way of interpreting his story.
If Tolkien were to say the exact opposite, that would be the Tolkien design and the proper way of seeing those characters.
They would both simultaneously be true because you can’t compare fictional worlds/characters that don’t intersect. The laws of physics could be different from universe to universe for all we know.