Tolkien and George R. Martin

[Pitchwife]

OT excursus -

Originally Posted by Rhugga II

A question this raises for me - is it possible for modern fantasy authors to write a good trilogy or even a decent number of books? I am thinking of Martin, Goodkind, and Jordan and their insanely lengthy works.

You know, it's funny how the trilogy format became so associated with fantasy chiefly because of LotR when Tolkien insisted again & again that LotR isn't a trilogy but a single novel and the decision to publish it in 3 volumes was Allen & Unwin's. There's really no reason why fantasy should be in trilogies rather than single volumes or any other number of books.
That said, the 3-volume novel is an apt format for telling an extensive story while still keeping a sense of focus and purpose - something which many of the moderns seem to be lacking. Unfortunately, I haven't read Martin or Goodkind (yet, although I'm getting really curious 'bout Martin), but Jordan, may he rest in peace, is a specially lamentable example - lamentable because I really liked some of his ideas and can't help feeling that if only he'd cut down on braid-tugging, descriptions of clothing and Aes Sedai intrigues, he might have wrapped up the story several volumes ago.
But yes, it's still possible. If I may flog my personal hobby-horse once again - The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. Eight volumes up to now and aiming for ten, linked by setting and recurring characters and themes, but divided into two 3vn's and a quartet, each with their own well-defined story arc. Sort of a trilogy of trilogies.

The closest I can think is Tad Williams Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn and the third book of that had to be cut in two for the paperback!

Indeed, TW's a good example of how to do it right: detailed and panoramic world-building (including some 'unexplained vistas' of things beyond recorded history and geography), lots of POV characters, but he never loses sight of the story he's telling. He also has some nicely grey characters - most notably Gúthwulf, who is first presented as one of the villains, but becomes more and more likeable later on; even Elias and Ineluki himself have convincing subjective motives for what they're doing (actually, Pryrates may be the only cliché villain in the whole book). His elves (the Sithi) are both Tolkienesquely lovely, noble and faerish (for lack of a better adjective) and at the same time slightly eerie and clearly non-human.
And you can tell he's a sincere Tolkien fan, as he's paid homage to the Prof in several ways: the first thing that comes to mind is the Erkynlanders with their Anglo-Saxon names, but there's also the term 'white-foxes' for the Norns, which (for me at least) clearly echoes Tolkien's 'white-fiends' (Easterling name for the Elves in the Narn). A few years ago I had the luck to be present at a reading of his where, asked about his favourite scene from LotR, he answered, after very little hesitation: 'Horns, horns, horns. Great horns of the North. Rohan had come at last.' Can't find fault with that!

EDIT: P.S. Welcome to the Downs, Rhugga, and enjoy being dead! You've made some interesting posts so far, and I hope we'll see more of you!