They're calling George R.R. Martin "better than Tolkien." Really?
Sometimes it鈥檚 hard for the classics to compete in popularity games decades after their publishing dates. When I see the fighting words dubbing George R.R. Martin or even , I wonder how Martin would hold up going head-to-head 鈥� particularly if HBO's 鈥�Game of Thrones鈥� series wasn鈥檛 drawing extra attention to his books.
But movie director Peter Jackson may help to boost Tolkien鈥檚 side in that battle. Jackson made last week, partly to talk about an upcoming "Tintin" adaptation, but also to offer a short update on his upcoming two-film adaptation of Tolkien鈥檚 鈥�The Hobbit,鈥� the precursor to 鈥�The Lord of the Rings,鈥� thrilling the convention's 6,000 attendees to the core.
(It was a particular thrill for hardcore fans, as Jackson had that he wouldn鈥檛 be at the big-time con. But then, hardcore fans have already been tracking the film on the Facebook page and on the film鈥檚 blog, which recently revealed a picture of Thorin Oakenshield and his .)
Jackson told the crowd that he鈥檚 on a break after finishing the first 60 days of shooting for "The Hobbit," and that he has about 200 days left, according to . He also said he鈥檚 enjoying the shoot more than he expected after a similar long shoot for 鈥淭he Lord of The Rings."
The first Hobbit film is . We鈥檒l see whether it tips the popularity scales back in Tolkien's direction. But it's interesting to remember that 鈥淭he Lord of the Rings鈥� wasn鈥檛 an instant success when it was first published. We may need to wait a few decades more to see how Martin and Tolkien fare in a matchup for posterity.
Seattle writer Rebekah Denn blogs at
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