Dance Interview: Lev Grossman On George R. R. Martin

Lev Grossman has dream jobs. Plural.

During the day, he is the book critic for Time Magazine.

At night, he is a novelist, whose second fantasy book, The Magician King, will be published next month.

To say he is an avid fan of the book industry and the fantasy genre in particular would be understatement. He’s also one of the smartest men I’ve met, with a cool, critical eye and calming demeanor. He is also one of the people who received an early advance copy of A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin and that alone makes him the envy of the universe. Accordingly, he wrote his review and it has been posted HERE. To say he loved the book would also be an understatement. But I thought it would be fun to dig a bit deeper with Lev about his reading experience with A Dance With Dragons.

Here is a spoiler-free interview with author Lev Grossman:

DANCE INTERVIEW: LEV GROSSMAN ON GEORGE R. R. MARTIN

Shawn Speakman: Lev, as a book critic for Time Magazine, you have the opportunity of reading many books early. You did so with A DANCE WITH DRAGONS. What is it like to be Lev Grossman – book critic? And how did it feel when you opened the box containing A DANCE WITH DRAGONS?

Lev Grossman: The second question’s easier. It felt like you’d think it would feel — fantastic. Like you’re getting away with something. I believe I said ‘holy shit!’ so loudly, the whole office turned around.

Actually the answer to the first question is the same: like I’m getting away with something. Everybody has opinions about books. Why should I get paid to have them? There’s no good answer to that.

SS: You have read an early copy of A DANCE WITH DRAGONS and already posted your review. Where would you place it in the hierarchy of the Ice & Fire series?

LG: Honestly? I put it first. I think A GAME OF THRONES is as good in many ways, but back then Martin was still revving up. He had a lot of exposition to do. Here he’s at cruising speed, and the throttle is wide open. STORM OF SWORDS is close, but there’s something different about his writing in A DANCE WITH DRAGONS, in a good way. Maybe it’s just because he took so long with it. Read the prologue, which is from the point of view of a very minor character, Varamyr Sixskins, a wildling skinchanger. It’s beautiful. It’s practically a prose poem — Browning could have written it. It has a lyrical power I’ve never seen from Martin before. For me that puts DANCE over the top.

SS: Most fans have a favorite character, one they can’t wait to read. Who is that character for you and why?

LG: Everyboy in unison: Tyrion! But since he’s everyone’s favorite, I’ll give my second favorite, which is Ser Barristan Selmy, who guards Daenerys. He’s this dignified old knight who every day wakes up shaking his head at what a strange hand fate has dealt him, but he never wavers in his loyalty. He keeps his principles about him, and never swerves, even though it’s his principles that have brought him all the way across the sea and into the service of this hot, feral dragon-princess. There’s immense pathos to him.

Also even though he’s old, he gets to be a badass in DANCE.

SS: Do you think fans are going to love A DANCE WITH DRAGONS? If so, why?

LG: I do. You couldn’t call it fan service, but it’s what we’ve been waiting for: we’re back to Jon Snow, Daenerys, Tyrion, the big pieces in the chess match. And it’s Martin doing what he does best, which is playing the part of fate and playing it cruelly. You could imagine him being tempted to go soft, to stack the deck in favor of his favorites, but he’ll never do it. He’s too disciplined a writer for that.

SS: Switching gears. Your forthcoming novel, THE MAGICIAN KING, is publishing on August 9th. I am giving you a box to stand upon: Convince the George R. R. Martin fans reading this interview why they should read THE MAGICIANS and soon THE MAGICIAN KING?

LG: Oof. That’s a big box. OK, climbing up.

So you could divide fantasy, loosely, into two big schools, the epic Tolkien school and the softer, magical-escape C.S. Lewis school. Most writers who do fantasy that is straight-up for adults work the Tolkien side of the street. They add in the harsh, gritty things Tolkien left out: sex, bad language, boredom, depression, even-more-graphic violence, a million shades of moral ambiguity. They make it all feel absolutely real to a more modern, jaded audience than Tolkien wrote for. That’s what Martin does. Nobody does it better.

I do the same thing, or I try, but I do it on the C.S. Lewis/Harry Potter side of the street. What would it really be like to be a young person discovering your own power at a secret school for magic? It would be magical, but it would also be like a real school. There would be sex — not just snogging, actual sex. There would be alcohol, drugs, bad language, boredom, confusion, complicated relationships — it would be more like Salinger, or Donna Tartt. If you really gave teenagers magic, they would do terrible things to each other. And then they’d graduate, and with no Sauron or Voldemort or White Witch to fight, they’d have to decide how to live their lives and not get bored. And they would make very, very bad decisions. They would get themselves into a world of problems. Though they definitely wouldn’t be bored.

There you have it, from a tough book critic. Thanks to Lev Grossman for making these answers happen! Definitely visit his website (www.levgrossman.com) to learn more about his own work.

And let’s not forget. Winter is coming…

… it’s less than two days away!