First is mainstream novel which is often compared with the Blade and magic fantasy. It always concentrates on a high or great war. Being different from the personal adventures it often involves the political rivalry, war between the kingdoms and the destination of the world. It often uses a paint realistically way to make the environment to be real and history. The Lord of the Rings by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien and Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan are other masterpieces.论文网

Second is called Blade and magic fantasy. For example if we call the mainstream fantasy as an epic movie while the Blade and magic fantasy will be a acting movie. This kind of novel always concentrates on a personal adventure. Its view often follows just one person so it has a bright story full of surprises. The outstanding writer is Robert .E. Sward who wrote Conan. And Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth is another famous novel of this kind.

Third is dark fantasy which has a great level of horror and creepy stories. There are two kinds of dark fantasy. First one is more like a horror novel .The other one is building an atmosphere of depression and dark. The rebellion heroes often appear in the dark fantasy, that is often described as a weak mind crowd and ugly standing against the human beings. StephenKing’s Dark Tower，Michael Moorcock’ Winer Forever is a famous novel among of this kind.

Forth is history fantasy. Unlike the others, the writer uses a real piece of historical time and environment, mainly the middle age. The Celtic Druid and Viking are the most popular materials. The north European myth and the folk legend is often used in this fantasy, like Alice Borchardt’s Silver Wolf, Marion Eleanor Zimmer Bradle’s the Frog of Awalon. 

Fifth is modern fantasy. This kind of fantasy always set on our modern world. Like Newyork in 1995. The modern fantasy always weaves the real world and fantasy world .The magic seems unimportant in this kind, like Harry Potter.

Sixth is entertainment fantasy. It often contains bright and humorous adventure Terry Pratchett’s The World of Darkdisk and Piers Anthony’s Xanth belong to this kind.

Seventh is fantasy especially for children and kids. Philip Pullman’s Dark Material, Ursula LeGuin’s The Earthsea Trilogy, PeterBeagle’s The Last Unicorn, Garth Nix’s Sabriel, Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles, Clive S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia belong to this kind of fantasy.

1.2 Background and Speciality of A Song of Ice and Fire

A song of ice and fire is a series of epic fancy novel written by George R.R. Martin. It describes an imaginary Middle Ages land. The series is told in the third person by point of view characters, whose number reaches 31 by the fifth novel. Drawing inspiration from historical events such as the English period of the Wars of the Roses, Martin defied the conventions of the high fantasy. The story was adapted to a TV series which had a very big amount of audiences.文献综述

Here is brief plot introduction of this novel.

After the 283 years Targaryen domination in Westeros, Aerys II Targaryen make the kingdom into an unprecedented civil war. The rebellion was lead by the lord of Storm's End - Robert Baratheon and the warden of the north Ed stark, and their adoptive father - east border guard Jon Arryn. Robert ended the 283 years Targaryen domination, seized  the iron throne which is the symbol of throne, became Robert I. With interlocking plot line of advance, the westeros and eastern land will be involved in the currents of fate. 

A song of ice and fire belongs to the first kind-epic fantasy. It builds on a fiction world. This world can explain by themselves, with a slight difference from real world. The very core of it is the world and its story. The structure is huge. History, heroes, myth, and magic are weaved together to show a glorious half-real half- fiction world. The readers may think this book is more like a historical novel. Another interesting part is that the inevitable element in fantasy literature – magic. Martin follows Tolkien's way and uses it very cautiously. He pays much attention on the mystery. Readers may remember, The Lord of the Rings is a typical fantasy series, and it has a large number of gods and supernatural phenomenon, even the great wizard Gandalf. Tolkien showed little close detail of magic itself. Martin has said “magical elements like condiment, it can highlight the fantasy atmosphere, the abuse will be spoil it.” Under the guidance of this thought, compared with the countless fireball , A song of ice and fire is very subtle and mysterious.  来.自/优尔论|文-网www.youerw.com/