《冰与火之歌 权力的游戏》

奇幻小说就像一张通向魔法世界的门票。J•R•R•托尔金的《指环王》让我们目睹了矮人族、精灵族和巫师之间善与恶...

奇幻小说就像一张通向魔法世界的门票。J•R•R•托尔金的《指环王》让我们目睹了矮人族、精灵族和巫师之间善与恶的战争。美国作家乔治•R•R•马丁的系列小说《冰与火之歌》则邀我们进入了另外一个虚构世界，这里的大家族互相争夺，都想得到至高无上的王权。

A fantasy novel can be a ticket to a land of magic. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien takes us to Middle-earth to witness a battle of good and evil with dwarves, elves and wizards. And A Song of Ice and Fire, a series of novels by US author George R.R. Martin, invites us to another fictional world where powerful families compete to win the most important throne of all.

自《权力的游戏》成为知名电视剧的名字，大多数人通过它——也是马丁第一本书的名字知道了马丁的作品。4月24日该剧第六季回归，可还是有很多人想知道，为什么马丁虚构的世界会如此受欢迎。

Today, most people know Martin’s work by the name of the first book, Game of Thrones, since it is also the name of the famous TV series. Now, with its sixth TV season beginning on April 24, many of us are still wondering what has made Martin’s fictional world so popular.

和那些想要模仿托尔金和J•K•罗琳的作家不同，马丁有自己原创的故事要说，他也有自己讲故事的独特方式。

Unlike many writers who try to copy Tolkien or J.K. Rowling, Martin has something original to say and an original way in which to say it.

《冰与火之歌》的基本脉络大家一定都很熟悉了。在他的虚构世界里，故事发生在维斯特洛和厄索斯大陆。为了争夺维斯特洛的控制权，当地的大家族彼此征战。由于引入了超自然的“异族”，故事的基本设定变得更加复杂。

The basic structure of the Ice and Fire books is familiar enough. In his made-up world, the action takes place on the continents of Westeros and Essos. There is a war between a number of powerful families for control of Westeros. The basic idea is made more complicated by supernatural “Others”.

其中有一个角色尤其吸引读者——丹妮莉丝.坦格利安。她是前朝君主的女儿，能控制龙，想坐上“铁王座”。

One character in particular has drawn readers’ attention: Daenerys Targaryen. The daughter of a former king, she can control dragons and wants to sit on the “Iron Throne”.

其实这些情节本身都不新鲜，正是马丁的写作让这个故事不同一般。他笔下的人物十分复杂。他说曾说过希望这些人物“融合了善与恶、高尚与利己”。这让他的故事在道德观上和J•R•R•托尔金的作品略有差别。

None of this is very original in itself. It is Martin’s writing that makes the story special. His characters are complex. He says that he wishes to have “good and bad, noble and selfish well-mixed” in them. This makes his stories more morally nuanced than that of J.R.R. Tolkein.

托尔金的世界里善恶分明，正义最后总是胜利的一方。而在马丁的世界里，我们甚至分不清孰善孰恶。

Tolkien’s world is one of heroes and villains, in which good always wins in the end. In Martin’s world, we are not sure of that. Indeed, we aren’t even sure who is good and who is evil.

许多奇幻小说家会在自己的故事里塞满超自然和科幻元素。马丁的作品里也会有魔法，但是只占很少的比重。实际上，他的故事更类似于一部历史小说而非奇幻小说，他笔下的人物读起来就像是根据历史上真实的君王、国王和皇后改编而来。

Many fantasy writers pack their tales full of supernatural and science fiction elements. There is magic in Martin’s books too, but he doesn’t use it too much. In fact, his stories have more in common with historical fiction than fantasy, and his characters seem as if they were based on actual historical emperors, kings and queens.

正是马丁创造的复杂人物和摄人心魄的情节让读者和电视剧观众无法预测，却又急切想知道下一场铁王座争夺战里会发生什么。

It is Martin’s complex characters and suspenseful plots that have left readers and TV viewers unsure but desperate to find out what happens next in the battle for the Iron Throne.欢迎关注Grace的英文学堂公众号：Grace-English-World

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