Quote Originally Posted by Richardb View Post
Believe me, I'm not knocking Martin, or dismissing your thought. I think Martin has ended up with a world that we do fill in a lot of details ourselves, making it very rich. I also think his exceptional characterization gives us some ability to make determinations about culture and peoples. So we do find ourselves with a feeling of a fairly well realized world.
Some authors just 'get there' and others really seem to work at it. Worse yet are those that mistake world building for story telling!
Martin's maps certainly leave something to be desired. I'm actually considering doing my own version of the map of Westeros at some point. However I feel his world building is amazing for what it says and clever for what it leaves up to the reader. We have Westeros, which has a rich history and well developed culture and then the mysterious free cities that he slowly reveals through Daenerys (and later, Arya). The Dothraki and other cultures across the narrow sea are exotic and yet realistic without seeming to just be a real-world ripoff like Jordan tends towards. I'm a verifiable Martin fanboy though, so don't mind me. =)