Martin is greatly overrated as a writer, and his takes & themes aren't nearly as profound as he imagines them to be. It's also not the '90s anymore and a grimdark, nihilistic spin on medieval European-esque fantasies isn't particularly new or thrilling anymore. Because that's what Westeros is first & foremost, for all of Martin's boasting and that of his fans, the setting actually bears little resemblance to real-life medieval European society - or any other society period, he's been catching flak from not only right-wing medieval fans but also leftist wokies for how disconnected his depictions of the Dothraki & Ghiscari are from RL Mongols/ancient Carthaginians and instead being much more in-line with negative Victorian-era stereotypes of them. (The fantasy aspects also aren't very creative or even sensible, ex. the years or decades-long seasons, for that matter)

Anyway, if anything the opposite - an unironically noblebright, optimistic medieval fantasy - would be a fresher take these days. And the 'American Tolkien' he ain't, even if he did ever publish the next books in the series. FromSoft does 'dark edgy magical medieval fantasy' better than he does, funny enough.

Martin is greatly overrated as a writer, and his takes & themes aren't nearly as profound as he imagines them to be. It's also not the '90s anymore and a grimdark, nihilistic spin on medieval European-esque fantasies isn't particularly new or thrilling anymore. Because that's what Westeros is first & foremost, for all of Martin's boasting and that of his fans, the setting actually bears little resemblance to real-life medieval European society - or any other society period, he's been catching flak from not only right-wing medieval fans but also leftist wokies for how disconnected his depiction of the Dothraki & Ghiscari have nothing to do with RL Mongols/ancient Carthaginians and much more with negative Victorian-era stereotypes of them. (The fantasy aspects also aren't very creative or even sensible, ex. the years or decades-long seasons, for that matter)

Anyway, if anything the opposite - an unironically noblebright, optimistic medieval fantasy - would be a fresher take these days. And the 'American Tolkien' he ain't, even if he did ever publish the next books in the series. FromSoft does 'dark edgy magical medieval fantasy' better than he does, funny enough.