Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire

jqp · « **on:** 30 Mar 2012, 03:08 am »

Game of Thrones on HBO is based on the series of books called A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

I have seen the first season on HBO and now I am on book four of the novels.

Neither the show nor the books are for kids, or those who cannot take gruesome violence. The books are pretty gritty at times, but I would say not gratuitously violent. Sexual situations are common (wenches, etc.)

The storyline portrays the sentiment that life is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short" as these are the dark ages of the past.

I was attracted by the seemingly realistic historical settings and the good acting on the HBO series. I don't consider myself a huge fantasy genre fan, and there is not too much fantasy (compared to other stories, in my mind) in the first season. In fact, the setting is a period where most think there are no more dragons or the magic of old stories. Maybe this is a technique the author uses to draw in a larger audience.

The books are rich in houses and heraldry, clothing, weaponry, tournaments, feasting, cities and castles both Western and Eastern.

I compare the book series to The Baroque Cycle of Neal Stephenson ( a later time in History) and and some of the William Gibson trilogies (completely different times and settings)' Like Stephenson, Martin explores many different themes in his universe.

There are lots of fan sites with art and interpretatins. Here is a link to an artist's conceptions of some of the house banners

http://towerofthehand.com/gallery/urukkisaki/#

django11 · « **Reply #1 on:** 30 Mar 2012, 11:17 am »

I've read the books with the exception of the final one. Great series!

As you say the fantasy side is fairly light. I describe Game of Thrones as blend of The Accursed Kings and Lord of the Rings. I personally find the violence rather tame by today's standards. Someone might get his head cut off but without a great deal of gory detail (Nothing like Spartacus which is a gory pointless bloodbath imo) The TV series isn't quite as good as the books but how could it be? Pretty decent tv. I have no idea what kind of experience it may be for someone who has not read the books.

(just as a side note I wanted to link to The Accursed Kings by Maurice Druon and am quite shocked that it doesn't seem to be in print anywhere in the English language

.). This is a series of French historical novels starting in 1314 when the Knights Templar were disbanded. The books have spawned two mini series).

jdoris · « **Reply #2 on:** 30 Mar 2012, 12:58 pm »

I'm not a fantasy guy, but I think GoT is very good TV. Not as good as The Wire (what is?), but as good as, say, Sons of Anarchy.

For those of you who do audio books, their are now good productions of GoT, pretty well read by Roy Dotrice. I'm up to the third book, but plan a long drive, they are bigguns.

John

avahifi · « **Reply #3 on:** 30 Mar 2012, 05:39 pm »

I watched the HBO series before I found and downloaded the book to my Kindle reader.

I was really impressed at how exactly the book was true to all the details of the HBO series. The actors were exactly right as was the scenery and settings.

Amazing work there, Mr. Martin.

Frank Van Alstine

sts9fan · « **Reply #4 on:** 30 Mar 2012, 05:58 pm »

I think you mean how true the show was to the book.

There are lots of details in the show that you will/could miss if you have not read the books.

kip_ · « **Reply #5 on:** 30 Mar 2012, 06:42 pm »

If you haven't read the books, they are fairly dark and at times even depressing. GRRM is very good at building up your hopes and then crushing them. Heroes and villains are both mercilessly slaughtered. No One is safe. A Storm of Swords is especially heartbreaking.

jqp · « **Reply #6 on:** 30 Mar 2012, 06:55 pm »

I am going to have hope that at least one or two from Winterfell makes it to the end

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #7 on:** 6 Apr 2012, 07:16 am »

It's been a long wait for GoT to return, but it was worth the wait!

Good to see things back in full swing.

rbbert · « **Reply #8 on:** 6 Apr 2012, 01:14 pm »

Quote from: jqp on 30 Mar 2012, 06:55 pm

I am going to have hope that at least one or two from Winterfell makes it to the end

so far there are three... (not counting Caitlyn, someone else will have to tell me if she's still around)

avahifi · « **Reply #9 on:** 7 Apr 2012, 03:24 pm »

There are more survivors as of now. The three sons (including Snow), the two daughters, and the wife. Time will tell what happens to them.

Frank Van Alstine

ctviggen · « **Reply #10 on:** 7 Apr 2012, 05:25 pm »

Quote from: django11 on 30 Mar 2012, 11:17 am

I've read the books with the exception of the final one. Great series!

In my opinion, the first three books were good to great. The fourth book was garbage. The fifth book was beyond garbage, to the point where I'm not reading the sixth.

I am, however, going to start watching the HBO series tonight on Bluray.

rbbert · « **Reply #11 on:** 7 Apr 2012, 07:56 pm »

Quote from: avahifi on 7 Apr 2012, 03:24 pm

There are more survivors as of now. The three sons (including Snow), the two daughters, and the wife. Time will tell what happens to them.

Frank Van Alstine

I was referring to the books, now up through #5 and not good to the Starks.

django11 · « **Reply #12 on:** 8 Apr 2012, 06:55 pm »

Someone should put a spoiler alert on this thread.

galyons · « **Reply #13 on:** 8 Apr 2012, 10:09 pm »

Quote from: django11 on 8 Apr 2012, 06:55 pm

Someone should put a spoiler alert on this thread.

Refrigerate After Opening.....

Done!!

Geary

Manolo · « **Reply #14 on:** 9 Apr 2012, 07:52 pm »

I thought i had the good fortune of reading the first 4 books in a row. Got the 5th book. I still have like a 120 pages to go to finish it. It has been 4 months that I have not touched it. Why? What the hell, there is no rush. The author will take like 5 years to complete the 6th book and 5 more years to get to the last one. So, we have to consider at least 10 years before we know what will happen to all those characters. And believe me, there will not be that many original characters left alive by the time he gets done.

Anyway, I started reading the book series after the first episode in HBO and did not stop until the 5th. book last December. On the plus side, the HBO series has been following the main plot pretty well and is doing a fantastic visual job also.

However, those of us that have read the books know that he really gets the story into the sidelines with secondary plots and characters that seem, to me at least, superfluous to the main story line.

This has been happening from book 3 if I recall. So, I wonder if HBO will pick these or will streamline the story to the main plot and make it more efficient.

And I wonder further, will the author step on the accelerator once HBO is done with season 5 and 5 or 6 years left for him to finish the last book?

galyons · « **Reply #15 on:** 9 Apr 2012, 08:25 pm »

Quote from: Manolo on 9 Apr 2012, 07:52 pm

I thought i had the good fortune of reading the first 4 books in a row. Got the 5th book. I still have like a 120 pages to go to finish it. It has been 4 months that I have not touched it. Why? What the hell, there is no rush...

I have read all of the currently published books, starting in the late '90's. I found that it was hard to maintain interest in the latter books, as I had the niggling impression that the author was "writing to contract' rather than his muse.

Prodded by the HBO series, I am rereading. The television series is good, but unlike the books, is produced more for the typical short attention span viewer than a serious treatment of the work.

The series is comprised of massive tomes that require a reader's commitment to finish. I hope GRRM takes same level of commitment to finish the work and at a level of quality evident in the early books.

Cheers,
Geary

jqp · « **Reply #16 on:** 9 Apr 2012, 10:58 pm »

The Wall

Sigil of House Stark

ptmconsulting · « **Reply #17 on:** 10 Apr 2012, 01:36 pm »

Merchandizing

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dapparel&field-keywords=game+of+thrones

hubee · « **Reply #18 on:** 13 Apr 2012, 06:23 am »

Now there is the Game of Thrones season 2 on TV. The 1st episode could be seen on April 1. (USA)

Nowadays should be there the 3rd Ep.. I don't had time yet to watch these. Has anyone watched episodes from season 2? What was the feeling/opinion about it?

mjosef · « **Reply #19 on:** 5 Jun 2012, 04:32 am »

And then there was none...

Whaw, what a blast...2nd Season is gone, done so soon.
A long wait for #3.
Would be a blast if HBO would release an extended cut on BluRay, like LOR. They would sure sell (make more $$$) tens of thousands of box sets.

5 stars!