Game of Thrones

[rm]

Gosh, I think I really, really dig this.

Comments

[lambertgirl9.livejournal.com]

i love it,but its SOOO confusing trying to keep up with everybody lol

[rm.livejournal.com]

I can't remember anyone's name, but since all my friends who are watching it and my partner have read it, they keep helping me out.

[lambertgirl9.livejournal.com]

oo is it a good book?

[tsgeisel.livejournal.com]

It's a terrific book, but you have to be ready for a shifting perspective story. No two chapters *in a row* are told from the viewpoint of the same character, and, as you're seeing from the TV show, there are a *lot* of characters.

And, not surprisingly, things have been simplified for the screen.

Also, not to spoil anything, but...the full end of the story has not been told yet. Book 5 is due out in July (finally!) with (in theory) two more books planned.

(Edit: pesky grammar bit that only I would probably be bothered by. And a factual error corrected - the bit in *asterisks*. Oopsie.)

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

I broke down and read it this past week after watching the first episode of the series. It's quite engaging. I would recommend it.

[rufus.livejournal.com]

yes. it (they) are a series of magnificent, brutal, challenging reads and I recommend them all very highly.

[fala-redwing.livejournal.com]

I'm really liking it myself. I really, really like Ned. For all his flaws, he's an honorable man at his core - no matter what the situation is.

[laufeyette.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I love it. I haven't read the books, either, though I did read the synopsis of the first of the series on Wikipedia, which I assume has helped me from becoming confused.

Damn, it's pretty.

[tree00faery.livejournal.com]

Seeing the first episode actually made me realize how many issues I have with the series. I know people are going wild about it (and the production does seem to reflect the amount of money poured into it, in terms of costumes and actors and whatnot) but I'm not sure I can keep watching.

[skelody.livejournal.com]

Quite.

[tree00faery.livejournal.com]

Yay, I'm not alone.

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

I stopped reading after the first book. I may watch the series because I love Sean Bean and seeing his portrayal of Ned is likely something I'd enjoy, but I'm not likely to continue to watch after that, unless the actors in the roles of Tyrion and Jon really impress me.

[effervescent.livejournal.com]

I agree. Seeing the misogyny and other skeevy issues in all their glory on my screen is not endearing the series to me more, and I was never able to finish book two. :/

[tree00faery.livejournal.com]

*nods* I got about halfway through book four before giving it up as a lost cause. Skeeviness aside (and there's a lot of it, which yeah, at least in book form you can turn the page), my tolerance for the never-ending misery proved limited.

I've only seen the first episode, but judging from that it seems like they're going with the "gratuitous violence and sex (because hey, we're on HBO so we can) > actual characterization" thing, and I find that I pretty much don't care.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Oh, so much!

[rufus.livejournal.com]

I saw that Tyrian tweet, and, ngl, grinned really big. I love him. I can't wait to have time to watch the show. By the time I'm ready it may well be over but I'll catch up on DVD if I have to.

[tartanshell.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you're getting into it! Isn't it awesome? :D

I saw your Tyrion tweet, too, but wasn't sure if you meant GoT or not and didn't want to embarrass myself going, OMG YES ISN'T HE AWESOME AND PETER DINKLAGE IS FANTASTIC if you were talking about something else.

The books are even better.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

I am curious to hear your thoughts about it, because I have them and I don't know if I'll keep up with the series due to them.

[rm.livejournal.com]

There are, don't get me wrong, buckets of extradiegetic fail in this thing (mostly around "the barbarians"), but the rest of it is the kind of brutal, grey area, claustrophobic world that really interests me.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

[nods] I get that. The one thing that glared at me in the first ep and reminded me why I disliked High Fantasy is the way it's very clear who are the baddies and who are the goodies. And while it's obvious that everything is more complex and complicated, I don't like being told who I'm supposed to cheer for (one of my beefs with JKR and why I'll probably also be big on series-verse fanfiction of GoT, if I continue into the show).

I was told the whole "Barbarians" thing is more subtle in the books, but I haven't read them, so... *shrug*.

[smirnoffmule.livejournal.com]

I'm not about to try and tell you ought to watch because hey, if it's not your thing, it's not your thing, but honestly, this: it's very clear who are the baddies and who are the goodies is really really not the case with this series, though it may appear that way initially. As the situation grows more complex, you meet the wider cast, and start getting introduced to different POVs, GRRM is able to turn a lot of first impressions on their head. It's one of my favourite things about the series, and I really hope it translates on screen.

[tree00faery.livejournal.com]

Yeah, having read the books I'd say that's actually one of the things I /don't/ have a problem with. The point of view switches every chapter, usually not tapping the same character more than 2 or 3 times in the same book, and you get a lot of insight into all the characters, even those who at first seem like the clear 'baddies'.

But the Starks are definitely the ones we're supposed to like, and I think the show is trying to set that up before they get into the more gray areas.

[popfiend.livejournal.com]

Agreed. But it is a quite heavy piece of pie to digest.

But the fact that the "barbarians" are brown does kind of eat at me.

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

wordsofastory is going to have me reading A Song of Ice and Fire; you are going to have me watching Glee.
It hasn't happened yet, but I see it.

I've barely even noticed them before. I guess that's what Fandom is for.

[sillermoon.livejournal.com]

HBO has a lovely viewers guide, with both a map and a guide to the houses/characters. There are photos and short bios. It can be hard to catch all the names, plus some characters have nicknames (Eddard "Ned" Stark, Sandor "The Hound" Clegane) which just confuses even more.

http://viewers-guide.hbo.com/game-of-thrones/#!/guide/houses/

I have a love/hate relationship with the overall story. GRRM pulls no punches. He abuses all his characters at some point, though some more than others. I also loved the changing viewpoints in the books: winding up inside Cersei's head is a strange place to be in this series. It gives some sympathy or at least clearer sense of motives even for the more obvious "evil" characters. I believe it was Storm of Swords that I literally threw at the wall at one point, I was so angry and sad over a certain plot point.

They have made the Dothraki, and Drogo himself, more savage overall to begin with. I think to simplify things. It's now a "taming the savage beast" arc, whereas in the book it was more a "clash of two very different worlds"/"young girl forced to be an adult" arc.