HBO has decided to create a TV Series out of George R.R. Martin's first book and the first season will be 10 Episodes.
Any Song of Fire and Ice fans here?
I am currently reading A Storm of Swords, which is the 3rd book in the Series.
Throughout this month, we will be testing new features (like search) so you may experience some hiccups from time to time. We'll try to not be too disruptive...
Game of Thrones (tv show thread)
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Fantastic books. Tyrion is the awesomest midget ever. Hell, he's just plain awesome. But especially for a midget.
I'd prefer Martin get the rest of it written BEFORE throwing his time into a tv show though.
At least its on HBO. It'll probably rock.
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@robbybedfart:
Fantastic books. Tyrion is the awesomest midget ever. Hell, he's just plain awesome. But especially for a midget.
I'd prefer Martin get the rest of it written BEFORE throwing his time into a tv show though.
At least its on HBO. It'll probably rock.
Yeah, I am told the 5th Book is suppose to be done this year but who knows how long it will take for the other 2 books to be completed.
Yes, Tyrion is the bomb. I'm almost done with the 3rd book and things have gotten extremely interesting as you probably already know.
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I have all four books and I am waiting on the fifth….
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Yeah, I am told the 5th Book is suppose to be done this year but who knows how long it will take for the other 2 books to be completed.
The 5th book was supposed to be done six months after the 4th book. He was supposedly writing them simultaneously and split it because it got too big.
Its been like, 4 or 5 years since then.
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@robbybedfart:
The 5th book was supposed to be done six months after the 4th book. He was supposedly writing them simultaneously and split it because it got too big.
Its been like, 4 or 5 years since then.
I know…it sucks. At least, I'm thinking of tracking down the hardcovers now and rereading this awesome series. I don't have HBO, but I'll watch this somehow.
Also, Sean Bean as Eddard Stark, fucking fantastic.
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Boromir is playing Ned?
Well, thats great casting. But at the same time… the parallels...
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@robbybedfart:
Boromir is playing Ned?
Well, thats great casting. But at the same time… the parallels...
I know.
! If Sean Bean is in something, and he either plays the villain or someone who dies, then it's a good/great piece of media.
! See: Lord of the Rings, Equilibrium, National Treasure, Goldeneye, and because I actually enjoyed it, Crusoe. -
Here is a video of some of the actors who have signed on already:
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Oh damn. that music is giving me CHILLS.
Awesome.
Shame its not an official thing. ANy idea where that music is from?
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I definitely cannot wait to see Martin's masterpiece in action. I've been following this series for over 10 years and I've often thought about how much I'd like to see a on-screen adaptation of the books. I hope they'll have a good budget, they'll definitely have to go full CG for the dragons and probably a lot of the place settings as well (Dragonstone, the Eyrie, Valyria, and the Wall immediately come to mind). I'll also be interested in seeing how they'll portray the direwolves, if they'll start off with real animals until they reach a certain size or if they'll just CG them from the start. Of course, I'm somewhat concerned about how the production crew will handle some of the more mature content, such as the level of violence and the, uh, romantic scenes between certain under-aged characters. Speaking of the latter, I wonder if the producers will decide to make some of the characters older to bypass this problem, or if they'll stay true to the story. I do hope they'll try to keep as much of plot intact as they possibly can, the grittiness of G.R.R.M's writing is one of the things that I really like about this series. Good thing it's HBO, that gives everyone a little more creative freedom.
Here's a list of most of the cast members, for those interested–although keep in mind that Jennifer Ehle is out and will no longer be playing Catelyn Stark, and I've heard that HBO is still doing auditions for Daenerys, so there is a chance she will be recast as well. I think Mark Addy is perfect as King Robert and of course, I couldn't imagine anyone other than Peter Dinklage as Tyrion. Rory McCann seems like a good choice for The Hound, although I'm not really familiar with his work. Not sure how I feel about Lena Headey and Nikolaj Coster-Waldeau as Jamie and Cersei, they don't looks even remotely alike (but perhaps their acting will make up for that). Since this list was posted, Martin confirmed that Bran will be played by Isaac Hempstead-Wright, and Benjen by Joseph Mawle as well.
Regarding the next book, as I understand it, Meereen seems to be the primary cause of the delay his time (and I supposed the scrapped time-skip must have cost him a lot of time as well). I haven't heard anything about when the next book is supposed to be out. G.R.R.M. usually just alludes on his blog that "it'll be done when it's done," so I'm trying not to get my hopes up for a 2010 release, just in case. I can't wait to read the latest book when it's finally published, even though I know I'll probably just finish it in one day and then it's back to another 3-5 years of waiting. :sad:
@robbybedfart:
Fantastic books. Tyrion is the awesomest midget ever. Hell, he's just plain awesome. But especially for a midget.
This. I think he inherited all of the better qualities of House Lannister, with the exception of their good looks. Easily one of my favorite characters (and ten times the man his brother is, in my humble opinion).
The song in that video is "Until It Sleeps" by Apocalyptica, btw. :happy:
a mood come alive.
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I'm almost done with the A Storm of Swords, I think I will be finished with it today.
I don't think I've ever laughed as much in my life as I did when reading about some of the testimonies during Tyrion's trial, especially Shae's testimony.
What is amazing about the Song of Fire and Ice Series is there is not one weak Point of View Character.
Of course, once I read A Feast of Crows, I will be among the many who will wait with much alacrity for the 5th book.
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Finished A Storm of Swords yesteday.
George R.R. Martin is one of the best storytellers I have ever come across. Out of the 3 books I have read thus far, I believe this one had the best ending and it had a Fellowship of the Ring type of ending (even though I wish one character would have stayed dead). Also, "The Red Wedding" was sad and is one of the events that makes you hate some of the characters.
The Free Cities are going to be extremely interesting in the next book.
Unfortunately, once I read A Feast of Crows, I am going to join all the other poor souls who wait with alacrity for A Dance with Dragons and who knows how long that is going to be .
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(even though I wish one character would have stayed dead).
Yeah… that has... reprecussions.
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Regarding the next book, as I understand it, Meereen seems to be the primary cause of the delay his time (and I supposed the scrapped time-skip must have cost him a lot of time as well).
Martin originally planned a timeskip? Interesting.
I think the characters will be a little bit older. Also, I am told that each Season will represent 1 book, so I imagine they may have to exclude some things depending upon how many episodes they have per season.
@robbybedfart:
Yeah… that has... reprecussions.
Yeah, I am wondering what role she will play in the 4th book. I really never liked her character but I would love to see her give the Frey's their just comeuppance.
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Has anyone read this serial…. It the best stuff there is. It's op of the book world maybe even a little better then op. OK it's a little unfair to compare those two because that are two completly different thing. While op is for children and teens and for people who feel's like ones(like me hehe). Song of ice and fire is very serious fantasy. The man who wrote is a even greatter legend then oda.
A Song of ice and fire
"The story of A Song of Ice and Fire takes place in a fictional world, primarily upon a continent called Westeros but also on a large landmass to the east, known as Essos.[5] Most of the characters are human but as the series progresses other races are introduced, such as the cold and menacing Others from the far North and fire-breathing dragons from the East, both races thought to be extinct by the people of the story. There are three principal storylines in the series: the chronicling of a dynastic civil war for control of Westeros between several competing families; the rising threat of the Others who dwell beyond an immense wall of ice that forms Westeros' northern border; and the ambition of Daenerys Targaryen, the exiled daughter of a king who was murdered in another civil war fifteen years previously, to return to Westeros and claim her rightful throne. As the series progresses, all three storylines become increasingly interwoven and dependent on each other.
The series is told in the limited third-person through the eyes of a number of point of view characters. By the end of the fourth volume, there have been seventeen such characters with multiple chapters and eight who only have one chapter apiece.
The growing popularity of the series led to it being optioned by HBO for development of a television adaptation, named Game of Thrones.[6] A pilot episode was produced in 2009 and a series commitment for nine further episodes was made in March 2010.[7]" -
Yes, it IS a very good series, its a darn shame its never going to finish.
Book 5 was supposed to be out nearly 4 years ago.
At this point I worry the series will hit the same fate as Wheel of Time.
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This series is absolutely fantastic.Brilliant. Got me literally glued to the fucking books and wanting more and more…
But it's been so DAMN LONG since I've read the books, that I forgot a lot of things. I should re-read everything again, but untill I see a confirmed date for book 5, I'm not gonna do it for the moment. . .
And of course, really looking forward to the tv series adaptation. HBO have never chickened with the sexual and violent content in their series, so it won't be a problem, I guess.
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I've been keeping myself occupied by reading the Malazan series. Now THERE'S a guy who can write a shitload of good, solid content in a short amount of time.
I'm still holding out hope that this clusterfuck Martin's written himself into represents the only part of the series he's truly unsure about, and that the rest will follow relatively painlessly, because I didn't like the fourth book much, and when something is delayed THIS long it's usually because it turns out to be garbage.
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Supposedly he was originally going to have a five year time skip and just jump ahead on events, but that didn't work out for whatever reason.
So yes, that could be a large cause for the blatant writer's block but… considering book 4 was split in half to make book 5 easier to do in the first place, and book 4 took 5 years to get out, and this one is taking nearly 5 years to get out...
I dunno. I think if you're taking 5/10 years to suffer through the next bit of content, maybe a timeskip would have been the way to go. But yes, hopefully his notes and master plan are set and good to go after this book.
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I remember quite a chunk of the 4th book being faily pointless (outside of the Cersei, Jaime, Iron Island and Dorne stuff most it was just "Sam's on a boat!" "Arya's training!" "Brienne's wandering around!" "
SansaLittlefinger's being awesome!" It was entertaining enough but I felt a large part of it could have been edited out.Which doesn't bode too well for the 5th book when it does get released.
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Can someone tell me what this is about (and why it's excellent)? I'm getting interested…
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It's a massive fantasy series (like Lord of the Rings, Wheel of Time, etc. etc.) with an enormous cast of characters. Despite being a work of fantasy with dragons and magic and monsters and all that, the fantasy parts are very few and far between and mostly serve as creepy, mystical shit that happens beyond our view (i.e. people aren't conjuring fireballs to cook their eggs in the morning). For the most part it resembles a medieval political thriller about controlling land and inheritance squabbles and war–hence the title of the first book, Game of Thrones.
Even though many characters are relatable and sympathetic, virtually every one of them is a shade of gray, not black or white--and the few that are that extreme are usually swayed toward the other direction over the course of the story. Innocence is corrupted, evil is humanized, and so on. Also, the author pulls no punches: many central characters die and it is often shocking when they do. It grabs you much harder if you emotionally invest in the characters because you cannot assume everything will turn out fine in the end, like in most cheesy fantasy.
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That sounds pretty damn awesome. It's like a Joss Whedon story for adults.
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I remember quite a chunk of the 4th book being faily pointless (outside of the Cersei, Jaime, Iron Island and Dorne stuff most it was just "Sam's on a boat!" "Arya's training!" "Brienne's wandering around!" "
SansaLittlefinger's being awesome!" It was entertaining enough but I felt a large part of it could have been edited out.I agree. Although I did enjoy AFfC, the absence of certain POVs were definitely felt while I was reading the book, while others (Brienne, Sam) just felt drawn-out and somewhat lackluster; most of the information gleaned from these characters probably could have been condensed in fewer chapters. I have to say I found the continuous POV-hopping in the Iron Islands to be a little off-putting, although it's good that this area is getting an inside view, so to speak (and the same goes for Dorne). I did enjoy reading Cersei, Jaime, Sansa, and Arya's segments quite a bit, although Arya's chapters felt more like a tour of Braavos, while Sansa was really only intriguing due to the machinations of Littlefinger.
AFfC is by the author's own admission half a book and sadly, that is pretty much how it reads. Hopefully the 5th installment won't feel quite so disjointed. The introduction of certain new POVs in the next book certainly look promising, as does the return of other, more crucial characters, so my hopes remain high that it will live up to the standard the series has set for itself.
That sounds pretty damn awesome.
It is, and stephen is spot-on in his summarization. The books are well-written, sophisticated, richly detailed, and very intriguing.
My only complaint, besides the delays, is that the series is starting to grow a little too large for its own good. I don't want to see this series go down the road that Jordan tread. That aside, it's definitely a series worth checking out and one that I would gladly recommend to anyone, regardless of their interest in fantasy.
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Yeah, and there are a few caveats:
- the books are enormous, so it'll take you a long time to get through them, BUT:
- they're so addictive (especially the first three) that it'll destroy your ability to focus on anything else until you finish them, BUT:
- then once you're done, you're stuck in the same boat with all the other people who have been following the series from the start and have only had one book to read in the last ten years (TEN!)
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I would honestly love to post in this thread, but I am deathly, deathly afraid of spoilers.
I… I want to marry this wonderful series.
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I remember quite a chunk of the 4th book being faily pointless (outside of the Cersei, Jaime, Iron Island and Dorne stuff most it was just "Sam's on a boat!" "Arya's training!" "Brienne's wandering around!" "
SansaLittlefinger's being awesome!" It was entertaining enough but I felt a large part of it could have been edited out.Which doesn't bode too well for the 5th book when it does get released.
I think it was supposed to be give us an idea of what life is like for the peasants or something… It was a bit of a disappointment after the first three books, but it wasn't all bad. Cersei's stupidity was fun to read about.
The fifth book should be more interesting, judging from the spoiler chapters that have been released so far.Anyway, I don't really think the TV series will do justice to the books (like any adaptation ever has...) but I guess it will be something to watch while waiting for A Dance with Dragons (I've been waiting since 2005).
I don't want to see this series go down the road that Jordan tread.
Jordan's series wouldn't be half as long without the braid-pulling and in-depth descriptions of dresses. Such a bad series…
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Fun news guys.
They're filming the movie in my country:D
Oh and there's a shitstorm about them destroying an environmentally protected area during shooting.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20101102/local/film-company-apologises-for-dwejra-disaster -
IT's also fun how in this series, the closer to God-like status a character gets has NOTHING to do with their phisical strength or prowess in battle or anything like that. Littlefinger is the most broken character in the whole saga by far, and he's done everything just with his cunning acts and charisma and intelligence.
But since I'm a classic Hack & Slash kind of fantasy fan, I'm really anxious to see how kickass Arya will get.
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Fantastic books. Waiting for the tv series!
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Someone once told me that if I loved the plot/characters in Dragon Age so much that I would adore this series. Is that true?
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@RobbyBevard:
Don't forget "arms crossed beneath her breasts." I swear, he had that one phrase on auto copy and paste.
I have to give him props for writing the most annoying female characters in any work of fiction.
Someone once told me that if I loved the plot/characters in Dragon Age so much that I would adore this series. Is that true?
I can't really see that many similarities between the two, tbh. This series is much more "low fantasy" than Dragon Age. Give it a try anyway. =]
I've been keeping myself occupied by reading the Malazan series. Now THERE'S a guy who can write a shitload of good, solid content in a short amount of time.
I missed this post before. Did you hear that he just finished book 10? The guy is a machine.
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Someone once told me that if I loved the plot/characters in Dragon Age so much that I would adore this series. Is that true?
It's a fantastic series all around, regardless of what other stuff you like..
But it might also never reach its ending, what with the ONE book coming out in the last 10 years.
The hope is that the massive writers block came from deviating from his original plans, and that after book five, he'll slide back into a better pace and get one out every 2 years again so we'll have all 7 by say, 2015. …That's the hope anyway.
But as good as the series is... Don't get into it just yet.
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So you're telling me to wait until the rest of the books are out?
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I'm doing a replay of through Dragon Age: Origins right now Satsuki, and honestly, some characters / plotlines in it feel like they were downright homages to the Song of Ice and Fire series. Robby says wait, but I say don't. It's A++++++++ goddamn fantastic stuff that doesn't pull any punches and is short on "a wizard did it" cop-outs. Even if you expend yourself on the main series, there are a edit: a few sidebooks and novellas set in the same world.
After reading the Name of the Wind and A Game of Thrones my standard for fantasy novels soared to hithertofore untold heights. It's the goddamn bar.
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That'd be my suggestion. They won't get any worse with time and they'll still be excellent and new to you later, (and it really is a fantastic series) but the wait will go away… if it ever finishes. In five years, it'll still be really good books... with an ending... maybe. Right now? Its four fantastic books that may never finish. (He swears up and down book 5 is nearly done, and so does his editor... but he was saying that in 2006)
There's more than a few cliffhangers at the end of book 4 that have been dangling for a few years now. I started the series back in college so I was caught up when book 3 came out. One book in the 10 years since then has REALLY sucked. I'm patient, but... that's reeeally pushing it.
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Oh wow. It's been that long?
…On second thought....
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Yeah. The first book came out in 1996, the second in 1998, and the third in 2000. Two years apart is a fine and reasonable pace for ongoing novel series of that length and quality
Then the fourth wasn't till 2005, and the fifth still isn't out, even though 4 was split in half to accommodate it.
A quick wikipedia check says A Feast for Crows was November 8, 2005. So yeah, almost exactly five years ago now, and there's still no announced publication date, so even if he finished tomorrow it wouldn't be for another 5 or 6 months. One book in 10+ years is a really lousy pace. ESPECIALLY when it has cliffhangers and isn't self contained.
Its been long enough I'll probably have to reread the whole thing when the next one gets announced, its been nearly that long since I read the first book.
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I'm… halfway through the third book.
I am in some real fucking trouble.
(though Martin may just be waiting for the HBO series to air before he releases book 5. moneywise, that'd be the smartest thing to do)
There's a great lighthearted vibe around here, because no matter how serious we might get, we're all together because of some magical pirate.
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(though Martin may just be waiting for the HBO series to air before he releases book 5. moneywise, that'd be the smartest thing to do)
I firmly believe he is entirely incompetent at managing his storyline and personal schedule at this point, as he's in the middle of like a 3-month tour/vacation of Europe. I don't trust him to be able to tie his own shoes, much less pull off a sneaky publicity maximizing stunt like that.
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Martin is still a fantastic writer when he's not on a series that has no end, you should try some of his standalone books. Tuff Voyaging, The Dying of the Light, and the short story collections are sci-fi, but pretty good. (Not as good as Ice and Fire, but good.)
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Stephen King penned the first words of The Dark Tower in 1970, published the first novel in 1978 and finished the story in 2004.
Don't give up hope yet about it never getting finished.
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Stephen King penned the first words of The Dark Tower in 1970, published the first novel in 1978 and finished the story in 2004.
Don't give up hope yet about it never getting finished.
Most people are worried because of Martin's age.
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he's also a fat, fat-headed fatty-pants fatso.
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Most people are worried because of Martin's age.
That and the fact that he apparently doesn't take notes, so if he dies of fatness, the novels are fucked.
I will probably never watch Game of Thrones or read Martin's book series, unless he miraculously finishes it sometime. At least, a trustworthy friend recommended this to me. I'm still kind of leaning on checking out the HBO series if anything, but I may as well also read the novel at that point.
Tough decisions??
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Man I don't know why you'd willingly pass up the TV series. It's HBO so there's like a 60% chance its solid gold.
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Love HBO original programming.
I was concerned over whether it directly bridges over to the next in line of the series, like a cliffhanger
The way people go on about R.R. Martin's awful pacing I figured it may have been something like that.
I may as well watch it
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Stephen King penned the first words of The Dark Tower in 1970, published the first novel in 1978 and finished the story in 2004.
Don't give up hope yet about it never getting finished.
He also rushed those last books and they sucked. He only panicked and finished them after being hit by a car.
Mostly its the fact that Martin is in his mid 60's and… not in good shape. And he doesn't leave any notes, so its not like Wheel of Time where another author could pick it up and still get at least most of the plot points right
