Game of Thrones (TV talk) (CLEARLY MARK AND TAG BOOK SPOILERS IF YOU POST THEM) (READ FIRST POST)

[Keria]

alfie allen as theon greyjoy... not sold on it

mark addy as robert baratheon... HAHAHA i just picture him wrapping himself in cling film and eating a mars bar

[Qalbert]

HOLY SHIT SARAH CONNOR IS CERSEI

[Gadritan]

Wow. Definitely didn't see that one coming.

[Norelco]

Wow...they got Sarah Connor.

[Bweigelt]

There is no chance now that this doesn't get picked up.

[Gadritan]

With the cast they've been recruiting, and the time/effort/money being spent on the pilot alone, I'd be fucking amazed if they dropped it.

[Norelco]

Well, HBO shows typically always get a season 1 past the pilot. The trick would be to see if they get a season 2+.

[ZarakiKujata]

I can't think of an HBO drama that has gotten less than 2. And the general average is like ~4+, so should be fine.

[Gadritan]

Yeah. They make HQ shit for real. I always get sucked into their original series.

[Norelco]

I can't think of an HBO drama that has gotten less than 2. And the general average is like ~4+, so should be fine.

John From Cincinatti and Tell Me You Love Me

[-Zer0-]

This is looking good so far. Hearing Kit Harrington for Jon's role.

[Qalbert]

just saw Dinklage in an ep of 30 Rock, he'll be a good Tyrion

[ZarakiKujata]

just saw Dinklage in an ep of 30 Rock, he'll be a good Tyrion

that episode was funny.

[aduidarnenye]

Jennifer Ehle was Elizabeth Bennet in BBC's Pride and Prejudice. She pretty much defined the role (Keira Knightley was awful). She's an interesting choice. I like Sean Bean as Eddard Stark, even if he doesn't last long. Bean's always been one of my favourite actors.

Still can't be very excited about this series, HBO or not. The books are being released far too slowly to be able to keep up with a television series (especially if they do one book = one season). The last book was awful anyways, so unless Martin picks up the quality a lot the series will meander off into horribleness around season four.

[Gadritan]

As long as he lives long enough to finish the series I'll be happy. <.<

[Bweigelt]

Jennifer Ehle was Elizabeth Bennet in BBC's Pride and Prejudice. She pretty much defined the role (Keira Knightley was awful). She's an interesting choice. I like Sean Bean as Eddard Stark, even if he doesn't last long. Bean's always been one of my favourite actors.

Still can't be very excited about this series, HBO or not. The books are being released far too slowly to be able to keep up with a television series (especially if they do one book = one season). The last book was awful anyways, so unless Martin picks up the quality a lot the series will meander off into horribleness around season four.

While Feast for Crows wasn't quite as good as the first three, it was far from awful. It was certainly better than most anything else out there at the moment. Assuming Dance for Dragons comes out next year he would have 5 years to finish the last two after that if the series goes that far. Considering the biggest delay's with the last two books has been the split him having the scrap the five year time gap, the last two books should be finished more quickly.

[ZarakiKujata]

They could take it in a different direction from the books once they get going also, like they seem to be doing with True Blood?

[aduidarnenye]

While Feast for Crows wasn't quite as good as the first three, it was far from awful. It was certainly better than most anything else out there at the moment. Assuming Dance for Dragons comes out next year he would have 5 years to finish the last two after that if the series goes that far. Considering the biggest delay's with the last two books has been the split him having the scrap the five year time gap, the last two books should be finished more quickly.

The major problem with 'A Feast for Crows' was that it had no plot at all. Stuff happened but it led absolutely no place. I think Martin has become far too fond of killing off his characters (in a strange effort to be cutting-edge and relevant?). He's simply run out of decent characters to do stuff with. I really enjoyed the first book. It was well-paced with lots of great characters and an interesting plot. I picked it up at the train station in Inverness, Scotland and didn't see any Scottish countryside at all because I had my nose in it the entire time. I don't know what happened to the prologue of that book though. Four or five thousand pages later and it seems like he's completely forgotten about the Others. Martin has lots of writing talent but it seems more like he went the way of Jordan and expanded his series to unwieldy proportions. If he wants to retain the respect of the fans he's going to have to stop with all these republishing of his older books and figurines/calendars for 'A Song of Ice and Fire'.

Also, there are a lot of novels now that are much better out there. Gregory Keyes' series 'The Born Queen' is excellent as well as Naomi Novik's 'Temeraire' series. There's also an amazing novel by Susanna Clarke called 'Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell'. Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman never fail to deliver as well.

[Bweigelt]

The major problem with 'A Feast for Crows' was that it had no plot at all. Stuff happened but it led absolutely no place. I think Martin has become far too fond of killing off his characters (in a strange effort to be cutting-edge and relevant?). He's simply run out of decent characters to do stuff with. I really enjoyed the first book. It was well-paced with lots of great characters and an interesting plot. I picked it up at the train station in Inverness, Scotland and didn't see any Scottish countryside at all because I had my nose in it the entire time. I don't know what happened to the prologue of that book though. Four or five thousand pages later and it seems like he's completely forgotten about the Others. Martin has lots of writing talent but it seems more like he went the way of Jordan and expanded his series to unwieldy proportions. If he wants to retain the respect of the fans he's going to have to stop with all these republishing of his older books and figurines/calendars for 'A Song of Ice and Fire'.

Also, there are a lot of novels now that are much better out there. Gregory Keyes' series 'The Born Queen' is excellent as well as Naomi Novik's 'Temeraire' series. There's also an amazing novel by Susanna Clarke called 'Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell'. Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman never fail to deliver as well.

I'm all for constructive criticism but to say he has no decent characters left, or that the others have been totally forgotten is just plain ridiculous. His characterization is some of the best in Fantasy and none of his best characters have gone the way of the Dodo. The Others featured heavily in book three and are the central focus of one of the three major plotlines in the series. If Feast's plot felt somewhat unfinished that's no surprise, it is, afterall, technically just the first half of book four. I'd wait till Dance is released before saying the plot goes nowhere.

I can however see the criticism him and his publisher should recieve for releasing what should really be one book in two volumes.

[Gadritan]

I think Martin has become far too fond of killing off his characters (in a strange effort to be cutting-edge and relevant?).

He's doing it because it's the direction he wants the story to go.

It has nothing to do with being "cutting-edge and relevant." Anything that can be done in a book has already been done, and I believe Martin is well aware of this fact.

I'm not disputing your opinion that he's become too fond of it. It's your opinion. But it irked me that you feel he's doing it simply to be cutting-edge and relevant. <.<

C'mon, he's a better author than that.