I bought the first three books before the series started. Couldn’t penetrate past page 50 or so, though, due to what seemed like terrible writing. It seemed like it was written for teenage males heavily into weekend RF. Put 'em away.
Then the series started. The first ten minutes of the first ep were excellent, I thought, and much more interesting than Martin’s treatment of the same scene. After watching the first 5-6 episodes I dragged the first book back out and started reading again, on p. 399 (I was still behind the HBO narrative). The prose is better than I first thought. I may buy the new book afs this Tuesday.
A few quibbles about the series. I wish they would leave off the sound effects whenever one of the good guys hauls a sword out. That metal on metal sound effect just makes me conscious of being riveted to my television by a story written for 14-year-old males (and that sheath, it’s leather, isn’t it? - so where does the metal sound come from?). It’s ridiculous and reminds me of the the stupid ‘fangs go erect’ mannerism of suddenly interested vampires in True Blood. HBO, please can all this expository FX crap posing as character development. It’s all so hokey. A metal sound when swords are unsheathed takes me right out of the narrative, setting it back briefly every time. Quibble two, why is it all so British? Christ. I have neither interest in nor knowledge of British royal stuff. I am completely unimpressed by the bows and curtsies and hail my liege, my leg for your honor, back to the keep! etc. Much of the Joffrey character in particular seems to draw too heavily on stereotypes about rotten English kids. Three, every plot thread opened in the first season was left open at the end of the last episode. No resolution of anything, at all. That seems so blatantly manipulative. Does the first book end that way, free of all resolution?
Overall, the HBO series is pretty good, though. I’ll definitely watch the first ep of the second season. 3.6/5, so far.
Just finished the Dance of Dragons audio book, all 48 hours of it. Good stuff. I was, by turns, lulled, amused (Tyrian had me laughing out loud a few times), surprised, and suspicious.
Now I’m stuck waiting another who knows how many years for the next volume. I frequently (usually?) reread great books, but haven’t found it easy to do so with these books, and the long wait made this read not a easy as it ought to have been.
[quote=“Jaboney”]Just finished the Dance of Dragons audio book, all 48 hours of it. Good stuff. I was, by turns, lulled, amused (Tyrian had me laughing out loud a few times), surprised, and suspicious.
Now I’m stuck waiting another who knows how many years for the next volume. I frequently (usually?) reread great books, but haven’t found it easy to do so with these books, and the long wait made this read not a easy as it ought to have been.[/quote]
Good to know - I was scanning the very mixed reviews on Amazon last night (average three stars) and was beginning to lose interest. I’ve got a long flight in a week or so, and I’m saving “Dance of Dragons” for that.
I only just read (for the first time) the first four books in the series, so I don’t need a refresher yet; I don’t know how I’ll manage things when the next book comes out. They’re fun stories but I’m not sure it’s worth my time to re-read them. I’ll probably just go to Wikipedia for a recap.
I have a questiobn. Why did the remove the ‘A’ from the title ‘A Game of Thrones’? It’s not important, but I wonder. And why don’t they call the series ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’? They could call the first season ‘A Game of Thrones’ and the second season ‘A Clash of Kings’ and so on .
Don’t miss the talk Martin gave at Google sooner after Dance was launched. They joke about how given the HBO series, the last 2 books have to be written in 6 years
[quote]Jaboney wrote:
Now I’m stuck waiting another who knows how many years for the next volume.
Don’t miss the talk Martin gave at Google sooner after Dance was launched. They joke about how given the HBO series, the last 2 books have to be written in 6 years
[/quote]
Personally, I hope he ends it while he is ahead. Why do people always have to wonder what happens next? Why isn’t it enough to say everybody lived happily ever after?
In Martin’s series, that kind of ending would certainly be a twist. I’m half-expecting an icy wasteland inhabited only by zombies in the epilogue of the final book.
Season two had a production budget 15% over that of season one. Supposedly the increased budget is to cover the Battle of Blackwater, although I thought I could see a significant bump in Ep 1 set bling and film quality (it’s probably not film). A very rich atmosphere and absolutely gorgeous on the screen; top notch.
E1S2 still dragged in spots, not unlike nearly every episode in S1. There are too many close-up shots of talking heads, I think. On anything less than a, say, two-meter HD screen these shots work best as narrative anchors, not engines. Probably kind to a production budget, though.
Still, it was fine television. I’m not complaining.
I loved the way they used a red comet in every sky to tie all the disparate-seeming characters together. Very clever.
I was going to give the series a re-read in prep for the next book, but I’ve got my hands full with a house to renovate and kids to raise. Youngest is going into Gr. 1… could likely wait until she’s off to college and still beat George to the punch.
The anniversary came up in my twitter feed, and I searched here, figuring there must be a thread about it. Thought, “Hey, haven’t seen Jaboney here for a while, why not reply to him?”
Funny to think even back in 2010, people were criticizing Martin for his slow pace. 11 years later and the book still hasn’t come out! I think at this point, most people except the diehard book fans have lost interest. It’s a shame the TV show runners didn’t have Martin’s material to draw from and had to half-ass the ending in such a way that it soured so many on the mythology. I can understand taking your time to get it right and yes it’s his books and he can do what he wants in the end, but there’s really no legitimate excuse for taking a decade plus.
Thanks. Life back home is aces.
A part those renos is a 30 foot long floor to ceiling bookshelf. If George doesn’t get his pen in gear, I’m going to bury those books on the bottom shelf behind the kiddo’s Dr. Seuss.
Yep. I actually gave up after the second book. The pacing was just too slow for me, and it was annoying to have to keep track of so many characters. I thought HBO did a great job with it. Well, except for the ending.
I kinda drifted away after the red wedding (in season 3?). I know it was still good for a couple seasons after that, but I can only see so many white-walker teases, three eyed raven visions, eyes being gouged out and heads lopped off, and slave tits before I start to lose interest. Well… maybe except for the slave tits.
.
I was going to say “maybe one day”, but I’ve seen enough of the show so probably not.