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    #26
    A Song of Ice & Fire on HBO

    I don't have the patience to read something like that, I don't think. But the first season just ended and now I'm not sure I can wait a whole year for more. The first season of The Killing just ended too. Frustrating.

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      #27
      A Song of Ice & Fire on HBO

      hobbes and ReedJ, there is no such thing as "this sort of thing" or "something like that". There just isn't.

      I know many people who wont read yer Beardhammer, but can not put this shit down.

      Trust me.

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        #28
        A Song of Ice & Fire on HBO

        Well even watching it, it's only just the right side of utter shit. It would only take a couple of percent swing towards of (sword of dobberBridge of Doom etc) to turn it from eminently watchable guff to utterly unwatchable ordure.

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          #29
          A Song of Ice & Fire on HBO

          Fair enough, although you've made a wrong move by comparing the books to the series.

          I mean, the greatest aspect of the books would be the format employed by Martin: he writes each chapter from the point of view of a character - so when something occurs, you see/hear/understand it from that individual's inner monologue, and therefore, bias.

          You also get the backstory of each character from their own perspective, and of course that evolves as the story progresses.

          So, you know, there's always your Sword of the Morning guff aspect to any fantasy, but this series has the grace to do away with most other traditional Fantasy cliches, then add in regicide, patricide, incest and gay sex, too.

          I've been around OTF since 2000 - around the same time I began reading A Song of Ice and Fire - and have always thought: here's a Fantasy series that could stimulate even the staunchest of naysayers on The Board. It's a pity that it's taken a (fairly average, by HBO's standards) tv series to bring it to light.

          As an addendum, if any of you do choose to read the books, the first one isn't brilliant (just really entertaining with a couple of subtle holes), as it struggles to find its identity a bit, but after that they all just get better and better. The second book, A Clash of Kings is my favourite, as it is almost entirely about the politics and intrigue of the Realm, with a powerful subtext on the nature of the feudal system inherent within the lands (Martin is a bit of a right-on, type).

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            #30
            A Song of Ice & Fire on HBO

            No, don't get me wrong. I love a good beardhammer yarn. I liked Lord of the Rings and some of the old Howard Conan pulp stories.

            I just can't imagine being able to plow through seven long books with what appears to be about 1000 characters. It seems to me like chess to Harry Potter's checkers, if you like.

            I've never got past page 100 in Dune. I'm pretty lazy, I guess.

            Is it just me, or is the girl playing the blond princess Targareon dragonwrangler whatshername not quite right as a blond? Her eyebrows are too dark. She's very lovely, but she looks way better in interviews with brown hair. Same with Circee. The blond looks fake.

            I don't know if I can continue to watch it much longer if somebody doesn't kill Goffrey soon. When he tells the red-hed girl "When you have your blood, I'll put a son in you" is the most revolting thing I think I've ever heard on TV. Then he gets his underling to slap her for him. That was a bit Pythonesque, actually.

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              #31
              A Song of Ice & Fire on HBO

              Oddly, I bloody loved Dune. I've read it a few times. I've even read the increasingly annoying sequels once.

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                #32
                A Song of Ice & Fire on HBO

                Reed John wrote:
                I don't know if I can continue to watch it much longer if somebody doesn't kill Goffrey soon. When he tells the red-hed girl "When you have your blood, I'll put a son in you" is the most revolting thing I think I've ever heard on TV. Then he gets his underling to slap her for him. That was a bit Pythonesque, actually.
                He gets worse, but gets his.

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                  #33
                  A Song of Ice & Fire on HBO

                  Oh dear - After reading this, and especially Posty's enthusiasm, while I had time to kill at Warsaw airport and some spare Zloties in my pocket - I bought the first tome of this.

                  Curse you Posty - only 2 hundred page in and I am hooked - while not Shakespeare, it is certainly Shakesperean in it's style.
                  In that New Yorker link, Martin admits he based alot on the War of The Roses, and it certainly has that Shakespeare histories vibe.
                  In fact I am dreading the more magical stuff like t'Others , as it kind of detracts from the nastiness of all those crazy humans.

                  Anyway it will keep me going until Donaldson finally gets out the last Covenant book.

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                    #34
                    A Song of Ice & Fire on HBO

                    Nice one VTTB. You'll love the second book, then.

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                      #35
                      A Song of Ice & Fire on HBO

                      More thoughts, if anyone cares http://mostlyfilm.com/2011/07/06/game-of-thrones-the-verdict/

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                        #36
                        A Song of Ice & Fire on HBO

                        Well I downloaded all of HBO's master piece, and it is certainly great - although HBO's "lets have a sex scene", is alright ; but is annoying, when there's dark deeds to unravel.Plus I had to keep fast forwading because the kids were really into it (although they had alreday been "blooded on Rome by their grand dad - so it was nothing to them).

                        Excellent performances for Tyrion, of course; but also the other Lannisters, as well.In fact all the Houses do their bit.

                        Trouble is I saw most of it after I had just been stunned by the third book** (or rather in the UK , 3A and 3B) - so apart from never wanting to accept a wedding invitation in Westeros it does make me look at many of the characters on the screen in a new light.

                        Almost finished "Feast for Crows" , and a copy of" A dance with Dragons" is sitting waiting to be explored.

                        ** - My wife has said she has never seen me so shocked when reading before, as to certain events in "A Storm of Swords".

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                          #37
                          A Song of Ice & Fire on HBO

                          Cool! Be aware that AFFC and ADWD are kinda like 1 book, with the events across both covering the same time period.

                          The Red Wedding is tough going.

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                            #38
                            A Song of Ice & Fire on HBO

                            Yeah Posty, I have almost finished ADWD now and the time lines are together again.

                            Martin actually said that the Red Wedding was the toughest thing he has ever written and kept putting it off.

                            Great stuff, really and I am looking forward to the second series next year, I hope also Martin is a bit quicker in getting out the remaining books.

                            As most the casting for the series is English, you see a few of Harry Potter minor actors turning up - Filch as old man Frey is quite funny , and Tomsk as the Wilding girl.
                            A few Weasleys will probably turn up.

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                              #39
                              A Song of Ice & Fire on HBO

                              I thought the series was a bit average as well, but the books (so far) have been great.

                              It's funny how the series had to add about 10 years onto the age of some of the characters, just so they could film the obligatory HBO sex-scenes.

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                                #40
                                A Song of Ice & Fire on HBO

                                Second series about to hit the screens, not re badging it away from "Game of Thrones", as this will confuse some I suppose.
                                Looking forward to it alot, although I hope HBO haul in their "HBOishness" with the naughty bits a little, I watch this with the kids you know, I get fed up doing fast forward.
                                Be interesting how they blend it, as it is supposed to be parts of the third book brought in to go with the second book.
                                Looking forward to the north of The Wall action a lot - other stuff less so.

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                                  #41
                                  A Song of Ice & Fire on HBO

                                  Looking forward to it alot, although I hope HBO haul in their "HBOishness" with the naughty bits a little, I watch this with the kids you know, I get fed up doing fast forward.
                                  Isn't that your problem rather than HBO's? It's not as if the source material is particularly kid-friendly or short on "naughty bits".

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                                    #42
                                    A Song of Ice & Fire on HBO

                                    I can still hope though, my problem or not.
                                    In fact the source material did not have half of the gratuitous sex part ala HBO.
                                    example - I can't remember Ross fisting another prostitute in lingering detail that much.
                                    For the voeyeurs I am sure it was a few mins well spent; but it added nothing to anything for me.

                                    yes it's not very child friendly; but the source material is there for them to read it if they want.

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                                      #43
                                      A Song of Ice & Fire on HBO

                                      There is quite a lot of sex, not to mention rape, in the books. It's not described in vast amounts of detail. But there's tons of it.

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                                        #44
                                        A Song of Ice & Fire on HBO

                                        looking forward to this - enjoyed your analysis lyra

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                                          #45
                                          A Song of Ice & Fire on HBO

                                          Ginger Yellow wrote:
                                          There is quite a lot of sex, not to mention rape, in the books. It's not described in vast amounts of detail. But there's tons of it.
                                          Yeah I know, it's just like whenever any thing a bit "naughty" happened on TV when I was younger with my parents, I don't know who was more embarrassed me or them.
                                          Same feeling I think
                                          Still looking forward to it .

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                                            #46
                                            A Song of Ice & Fire on HBO

                                            From memory, I think the second book was far more explicit in the sex scenes (the North-of-the-wall shananigans), so HBO can take full advantage of that.

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                                              #47
                                              A Song of Ice & Fire on HBO

                                              Useless fact I just found out, the guy who plays Theon, is Lilly Allen's brother.

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                                                #48
                                                A Song of Ice & Fire on HBO

                                                Only watched it on an iPod; but Series 2 looks pretty fine too.
                                                The new actors playing the new characters seem OKish, Stannis looks dour, Mel looks scary, etc.

                                                The old favourites do their party turns, Joffrey is actually played to perfection, I will try and watch it again tonight on a proper screen.

                                                "King of the Noooooooorth"

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                                                  #49
                                                  A Song of Ice & Fire on HBO

                                                  For an opener, which necessarily required a fair amount of exposition, there was plenty of dramatic tension and killer lines. Good to see a show without the usual goodies prevailing easily over baddies plotlines. And, my, haven't those direwolves grown!

                                                  My only bugbear is with Sky Atlantic, with it's lengthy ad breaks and dreary Blackberry plugs. It sort of spoils the continuity. A bit of a shame that Sky have hoovered up all the HBO programmes, and are pushing into star-studded plays (Sky Arts) and original sitcoms (Sky1). There's obviously a tactic with drama mirroring the football coverage: throw money at the good stuff and force interested viewers to cough up and watch.

                                                  I wonder if it's too late a move by them, with the streaming and big internet players sniffing around TV now.

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                                                    #50
                                                    A Song of Ice & Fire on HBO

                                                    Possible spoilers

                                                    I too became hooked on the books after half watching the first episode of the first series. One aspect I actually quite like is the way the people you first think of as the good guys keep getting knocked off with astonishing regularity.

                                                    Love Tyrion's character.

                                                    Have now watched all of the first series and second begins here tonight. IQ box set to record. I cannot imagine them making six series though.

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