Just watched the first two episodes.
Really quite a smash!
I also just ordered the first four of the books on Amazon.
Just watched the first two episodes.
Really quite a smash!
I also just ordered the first four of the books on Amazon.
On the Path to the Streets of Gold: a Suebi AAR
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Hvil i fred HoreToreA man who casts no shadow has no soul.
"I'm going to die anyway, and therefore have nothing more to do except deliberately annoy Lemur." -Orb, in the chat
"Lemur. Even if he's innocent, he's a pain; so kill him." -Ignoramus
"I'm going to need to collect all of the rants about the guilty lemur, and put them in a pretty box with ponies and pink bows. Then I'm going to sprinkle sparkly magic dust on the box, and kiss it." -Lemur
Mafia: Promoting peace and love since June 2006
It is known.
Ok, who saw last nights episode?
It was amazing. I loved it.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
On the Path to the Streets of Gold: a Suebi AAR
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Hvil i fred HoreToreA man who casts no shadow has no soul.
This thread is going to degenerate into a mass of spoiler tags, so it will be hard to participate without risking reading something much further on in the story. I suggest that we use spoilers for anything in the books that has not yet appeared on TV but are free to discuss the latest episodes without them. [I clicked on Hooahguy's spoiler to get his reaction to last nights episode, which was fine, but then was emboldened to click on CountArach's spoiler which I regret reading. Entirely my own fault, but if we don't differentiate between the two kinds of spoiler, others may make the same mistake.]
I will edit my first post to suggest this convention on spoilers.
Back on topic, I am still greatly enjoying the series - the plot, in particular, is very satisfying. It is like watching a slow motion train wreck - things are all going to hell. But there are enough twists and turns to keep it interesting.
I will totally agree with you there. Those two characters are superb. Tyrion, while you want to see him as this evil character and you want to hate, you just cant. While he is a Lannister, and the twins I really hate, this one I just love because he is often wise and really quite funny.
Arya is just awesome. Nuff said.
On the Path to the Streets of Gold: a Suebi AAR
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Hvil i fred HoreToreA man who casts no shadow has no soul.
Tyrion isn't evil. And surprise surprise a vast majority of book readers love him as well. As well as Arya. This is incredibly heartening to see that the some of the books more beloved characters are loved in this series as well.
Do people like Jaime as well? And Jon also.
I never said he was evil, but, if I can speak for the population, people want to see him as an evil person because Ned and the Starks are commonly seen as the "good guys" in all this, and because they are opposed to the Lannisters. But when people see more of Tyrion, they see that he is quite the opposite of their expectations.
I like Jon. I feel that a lot of what he does is a sense of regret for his personal struggles.
And I just hate Jaime. No way do I identify with him at all, hes just a jerk.
On the Path to the Streets of Gold: a Suebi AAR
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Hvil i fred HoreToreA man who casts no shadow has no soul.
Well, Jaime has not really done anything likeable in the TV series. As a so far pretty evil character, I think he (and his sister) are superb. Someone said that the actor looked like he had walked in from another series (maybe Dynasty or some other glossy 1980s US drama) but that this was actually just right for the part. Urbane, charming, formiddable and utterly amoral, he makes an impression. I am also rather in awe of the actress playing Cersei. Halfway through the first book, I can see that original source material accounts for much of the strength of the TV drama. But she has added a lot to her part - fleshing it out, to make her character appear both more thoughtful and more emotionally intelligent than in the book. The twins certainly make excellent antagonists for the rougher hewn and straight talking Starks.
I regard him as the "everyman" character in the TV show and perhaps the one through whose eyes we are supposed to see the world. An outsider with a kinder sensibility than most, he has a youthful innocence and doleful curiosity. I'm not sure how much we will see of the Wall and what's beyond - I suspect they are going to be revealed in a very long story arc - but they are a very intriguing setting.And Jon also.
Last edited by econ21; 05-24-2011 at 23:45.
I actually think that Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who plays Jaime, looks a lot like Aaron Eckhart.
Also, what do people think of Daenerys? I really like her, great character.
Last edited by Hooahguy; 05-24-2011 at 23:15.
On the Path to the Streets of Gold: a Suebi AAR
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Hvil i fred HoreToreA man who casts no shadow has no soul.
Ugh you guys have to read the books your all killing me.
Seriously these are probably the deepest most refined fantasy novels I have ever read. I have been waiting for Martin to write the next one forever. Your opinions of people will change so much as you learn more and read more you will be shocked and amazed at the crafting. Also and this doesn't really ruin anytihng because you will likely never see any of this coming Martin is not afraid to kill off major characters even those whose eyes we read the books through.
I don't know whether that last sentence should be put into spoilers or not. I know that it's one of the things that surprised me the most about the books, even infuriated me at times.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Also, I love the cast. All major characters have been spot on for me so far. The only thing that I always imagined different are the places. I didn't picture King's Landing to be so warm or the Eyre looking the way it does. The Sky Cells are spot on for example, but I imagined the rest differently. And no reading could prepare me just how massive the Great Wall is, also it wouldn't make sense any other way.
Last edited by Ituralde; 05-25-2011 at 13:18.
The lions sing and the hills take flight.
The moon by day, and the sun by night.
Blind woman, deaf man, jackdaw fool.
Let the Lord of Chaos rule.
—chant from a children's game heard in Great Aravalon, the Fourth Age
One thing that is unavoidable, I suppose, is how much smaller each scene seems to be compared to the books. The tourney, for example. In the books it's a multi-day affair with hundreds of knights competing, but why waste the time and money to show that? Instead we see two whole jousts. Not complaining, mind you, could be worse; I'm old enough to remember the BBC I, Caludius, where a suspicious number of scenes were framed as, Just before we witness that massive event, let's pause in this stairway to discuss matters of state.
Likewise, the infamous crown of gold scene. In the TV show it takes place in a tent about the size of a living room. In the books, as I recall, it occurred at a giant feast of the horse lords, with hundreds drinking and singing. Hence the dragon prince's difficulty in finding his sister, which made little-to-no sense in a living room.
Look, the cast is perfect, and the adaptation is excellent. I just wish they had an infinite budget and schedule so they could make every scene as epic as it ought to be. Idle grousing.
And Tyrion is one of the best characters ever created.
Last edited by Lemur; 05-25-2011 at 16:06.
You always have to condense it, but they stay admirably close to the books.
Except for the Loras/Renley interlude or is my memory failing me here? Is a relationship between them ever described explicitly in the book or are there just hints? Seems like I do have to read the books again.
The lions sing and the hills take flight.
The moon by day, and the sun by night.
Blind woman, deaf man, jackdaw fool.
Let the Lord of Chaos rule.
—chant from a children's game heard in Great Aravalon, the Fourth Age
The TV show makes explicit a relationship that was implicit in the books. There are several times when maidens and wenches sigh over the Knight of Flowers, and various characters snicker about how unfulfilled those women will be. Likewise, Loras was Renley's page (or maybe the other way around? I forget), and their relationship is described as close. There's also the issue of whether or not Renley's eventual wife stays a virgin, which has plot implications, but several people think she is, for reasons left unsaid.
Anyway, both Loras and Renley are implied to be gay. No scene of them shaving one another, though; that's an addition from the show. There are two explicit lesbian scenes in the books that I remember, but no hot man-on-man action.
Like I said, I'm not complaining, just idly grousing about the semi-epic rendition of an epic. Could be worse. I'd love to see a big-budget remake of I, Claudius in my lifetime. That still stands as the high-water mark for a low-budget rendition of a massive story. Sure, a great script and fantastic actors made up the difference, but it's hard to see a black-box theatrical take on a story as big as Lord of the Rings.
On the Path to the Streets of Gold: a Suebi AAR
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Hvil i fred HoreToreA man who casts no shadow has no soul.
Great series.
Definitely and without doubt.And Tyrion is one of the best characters ever created.
Last edited by Beskar; 05-26-2011 at 04:30.
Days since the Apocalypse began
"We are living in space-age times but there's too many of us thinking with stone-age minds" | How to spot a Humanist
"Men of Quality do not fear Equality." | "Belief doesn't change facts. Facts, if you are reasonable, should change your beliefs."
I watched the first one largely because of this thread and almost didn't bother with the second. It seemed like an hour long episode of Xena, absent the warrior princess (if that makes any sense.)
After the second, though, I was hooked. The characters are dynamic and the plot lines are quite intricate. Fun stuff.
everybody read the books! i dont care hopw good the episodes are and how old this cliche is the books are always better.
Already the books were quite cheap, so I ordered them all and pre-ordered the new one coming out in July.
However, the TV series is very good and probably will do the books a lot of justice.
Days since the Apocalypse began
"We are living in space-age times but there's too many of us thinking with stone-age minds" | How to spot a Humanist
"Men of Quality do not fear Equality." | "Belief doesn't change facts. Facts, if you are reasonable, should change your beliefs."
From what I hear the series is so far good stuff. I wont be watching it until Martin releases his next novel in protest (so like this fall). Also I do not have HBO so I will wait for the discs which I prefer anyway.
But the novels will blow you away. Imagine the series not limited by budget constraints and real world physics. Simply amazing in thier depth intrigue and grandeur
I think you will love the series. I've been reading the first book as I watch the TV series and it is very faithful. Yes, stuff gets cut but most of the good dialogue is straight out of the books and it seems extremely faithful to it. The acting and production values are so good that some of the deviations from the book are improvements. For example, the opening to the TV series with the White Walkers that I linked to in the first post. And the more nuanced characterisation of Cersei that I've mentioned before. But also some smaller things - for example, this week there was a nice little exchange between Ned, Arya and Sansa about why Sansa should not marry the odious little prince Joffrey.
Ned reassures Sansa: "I will find you someone brave, kind and strong to marry..."
Sansa exclaims petulantly: "I don't want to marry someone brave, kind and strong - I want Joffrey!"
Ned and Arya then exchange a lovely little private father-daughter look. I didn't pick it up the irony of Sansa's outburst in the book, but those two actors are so good, it was a delight.
I'm realy fond of the opening with the clockwork map, I hope they can make some sort of model out of it, I'd love to have even one of those cities.
On the Path to the Streets of Gold: a Suebi AAR
Visited:
Hvil i fred HoreToreA man who casts no shadow has no soul.
Finished all the books. Man did A Feast for Crows suck. :/
Last edited by GeneralHankerchief; 05-27-2011 at 04:50.
"I'm going to die anyway, and therefore have nothing more to do except deliberately annoy Lemur." -Orb, in the chat
"Lemur. Even if he's innocent, he's a pain; so kill him." -Ignoramus
"I'm going to need to collect all of the rants about the guilty lemur, and put them in a pretty box with ponies and pink bows. Then I'm going to sprinkle sparkly magic dust on the box, and kiss it." -Lemur
Mafia: Promoting peace and love since June 2006
By all means press on; it's not half bad, objectively. But I found myself slogging through it for the second-hand glimpses about people and characters I actually care about.
Also, the Blackfish is my favorite character.
theres nothing wrong with feast of crows? it isnt as strong as the others but its still good.
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