Game of Thrones teaser

[Mat Linnett]

Had me WTF-ing for a moment there with all that talk of "Ros". She wasn't in the books, and apparently was added for the TV series.

[Eraser]

oh dear, they're going to make a Game of Thrones videogame.


The trailer looks like shit to be honest, and I don't think it's good material for a video game at all.

Here's a bunch of screenshots. Looks like they're going for the RTS route.

[bitWISE]

That's like a trailer from the 90s with slightly better graphics. The animations are

[seremtan]

Dothraki Nukem Forever

[U4EA]

Great show, just finished watching it. Love fantasy and it doesn't hurt having dragons & magic. Sorely tempted to grab the books.

Favourite characters so far have to be Arya [overall spunk and general kickassness], Daenerys [the whole taming of the horse lord angle], Lord Snow and the Imp.

[Mat Linnett]

Go for the books U4EA. They're a great read.
While I'm sure the TV series is good, I'm equally sure that there's no way the show will be able to match the narrative power of the books. I'm currently just over three-quarters the way through "A Dance With Dragons", and there's lots in it that I can see them having problems depicting effectively in a TV show.

[U4EA]

Got the boxed set a few weeks ago, just have to set aside some time for this .

In other news, Peter Dinklage wins an Emmy:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtra ... ve-tv.html

[Eraser]

Oh, a few days ago, Carice van Houten was on a dutch television show and she said she had been signed for five seasons of Game of Thrones.

I wonder how long it'll take for her to get nekkid.

[Don Carlos]

In other news, Peter Dinklage wins an Emmy:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtra ... ve-tv.html

I saw this on my Facespace thing, fantastic news

[Mat Linnett]

Oh, a few days ago, Carice van Houten was on a dutch television show and she said she had been signed for five seasons of Game of Thrones.

I wonder how long it'll take for her to get nekkid.

The character she's been cast as hasn't really got nekkid once in the books yet, although there is a rather disturbing scene on a boat.

I'm quite surprised at her casting, as I thought that Christina Hendricks would have been a shoe-in for the part.

[xer0s]

Five more seasons?!

[Ryoki]

whoa, all this is excellent news

[U4EA]

Just finished A Dance With Dragons. Epic, fucking brilliant through and through, the entire series. I went through 5 books in a row, I can't imagine having to wait however many years until the next one T_T [nearly 6 years between books 4 & 5? yikes!]

I'll try to keep this as spoiler free as I can.

Arya remains my favourite by far. After the ending of book 1, I had an inkling as to what her next chapters were going to be like and I was not disappointed. I've always loved the on-the-run-whilst-trying-to-remain-hidden trope and it was well executed with her throughout books 2/3. I can't wait to see where they take her next.

Dany was great in book 1 but I found her chapters in books 2-5 to be amongst the most boring ones. The march, Qarth, the whole Astapor/Yunkai/Mereen bit. The vast majority of her supporting characters [barring a select few, I especially liked Missandei and one other who shall remain nameless] are dull and I didn't find myself caring for any of them. I do like how they're building her up from a scared little girl to a queen, making her mentally stronger and capable of ruling. Getting to grips with the job functions as it were. Still though ..

Tyrion really shone for me in book 2 especially, and I love what they've done with him since then.

The scope of events, characters and places also keeps growing and growing. It's so massively huge by the end of it. The plots within the plots, all the random scheming and intrigue.

One of the best things I like about this series is that there's no clear definition of who is "good" or "bad". Even the best characters have flaws and worst are made human when you understand their rationalisation, motivation or perspective. Without giving too much away, I even found myself rooting for some of villains from book 1 by the end of it. You never really think about it like this, but I guess too much fiction is merely a simplistic juxtaposition of good vs. evil. This is dark and gritty and it's never quite fully clear who is on which "side".

One other note about his writing style is the way he presents the chapters. Each chapter is from the point of view of a major character and this is how he keeps the reader up to date on the happenings in different places. The best thing here is how the entire chapter, not just the dialogue but the random observations about the places or the people, about what they look like or what they're wearing .. almost everything is presented from the way that particular character would perceive it or think about it. Like how Arya is always thinking of things as stupid, and Sansa really pays attention to people's clothes and her courtesies, or how another-character-who-shall-remain-nameless is really bitter and harsh towards everyone. He's got a real gift for this, and he switches seamlessly from character to character so well.

I haven't been this enthralled by fiction in a really long time, honestly. Highly recommended

[Mat Linnett]

Yeah, Arya's definitely the bestest character in the whole series, although that thing that happened to her between books 4 and 5 should have lasted longer IMO.

Dany's probably my second favourite character, as while she does have protracted sections of boring, she definitely gets some of the standout moments in the books, including the very end of "A Dance with Dragons".

But I do have a special place in my heart for Theon. He is SUCH a dick, but what happens to him? Wow. Seriously fucked up.

But then, all of the characters are incredibly well realised, and people I thought I could never sympathise with have become well rounded, interesting characters.

I do think Martin's going to come under a lot of pressure to finish the whole thing off now, before he dies of donut-assisted coronary. Signing up for the TV dramatisation must mean there's plenty of investors now who want the whole thing complete so they can budget for the remaining series. I just worry that the quality will suffer as a consequence.

[U4EA]

RE Dany's stand-out moments: well, one would certainly hope so, what with the dragons and all

RE Theon: haha yea fully agreed. I didn't think anything could make me feel sorry for the guy again, but I was wrong.

During the long writing period [for A Dance With Dragons], Martin insisted that he would not be bullied and works at his own pace, on this and several other projects, to make sure they come out as good as he can possibly make them.

So I hope he won't rush it [but also not take another 6 years!]. From what I've read on it, the delays with books 4/5 were due to it getting too massive and then effectively splitting it cleanly into 2 separate books. This was an interesting read as well: http://grrm.livejournal.com/75053.html

People are a funny business. Just let the guy do his thing and be happy when he decides to share his work with you. Fucking cunts I reckon.

And for some season 2 teasers: a "making of" type clip and Arya's new look.

[Transient]

Well, U4EA, I'm sold.

[menkent]

i'm so far into it i can't even remember where the first book/season ended. =\

thx @ u4ea for the links :-*