Games of Thrones = CNN

[Ganolyn]

...I watched the first season before starting the books (halfway through 5 now)...

Oh, and ya, Jon is rockin'.

Wait until you get to the end of book five! <giggle>

[SniptheShadow]

Regarding the 'adaptation' business, I was a little disappointed that not only was Dagmer not Cleftjaw, they actually wrote him up with some of Reek's contribution to the storyline.

I'll cite a couple of disagreements with you on the "there are no good guys"--Jon and Dany. And I have yet to see one redeeming feature in the Mountain or Rorge (though those 2 are relatively minor characters). They border on being fantasy tropes. But it's still a heck of a good read and I'm also enjoying the show. Kudos to the people who cast the role of Brienne in particular, she looks almost spot on to my mind's eye.

I agree.

I also forgot about Ned Stark. He fits fully into the 'good' category, even if to his own detriment.

[LordMond63]

One of the most appealing things about this series to me is that, with almost no exceptions (Eddard Stark being the only one I can think of offhand), no one is above reproach or irredeemably evil, but rather a mix of the two extremes. As much as I loved the LotR trilogy, I have to admit that characters like Gandalf were almost cartoonish. You knew what they would do when confronted with a difficult choice- they'd choose the selfless option even though it might (or might not) end up costing them much or all. There were very few conflicted characters in those books or movies (OK...Bilbo and Frodo were conflicted, but powerful magic has a way of doing that to you).

In contrast, GoT is pretty much populated entirely of deeply flawed and deeply conflicted individuals. HBO has managed several series (I'm thinking Deadwood and Boardwalk Empire here) with the same sorts of fascinatingly human characters.

Thank heavens for DVR!

[teh_meh]

Ya, at this point I have to consider the White Walkers as the protagonists. After finishing Season 2, I am cheering for them to cross the wall and just kill everyone south of it. Just wash the entire 7 kingdoms into the sea and be done with it.

Purge away zombies om nom nom brains.