Game of Thrones

[lesbiassparrow]

So, I got about 20 minutes into this and realised there was no way on earth I would remember who half of these people were in the next episode, so decided it was best to wait and watch a bunch in a row. Sean Bean is excitingly craggy though; hope this is not a case of bait and switch and he will not end up being eaten by a dire-wolf in episode three. That will annoy me a great deal. Everyone looked suitably cold and grimy (though as I am not gritty viewing sort of person, I hope there will be a great deal of bathing soon.)

Is this the sort of book you think I would like? I have a feeling it would be a lot better to watch this having read the books as it seems to have a cast of about 500,000 and what with all the grime I can see myself getting people confused. Except for Sean Bean, of course. His grime is special.

Comments

[lage-nom-ai.livejournal.com]

I'll admit that I never finished the first novel; it just didn't grab me at all when I tried it several years ago. That said, the fervent admiration by people I admire on my flist has encouraged me to try the novels again--but not until Martin actually finishes the damn series. Never again shall I be burned like I was by that hack Robert Jordan!

Fannish osmosis definitely helped me keep better track of the characters; I think you'd find QoT's recap (linked off her LJ) very helpful, because she identifies characters who haven't been given names yet (like the Albino Blondes, as I was calling them).

[lesbiassparrow.livejournal.com]

I read another book of Martin's on a completely unrelated topic (about vampires and steamboats) and really enjoyed it. But the size of these books is rather terrifying... Especially if they have a cast of thousands. I already went through that with War and Peace and that was quite enough, thank you.

[queenofthorns.livejournal.com]

The characters in the books are a little easier to keep track of, because the structure is of a third-person POV (i.e. each pov character has his or her own chapters from his or her own point of view.)

That said, I watched it with a newbie, and was just like "go with the flow, not necessary to recognize/know everyone's names, don't worry about it just now" and he liked it a lot. The first episode is the most difficult, by all accounts, but HBO usually will rerun a marathon after three episodes (they do this with a lot of their shows, so maybe wait to watch three in a row?)

Also if you can keep track of Roman religious customs, I bet you can keep track of these characters after an hour or so in their company :P

[namastenancy.livejournal.com]

I recommend a genealogical table to keep track all of the people and who they belong to, are married to, kill off, etc. As far as the bathing goes, I do not remember much bathing or soap. Sean Bean is always a category by himself but I sure would like to see him in a role where he has clean hands and hair.

Oh well. Can't have everything.

[rheanna27.livejournal.com]

Someone on my flist linked to HBO's online genealogy guide, which looks like a handy reference.

I haven't read the books -- I'm not a big fan of epic fantasy, and knowing the series isn't complete puts me off a little bit. Ideally, I should probably read the first book and then watch the TV version, but if I try to make that my goal, the likelihood is that it'll never happen, so I'm probably best just diving into the TV version and, if I like it, giving the books a try.

[chelseagirl47.livejournal.com]

I'm not keen on epic fantasy and still enjoyed them; there's a lot of politics and he's strong on characterization.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

I am not sure about your book preferences. But there are plenty of evil parents in this one, I can assure you!!!!! And strange haircuts.

[koalathebear.livejournal.com]

I love fantasy and I don't mind huge books or endless series and I really, really wanted to like these books but after 3 attempts I gave up :( too much moral ambiguity, murder and incest for my liking. I'm going to watch the series and see if that inspires me to try the series again :D But I'd like to wait until Martin finishes writing the series. It seems ambitious to start filming the books now before he's even finished the series.