Game of Thrones

[pigmaker]

Also, I was disappointed by the Black Gate. It would have been cool to see a Weirwood tree open it's mouth for them to walk through, though probably too much trouble.

a friend of mine had read the third book a while back and said this season was gonna be near impossible to shoot. between the dragons and the giant tree opening it's mouth.

i did notice a very brief shot in episode 9 near the wall of a tree that looked like it had a face on the side of it. that's probably totally unrelated though.

please don't hold my ignorance against me, all ye great wisdom holders of the realm... thou art so kind. and i am not big on ye olde renaissance faire pussy.

oh yeah, almost forgot, great george rr martin interview on conan last week, second segment, after the swedish dude from true blood talking about his dad being naked all the time at home when he was a kid.

[Rob Fossil]

RE: Canon

There is a reason that Tom Bombadil was left out of the LOTR movies. Aside from throwing the pacing of the film waaaaay off, it would have looked goofy as shit. There are many sections in GoT that would just not translate to the screen, no matter how much budget they throw at it. To me, Coldhands looked ridiculous in my head, prancing around on his elk and he was an easy solution to get Bran & Co out of a jam. If they replace him/change him to be more realistic looking, you won't hear me complain.

For me, the best part of GoT is the political intrigue, battles, and moral grayness of most of the characters. The fantasy/magic stuff adds to the world of Westeros but for TV/film I'm all for jettisoning the parts that look or play lame. Bitching about minor plot points (giant talking trees, has Treebeard taught us nothing?) that have been removed to make a season come in at around 11 hours and on budget is a waste of time. For the most part, I am satisfied with the changes and omissions that D & D have chosen to make, the main exception is the softening of Arya's arc. I really wanted to see Weasel soup.

[bugzaney]

i can't even open this thread for fear of spoils.

[Greenfuz]

I soooo wanted to see Coldhands. Also, I was disappointed by the Black Gate. It would have been cool to see a Weirwood tree open it's mouth for them to walk through, though probably too much trouble.
I began reading the books in February and I started ADWD a couple days ago. I must say it was one of my better decisions in life
The show is great, but
http://youtu.be/1CLCOvZOh1o

I was soooo looking forward to the weirwood tree mouth thing

anybody else stop reading halfway through a feast for crows? I could never get into the new characters

[SmallEQ]

<snip>Why not just make it exactly like it was in the books<snip>

This is basically what every critique of the show I've heard so far boils down to. Man, sci-fi and fantasy geeks sure do love to insist on canon

Songs of Fire and Ice, especially once you get past Book three, needs a fucking editor more than anything I've ever read. It's already basically the most ambitious TV project in history and as of now there are about 25 "regular characters" there is no way to make it exactly like the book short of running it for 20 seasons. Weiss and Benioff have to be a surgeon in how they cut this up and thankfully have Martin's ear to make sure they aren't cutting anything essential to the future. Like it or not choices have to be made and while a character like Strong Belwas was pretty fun in the book, in the end how important is he going to be to how the story plays out?

God knows I don't wouldn't want to watch the entirety of "Feast for Crows" played out like it did in the book. While there were apparently no editors to reign Martin in, Weiss and Benioff sure as fuck will and we'll all be the better for it.

[Grrface]

I had to make myself finish a Feast for Crows. AND THE END IS TOTAL BULLSHIT. And not good bullshit like the other ones, but just "oh yeah, I'm just gonna stop writing now."

[basti moon]

I like the latter books more, they're not so much like tv series scripts as the first books. When the show started happening he changed his writing into longform fantasy full of details that the series could pick and choose from while still having a base storyline, while the first books were more like very hopeful scripts that there was no way could be accurately made into a show without the changes that they have done.
Not sure if this argument holds up to someone really serious about the whole thing, but it works for me

[bigchiefbc]

I had to make myself finish a Feast for Crows. AND THE END IS TOTAL BULLSHIT. And not good bullshit like the other ones, but just "oh yeah, I'm just gonna stop writing now."

Ugh, this. I just finished the penultimate chapter tonight. I have one more to go and man, I just can't do it tonight. This book has been a SLOG. I really, really hope ADWD is better.

[Warpsmasher]

I felt the same about Feast, but liked it much better the second time through the series. It's easily the darkest, nastiest book of the lot. The bad guys won, and it's the aftermath of that, so it's just bitter and mean spirited. Also, Qyburn is great.
Feast and Dance take place simultaneously, another thing it's easier to notice the second time though. Around halfway through book 5, the timeline starts moving past where 4 left off. Just getting back into Tyrion chapters is reason enough to keep going. Dance is the next best book after Storm of Swords.

[Greenfuz]

honestly can I just skip feast I can't do it I can't

no tyrion no jon

just those stupid ironborn and dorne losers that nobody cares about

sure the arya and jaime stuff is cool but like it's intermixed with a bunch of bullshit

[pigmaker]

i forgot to mention that i have a direct blood relative that dates back to sherwood forest 16th century

like my grandfather 15 times removed

instant nerd cred!

[devideva]

Ubi sunt - the passing away genre - a classic since the Arthurian Legends.

I am interested in Ari and Dragon-babe the most. Hate most of the rest of the shmucks, And easy at that.

[Rob Fossil]

Song of Ice and Fire, especially once you get past Book three, needs a fucking editor more than anything I've ever read.

God knows I don't wouldn't want to watch the entirety of "Feast for Crows" played out like it did in the book. While there were apparently no editors to reign Martin in, Weiss and Benioff sure as fuck will and we'll all be the better for it.

A thousand times this. Though a visual medium will self edit all of the endless descriptions of appearance, fashion, food, and sigils. That right there will cut down Feast by half. My eyes started to glaze over with every mention of boiled leather, jerkins, and lamphrey pie. Though jerkin could have been code for what GRRM was up to at the keyboard.

[bigchiefbc]

<snip>Why not just make it exactly like it was in the books<snip>

This is basically what every critique of the show I've heard so far boils down to. Man, sci-fi and fantasy geeks sure do love to insist on canon

They did a fairly good job with the first season and keeping it true to the books so i was just a bit like wait what the fuck why did they need to change that. Like I get they needed to slim down the books to make them viable for a tv show but changes in season 2 that completely change the plot made me stop watching.

Some of the changes were for the better though. I love the Arya/Tywin scenes. So much better than her spending months scrubbing floors for Weez and Bolton. I don't think Martin's writing is sacrosanct. I like to see it improved upon.

[coldbrightsunlight]

Yeah, his writing definitely isn't perfect and I don't mind them changing shit, although changing the character Robb marries and making it just for love made me have a lot less sympathy for TV Robb than book Robb, they're trying different things for a different medium and I respect that.

^And the Arya/Tywin scenes were much better than what was in the book probably, that's a great example of something they nailed.