George R.R. Martin

I am now an official fan of Game of Thrones - in book form and the HBO series. While I am a bit ashamed that I watched the series before I read the books, I am not ashamed that I like both. I'm nearly done now with Clash of Kings, and I am really impressed with Martin's writing. I think the characters are really well-rounded even though there are so many of them, and that the wealth of individual stories weave together into such a rich and vibrant tapestry that I can't put it down. I think the world of Westeros and The Free Cities is well wrought, and I like that Martin didn't rely on a lot of exposition at the beginning to familiarize readers with the world - we were simply placed in the world and got to know it's differences as we got to know the characters. At the point that I am, I have to say I'm rooting for Daenerys to come back to Westeros and win her throne back to stop all the infighting amongst The Seven Kingdoms, but I also really like all the Stark children and I hope that Dany coming back doesn't negatively affect their lives. I don't believe that this will necessarily happen because it seems now a bit too "happy ending" for the way Martin is writing the series, but I still hope for it.

I am also a huge fan of the HBO series because I think that it is remarkably true to the books, and I think it is really well cast. The first season of the series was (in my opinion) one of the most true to the text productions that I can think of. When I read the first book after watching the first season, I was floored by how good of an adaptation it was. I couldn't believe how often the actors in the series said the lines that Martin wrote word for word. I have many friends who are Harry Potter fans or Twilight fans who get so disappointed by what is added or left out of the films; I have to imagine that other Game of Thrones fans are thrilled with how the first season stayed so true to the book. That being said, the second season of the series has begun to diverge from the text, in some places pretty markedly. There are some characters that have been omitted, and in some places, the order of events has been changed so that they could omit events as well. Some fans might be disappointed by this, but I am fine with it thus far because I understand that the books are getting quite lengthy and the list of characters just keeps growing so the producers/directors have to make some concessions to save time and money. I think that what the series does keep is still remarkably true to the text and the storyline still flows quite well the way they have arranged it. I am excited to see the new actors that come in season three to fill the new character roles. I am particularly excited to see Iwan Rheon become part of the cast as I am a big fan of Misfits and was sad to see his character fazed out in the last season.

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