Freecare, I guess I'm not worried. Martin is a creative director/producer, so he's pretty hands on in some aspects.
Ned...
Hidden Information!
makes it through most of the first book with only about 4-5 chapters after his death. IMHO, he is the catalyst which starts this whole thing--well, after Robert Baratheon's death. W/O his death there would be no point to the Clash of Kings and Storm of Swords. Besides, he's not the central "hero" in any way. He certainly had his own heroic arc, but the main heroes, imho, are Jon Snow, Dany and Bran. They seem to have the most epic character arcs. I would throw Arya in there as well but she goes down some really dark roads and strays from making any kind of heroic decisions. But, it's expected given who she's "training" with last we read of her. Tyrion may fit into a heroic mold, but he's such a wild card, especially after what happens in King's Landing at the end of book 3. Ned? He never felt like a true hero. He had most of his "arc" before the beginning of the story with the rebellion against the mad Targaryen king and the joining of the 7 kingdoms. He began in the twilight of his heroic cycle. He had his chance to return home, to stay there, but in the end he chose loyalty to Robert over his family and they all suffered for it. Loved the character, but he needed to die as did a few others who "bit it" throughout the first three books.
I don't think they're doing a "whole new take" on Martin's universe at all. But, they needed to make changes in order for the adaptation to work on the screen. For example, I wouldn't be drawn in to a show quickly if they spent half an episode on the prologue. They breezed through that in about 10 minutes then moved on to Winterfell.
I'm excited, definitely! But, there's no way the series will ever hold a candle to the television show. It's not meant to. I guess I look at it as more of a tribute of Martin's vision.
I never got into Goodkind. I just couldn't get over some of the writing, but, I have friends who adore and are fanatically loyal to the series. I did watch a few episodes of the television show and found it on the same level as Xena/Hercules. Interesting characters and actors, but I felt the "freak of the week" adaptation (instead of sticking to an over-arcing narrative) was a turn off for me. I had been willing to give the show a shot, but when I realized they weren't following the books as my pals had explained, I lost interest.
Does HBO have an On Demand system that doesn't require an HBO subscription? In order to get HBO I have to pay about $50.00 more a month, thanks Comcast. I see HBO shows on the Amazon On Demand but don't know if those current seasons and if they are available shortly after being aired.
I may have to wait for it on DVD which will be well over a year. At least A Dance with Dragons is coming out on the 12th of July.
Mal: Seems we got here just in the nick of time. What does that make us?
Unfortunately, I think there is no way to get HBO other than to subscribe to the whole set of channels.
That said, when I signed up for HBO, I got three months free before they started charging me. If you have cable, you could ask if there is any kind of promotional deals where you can try HBO.
I'm in the same boat where I have to order a slew of channels in order to get the HBO (including On Demand, etc.) and it costs about an extra $75 a month, give or take. I'm completely okay with that, because I happen to find HBO worth it. I don't spend a lot of time watching TV, but I'd say HBO gets a solid 10 or so hours a month out of my TV watching. I feel like it's an acceptable fee, given my income, etc.
...Unfortunately, my girlfriend is not in agreement. We make a healthy income that can afford these sort of luxuries (an $800,000 home, but we can't spring for HBO?) but she feels it isn't worth it and she's very vehement about it. Regardless of whether we can afford it, she doesn't like the idea of spending the money on something she feels is overpriced.
So, I'll likely be watching these online at the usual streaming/download sites and then buying the DvDs as they come out. I wanna support the show, but I also want to continue to have sex and not have to live in fear within my own household. Or at least, in relatively less fear...
"If beer has never touched your lips, you've never dropped the mitts or packed a dip, chances are you're not a hockey player, and if you are -- chances are you're not a very good one"
-Todd Bertuzzi
It honestly sounds like she's being a bit of a shit about it. So what if it's overpriced? A fuggin' 800,000 house is overpriced unless it wipes my bottom for me after I potty.
Not to knock your GF, but nobody would tell me what to spend my money on when it came to my cable, internet, computers or games. She doesn't have to watch it. If she's going to up and leave you because you get your HBO, then wtf?
My husband knows better than to argue with me about that kind of stuff just as I know not to argue with him about all the money he spends on his music gear, his stupid-ass beer glasses and his special MJ vaporizer that makes his pot stash last 4 times as long. I don't smoke the shit. He can. Yay for him. As long as it's coming out of his money earned he could buy a fuggin' monkey for all I care (he'll have to clean up after the thing, sure).
Hahah, it's not as bad as I make it sound, Allu. She'll just complain about it if I buy the HBO package. I couldn't be bothered to listen to her. Certainly, it's well within my ability to get it, but I don't wanna hear her drawn out thoughts about how their pricing is terrible and we shouldn't be giving our money to such an evil bloodsucking corporation. So, I'll pay for the DvDs (usually they're around $60-$80, so it's actually cheaper than ordering HBO for 3 months, anyway) and watch it online. My monitor is pretty nice, so I don't mind that.
"If beer has never touched your lips, you've never dropped the mitts or packed a dip, chances are you're not a hockey player, and if you are -- chances are you're not a very good one"
-Todd Bertuzzi
It's not MY orifices getting plugged when I tire of hearing her, I assure you. Haha.
I recently just came to the part in the second book where Theon meets Asha. I'm completely smitten. Asha just instantly became my favorite character. I do hope she lives.
The second book certainly contains a lot more 'magic' subtle as it may be, than the first did. It's almost as if Martin was just waiting to let it all out. I find it kinda weird to see so little of Dany in the first half of the second book. 2 Chapters at most.
Sorry for the rambling about the books. What can I say? I'm a new fan, just happy to be digging into it all. More on the show -- Has anyone seen the Direwolves in any of the previews? I haven't seen any and can't help but be worried they left them out - Especially Ghost. I wanna see how they're potrayed. I have to admit, I find The Kingslayer looks a bit older than I expected. Did anyone else picture him as an almost boyish man? By my guess, he's supposed to be in his early 30's, but the actor looked to me like he was a good decade older. I could be wrong, though.
My last criticism of the previews, haha -- Did anyone else find the Ice looked really, really plain?
"If beer has never touched your lips, you've never dropped the mitts or packed a dip, chances are you're not a hockey player, and if you are -- chances are you're not a very good one"
-Todd Bertuzzi
The direwolves are there. I'm not sure they will be "direwolves" in a massive sense, but I've seen the scene where they have found the babies. It's out there on youtube.
Jon Snow gets his "Ghost" that's for sure. I can't help but think that Ghost is the most normal of the wolves. Nymeria is probably butt-wild crazy by now (same with Shaggydog) and Bran's dog, well . . . I don't know yet. Maybe that's okay too.
Don't get a lot of Robb's POV, so I don't think we ever get a bunch of Greywind.
And dude, I love freaking out like a giddy little fangirl over these books.
Haha. I totally meant to say "Ice" not 'the Ice'. I was refering to the sword. Just didn't look impressive. I always pictured it as much, much bigger and more impressive.
"If beer has never touched your lips, you've never dropped the mitts or packed a dip, chances are you're not a hockey player, and if you are -- chances are you're not a very good one"
-Todd Bertuzzi
Xican, man you gotta get your chica into the books. Then your problem is solved. Or is she just arm candy with no interest in nerdy things? In that case swap her out for a nerdy bookworm chick
This HBO series has the potential to be a super-sized helping of awesome where the kid at the drive-through gave you an extra order of awesome by mistake at no extra charge and now you have two heaping bags of awesome not counting the one in your pocket. Yes, I think it could be that good.
It definitely has the potential to be a hell of a lot of awesome. Certainly more than the average pocket full of awesome, to say the least.
Is Renly Baratheon gonna appear in the show? And if so, any idea who is playing him? I was a big fan of his for a while, up until that whole shadow business with the chick knight.
"If beer has never touched your lips, you've never dropped the mitts or packed a dip, chances are you're not a hockey player, and if you are -- chances are you're not a very good one"
-Todd Bertuzzi
Xican wrote:Haha. I totally meant to say "Ice" not 'the Ice'. I was refering to the sword. Just didn't look impressive. I always pictured it as much, much bigger and more impressive.
Yeah, I got that a bit too. Sure, it's a practical large sword, but I guess I imagined more "fantasy" frills.
