Game of Thrones... Anyone?

[LilMamiBella]

I have never read the series. This is an awesome show. If you like Lord of The Rings or even True blood then you'll love game of thrones on hbo.

[weliveintheforest]

We're watching this and love it!  I haven't read the books either but have a request in at the library for the first one... I'm 59th in line 

[journeymom]

Lord of the Rings and True Blood! That's a good way to put it!  Dh records it and watches it on the rare occasion he's home alone.  I watched the first episode with him.    It's a little too racy for my sensibilities. 

Dh has read all of the series, loves it, wonders when the author will ever finish. 

[Aquitane]

Oh, curse you, HBO!

I almost thought I could unsubscribe, but then we started watching Game of Thrones...

We really like it and are totally hooked.  We watch True Blood, also, but I think those books are WAY better than the show.  So I'm wondering what these books are like.

I read that the 5th book in the series is due out this July.  Supposedly the author has stated that there will be 7 books total.  HBO says that each season will represent a book.  But if you look at the author's time line, he takes a LOOOOOONNNNGGG time to get the books out.  I'm also curious as to how closely the show is paralleling the books.

I'm okay with racy. But the incestuous relationship between the queen and her brother grosses me out!

[HarperRose]

HUGE HUGE fan of GoT. I'm reading the books AND watching the show. :D My dh & brother have both read the series already. The show is extremely close to the books. I'd just finished reading Game of Thrones (book 1) when the show started, so everything was fresh in my mind. I've just started A Clash of Kings (the 2nd book) so I hope to have it fresh in mind for season 2. I will miss some of the characters that have been killed off, but the books are about the Realm, not a specific House. You know?

Anyway, love it!

[goodygumdrops]

I love GoT....the last episode was awesome in the end.  Don't want to spoil it. 

[journeymom]

Originally Posted by HarperRose I will miss some of the characters that have been killed off, but the books are about the Realm, not a specific House. You know?

  Dh noted pretty much the same thing.  The story isn't about specific characters. He was surprised, and impressed with the author's guts, when he eliminated people dh assumed were 'main' characters. 

[katiecat]

Originally Posted by journeymom 

  Dh noted pretty much the same thing.  The story isn't about specific characters. He was surprised, and impressed with the author's guts, when he eliminated people dh assumed were 'main' characters. 

My dh also noted this. He's watched every episode. I just started it but really like it so far and will continue watching! (I love True Blood also)

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

Oh Katiecat, is there anything you and I DONT have in common?  Im mean for reals!!!  I tell you what.  I am on vaca at the end of the month.  One day that week, why dont we meet at niagara falls for lunch.  LOL 
 

Originally Posted by katiecat 

My dh also noted this. He's watched every episode. I just started it but really like it so far and will continue watching! (I love True Blood also)

OK, so now that the show has been over for a few weeks, can we discuss it as a whole?  The final scene was the friggin shizzle.  I have loved Calisee from the get go (And was super excited when her brother got gold bonded) and I LOVE that she really is THE DRAGON. 

I actually watched the entire season witin two days while recovering from a little to much Mich Ultra Saturday the 2nd.  LOL  So its all very fresh in my head. 

OH, and I would liken it more to LOTR and The Tudors.  But thats just me.  hehe.  With maybe a little weirdness of Carnivale thrown in (LOVED THAT EFFING SHOW!)

And maybe its the freak in me, but the Queen and Jaime kinda facinate me.  OH, and the Imp makes me LMAO.  That guy is one HELL of an actor. Joffery makes me see spots, that kid needs a major toungue lashing, and I dont mean figuratively. 

I had never even heard of these books.  But oyu can bet your hide I will be downloading the first one to my kindle just as soon as I am done with my current midnight breed novel.  WINK 
 

[katiecat]

I still have two episodes to watch but will be back when I have seen those. Calisee is the best character on the show!

[journeymom]

The Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama is...  [drum roll please]  ...Peter Dinklage! 

Good job, Peter!

[indigolilybear]

Love GOT, have loved Peter Dinklage for a long time....so happy to see him in a meaty role!  And getting recognized for it.  DH and I are HBO suckers (with a few exceptions).  Storytelling is always exceptional!  

I started the first book but am waiting for it  (again!) on the library's Kindle line....too hard to hold those big suckers (the real books!) up in bed at night!  

[MrsGregory]

I watch it, frequently through my fingers, but I do watch it.  I will say, too much bubbies.  Sheesh.  Gives hubby ideas.  Can we please get some good TV that doesn't give hubby ideas?  We have about an hour in the evenings, and we choose to spend it snuggled up on the couch watching some nice brain-softening television. 

The most recent episode was a watched through the fingers episode. 
 

[journeymom]

No doubt the sex is a large part of the show's success.  Dh says the book isn't nearly as explicit as the show. 

Kind of humorous:

http://gawker.com/5902076/snl-explains-the-nudity-in-game-of-thrones

Edited to add, hey that thread about rape scenes in movies got me thinking about this show.  Has rape been portrayed?  I don't think so.  Is that just wishful thinking on my part?  I think all the sex in the show has been consensual.  Most of it is male-centered, and in the real world the girls in the brothel wouldn't have chosen to work there.  But I don't think any of the sex portrayed has been non-consensual.  That makes a big difference to me. 

Edited by journeymom - 4/18/12 at 9:19am

[MrsGregory]

Hahaha, the 13 year old boy cracked me up.  The horse-lord raped the blonde gal with the dragons.  I know this because a friend read the books ages ago, and was super-excited to see the series.  Apparently, in the books that rape never happens, and she was rather annoyed that it was added into the series.  

I think that's it.  I'm interested in the story, I really like the large mix of characters (even if I can't pay enough attention to keep their names or roles straight) and I like the very mild fantasy element... I am very bad at suspending disbelief, so I enjoy fiction that I can, well, enjoy...  but the sex is majorly off-putting to me.  But I suspect I am in the minority.

My husband thinks it's hysterical that I react to nudity and insects in the same way. 
 

[ghannit]

NAK, but yes, LOVE the show!

[JamieCatheryn]

No it was like that in the books, it wasn't quite an explicit rape, sent grudgingly consented but hated it since she'd been married off to him. I read them 6 or 7 years ago so my memory was a little fuzzy but many scenes were right on as far as I remembered them.

The books, too, were very very explicit, but at least you didn't hate to SEE it. Actually way more so in a few scenes. The first episode was the worst though with sex, nudity, and violence, I think to hook the people who like it and warn those who wouldn't. AMAZING acting and production though, very very true to the books too. If only some other things had been done so well, for example Sword of Truth could have been this good instead of the joke that was Legend of the Seeker.

[Cyllya]

Originally Posted by MrsGregory 

Hahaha, the 13 year old boy cracked me up.  The horse-lord raped the blonde gal with the dragons.  I know this because a friend read the books ages ago, and was super-excited to see the series.  Apparently, in the books that rape never happens, and she was rather annoyed that it was added into the series.  

I don't know what it was like in the show, but he did rape her the books. It was relatively nice by rape standards, so it's possible the show made it worse, but it was still rape in the books. If they did make it worse in the show, I can see why your friend was annoyed. I felt like the guy was fairly progressive by the standards of his culture. I mean, he comes from a place where all men are rapists and women are seen to exist primarily for the purpose of being raped, so it's a little too much to ask for him to not be a rapist at all, and being a relatively nice rapist is a good start. Plus I think it was central to the fact that she develops Stockholm syndrome pretty quickly. (More specifically, her Stockholm syndrome for her husband is stronger than her Stockholm syndrome for her brother.)

[Vancouver Mommy]

Originally Posted by Cyllya 

I don't know what it was like in the show, but he did rape her the books. It was relatively nice by rape standards, so it's possible the show made it worse, but it was still rape in the books. If they did make it worse in the show, I can see why your friend was annoyed. I felt like the guy was fairly progressive by the standards of his culture. I mean, he comes from a place where all men are rapists and women are seen to exist primarily for the purpose of being raped, so it's a little too much to ask for him to not be a rapist at all, and being a relatively nice rapist is a good start. Plus I think it was central to the fact that she develops Stockholm syndrome pretty quickly. (More specifically, her Stockholm syndrome for her husband is stronger than her Stockholm syndrome for her brother.)

I'm interested in your comment about Stockhold syndrome. I sort of thought she found her own power in that relationship (although I completely agree with your observations about the women of that culture). 

[MrsGregory]

Aha.  I haven't read the books, so I only have the show to work with.  The show was pretty brutal.  I found it difficult to accept the way the blonde gal and the horse-lord's relationship developed, in the sense that the show depicted her as becoming interested in him sexually after being repeated raped by him.  That whole storyline annoys me though, so let me not start my many, many rants about it.