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There is joy in the realm of fantasy fans, for HBO has picked up its highly buzzed-about pilot "Game of Thrones" to series.The cable channel has ordered 10 episodes (including the already-shot pilot) of the series, which is based on George R.R. Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire" novels. Production on the series is scheduled to begin in Northern Ireland in June. It's likely to premiere in early 2011; for now all we have to show is a still from the opening scene of the pilot.
The show will use one book in Martin's series as the template for each season (four have been published, and three more are planned) in telling the story of several families fighting for power on the fictional continent of Westeros. The cast includes "Lord of the Rings" veteran Sean Bean, Lena Headey ("Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles"), Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Jennifer Ehle and Mark Addy.
David Benioff ("Wolverine," "Brothers") and D.B. Weiss wrote the pilot script and will executive produce. Martin, former HBO exec Carolyn Strauss, Guymon Casady, Vince Gerardis and Ralph Vicinanza are all co-exec producers. Tom McCarthy ("The Visitor," "The Station Agent") directed the pilot.
"Game of Thrones" is HBO's first foray into swords-and-sorcery-style fantasy -- though "A Song of Ice and Fire" has a lot more of the swords than the sorcery. Its depiction of the complex relationships between characters vying for power has drawn comparisons to "The Sopranos."
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Photo credit: HBO
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Comparisons with The Sopranos? Egad! I don't even know where to begin with how goofy that statement is.
Perhaps we ought to consider that Martin's first volume came out three years before The Sopranos. Or perhaps we might consider as well that the Starks are not mob kingpins.
How are they going to handle it if Martin doesn't ever finish his books? The most recent one (book 4) came out over 4 years ago. At this rate, if HBO's series is a success, will book 7 even be released by the 7th year of the show?
"How are they going to handle it if Martin doesn't ever finish his books?"
That's works out just fine, cause HBO has trouble finishing series (Rome, Deadwood).
;)
"swords-and-sorcery-style fantasy"? Really?
Moody, melodramatic nonsense is more like it. It's got more in common with a historical drama than fantasy. I couldn't even finish book one it was so bad.
At this point, I'm hoping this series will actually focus George R.R. Martin, get him thinking about Westeros again, and shame him into writing. He's been like a kid not wanting to clean his room, finding any valid excuse not to write(short stories, graphic novels, collectable card games for the love of spit...). At least this way, his mind is pointed in the right direction.
At this point, I'm hoping this series will actually focus George R.R. Martin, get him thinking about Westeros again, and shame him into writing. He's been like a kid not wanting to clean his room, finding any valid excuse not to write(short stories, graphic novels, collectable card games for the love of spit...). At least this way, his mind is pointed in the right direction.
Are you series Scott? I consider myself a fairly avid reader (with fantasy and speculative fiction making up probably 30% of what I read) and Martin's series is one of the best I have ever read.
REally great series and I hope that HBO gets it right. They generally tend to. Although the story backdrop has nothing in common with the Sopranos, I am glad to hear that the HBO series is staying focused on the characters and not getting caught up in a good vs evil main story arc
Andy/Urabutln, as has often now been quoted for over a year now (first said by Neil Gaimen) "George Martin is not your b*tch". ADFD will come out when it comes out. Reread the series forwards, backwards. Read other authors (R. Scott Bakker is pretty cool) Enjoy the show when it comes out.
What can I say? I’m foaming at the mouth with anticipation to watch this show. And the teasers and stills floating around are not helping. To make matters worse I found out I was going to be out of town on the 17th when Game of Thrones premieres. Luckily though, I’m a subscriber/employee of DISH Network and this proved to be the last bit of motivation I needed to set up the TV everywhere service. It was simple and with it I’ll be able to watch it on my iPad or laptop from my hotel room while I’m on the road. It’s so cool that now I wish I had gotten TV everywhere sooner and have been recommending it to everyone I meet who also travels a lot.