I'm not usually a fan of fantasy novels. It has to be a special kind of fantasy to get me hooked. Harry Potter for example had me thoroughly hooked right from Privet Drive. But (and I confess this with a healthy dose of the Sheepish) Lord of The Rings I found confusing, all those Saurons and Sarumons and beared humanoids of differing heights. It wasn't until I saw the brilliant film version and could get Viggo and Sir Ian and the Seans differentiated in my head that I could then tackle the weighty tomes of Tolkein. But once I had the casting straight, I found it a breeze.
It is a similar story for A Song of Ice and Fire. Or as fellow HBO fanatics call it Game of Thrones.
I have had Sean Bean brooding on this spiky seat on my bookshelves for over a year. A very clever fellow from the Boy Factory pointed me in its direction AGES ago, more specifically to the HBO series, and I like to do the book first.
And I tried.
But I just couldn't separate the Roberts and the Robbs. The Eddards, the Edwins and the Edwards. My imagination just didn't have the casting sorted out. So I dove right into the HBO series.
And when has HBO ever let us down?? Entourage, Sex & the City, True Blood, Band of Brothers. Can they do ANYTHING wrong? I think not.
As ever, HBO structure each episode in a V shape. Most narratives are an A frame: introduction, building action, climax, resolution. A Shakespearean tragedy does it in the most text book way. But an HBO episode of almost everything does it in the kind of opposite way. It usually starts off with a BANG, and then the action kind of dwindles a bit. Then the characters go through the motions, and stuff begins to get exciting again, and just as it is about to really kick off????
Credits. Wait 'til next week. Or even worse, next YEAR if it is the end of the season!
I got stuck in to the HBO Game of Thrones on Good Friday. And what a good Friday it was. I was meant to be cleaning my house and packing for a holiday. But instead I just watched 10 eps of TV gold, back to back.
And then promptly went out and bought the second book, A Clash of Kings the next day. Just because I NEEDED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED NEXT!!! And once again, with the casting all sorted in my head, the book was a breeze.
So what is it? A multi-perspective story of a fantasy/medieval nation in the grips of the vices of humans - lust, greed, ambition, corruption. The title refers to the machinations of a number of characters as they tussle for the top job in Westeros.
King Robert asks his mate Eddard to leave the cold North to be his right hand man.
Eddard keeps telling everyone, in a most foreboding fashion, that "Winter is coming"
Robert's toxic wife Cercei doesn't seem to have much loyalty to anyone, especially her husband.
Her similarly toxic son Joffery is heir to the throne. Have you ever seen a more slappable face? Ever?
Her short-statured brother is sensible, but much maligned for his height, or lack thereof. Peter Dinklage is pretty darn awesome in this role, but sometimes his English accent is a little Over Done, which grates on me a little. I've been told to let it go...
Meanwhile in exhile is the stunning silver-haired Daenerys Targaryen is being sold into marriage as her brother tries to manouver himself back to his rightful spot on the Westeros throne - Robert usurped his family before we even got there. She is my favourite. Maybe because we don't get to see enough of her, with the directors always leaving us wanting more. But mostly because her name is Dany...
There are battles, sex sword fights, sex, a litter of direwolves (like super-wolves), more sex, a possible winter-induced zombie invasion from Beyond The Wall (read: Scotland) and complex polital system of banners and manner and symbols and slogans that needs vast tracts of explanation in the back of every novel. In fact there is SO much sex combined with complex backstory, that the term "sexposition" has been coined - exposition + sex! The way to make boring explanation just a touch more palatable. And with the complicated backstories like these, there needs to be a spoonful of sugar.
"They" are calling Game of Thrones a "cross-over hit" or a "gate-way drug" to fantasy. I think of it more like Clayton's fantasy. The fantasy you like when you don't like fantasy. I have been a little bit evangelical with this, trying to push it onto fantasy tee-totallers. Once they give over to the idea, they are pretty much as hooked as me!!
Post-Script: I'm now up to Book 5 of A Song of Ice and Fire and there is still another one to go!! And at 1000+ pages, the reading of these is a significant achievement!!
It is a similar story for A Song of Ice and Fire. Or as fellow HBO fanatics call it Game of Thrones.
And I tried.
But I just couldn't separate the Roberts and the Robbs. The Eddards, the Edwins and the Edwards. My imagination just didn't have the casting sorted out. So I dove right into the HBO series.
And when has HBO ever let us down?? Entourage, Sex & the City, True Blood, Band of Brothers. Can they do ANYTHING wrong? I think not.
As ever, HBO structure each episode in a V shape. Most narratives are an A frame: introduction, building action, climax, resolution. A Shakespearean tragedy does it in the most text book way. But an HBO episode of almost everything does it in the kind of opposite way. It usually starts off with a BANG, and then the action kind of dwindles a bit. Then the characters go through the motions, and stuff begins to get exciting again, and just as it is about to really kick off????
Credits. Wait 'til next week. Or even worse, next YEAR if it is the end of the season!
I got stuck in to the HBO Game of Thrones on Good Friday. And what a good Friday it was. I was meant to be cleaning my house and packing for a holiday. But instead I just watched 10 eps of TV gold, back to back.
And then promptly went out and bought the second book, A Clash of Kings the next day. Just because I NEEDED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED NEXT!!! And once again, with the casting all sorted in my head, the book was a breeze.
So what is it? A multi-perspective story of a fantasy/medieval nation in the grips of the vices of humans - lust, greed, ambition, corruption. The title refers to the machinations of a number of characters as they tussle for the top job in Westeros.
King Robert asks his mate Eddard to leave the cold North to be his right hand man.
Meanwhile in exhile is the stunning silver-haired Daenerys Targaryen is being sold into marriage as her brother tries to manouver himself back to his rightful spot on the Westeros throne - Robert usurped his family before we even got there. She is my favourite. Maybe because we don't get to see enough of her, with the directors always leaving us wanting more. But mostly because her name is Dany...
There are battles, sex sword fights, sex, a litter of direwolves (like super-wolves), more sex, a possible winter-induced zombie invasion from Beyond The Wall (read: Scotland) and complex polital system of banners and manner and symbols and slogans that needs vast tracts of explanation in the back of every novel. In fact there is SO much sex combined with complex backstory, that the term "sexposition" has been coined - exposition + sex! The way to make boring explanation just a touch more palatable. And with the complicated backstories like these, there needs to be a spoonful of sugar.
"They" are calling Game of Thrones a "cross-over hit" or a "gate-way drug" to fantasy. I think of it more like Clayton's fantasy. The fantasy you like when you don't like fantasy. I have been a little bit evangelical with this, trying to push it onto fantasy tee-totallers. Once they give over to the idea, they are pretty much as hooked as me!!
Post-Script: I'm now up to Book 5 of A Song of Ice and Fire and there is still another one to go!! And at 1000+ pages, the reading of these is a significant achievement!!
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