A Game of Thrones Television Adaptation on HBO/BBC

[Alexia_Ashford]

Good thing or bad?

Well, good, I'd say. I like to watch TV shows for entertainment, not genitalia. Cocks aren't exactly the prettiest things to look at. I'd rather see drama than a cock flopping about all over the shop. Makes me laugh that they've removed stuff from Spartacus because it's inappropriate but they leave in a guy cutting someone's face off while he's still alive, and you see him rip the flesh off to reveal all the bone/eyes/mush underneath.

[Trent]

I think this matter of cocks is quite funny.

But most shows don't do it because the male audience feels threatened and sad.

Touché, haha.

[Darkmoon]

It's true. Most 'average' guys see the kinda wang a dude on TV is willing to show off and feel quite inadequate. Since most dudes willing to show theirs off look like they got it transplanted from a horse...

[Alexia_Ashford]

Indeed. My issue is that I don't think any genitalia looks particularly attractive, but an erect penis looks nicer than a slab of meat flopping left to right, looking like Squidwards nose from Spongebob Squarepants. And they don't put erect ones on TV, nor would they really need to. I don't mind sex scenes if it calls for it, but seeing peoples bits wobble about for the sake of it does nothing for me. It freaked me out that you could almost see that old blokes nob through the see through gown in the last episode.

[Darkmoon]

Alright, so I've been reading the book for the last couple of days (I got side tracked watching episodes of Lexx) and just reached the end. It is very, very close to the series, I've gotta admit.

The main difference? The number of sex scenes. There are way, way more of them in the show than in the book. I gotta admit, when I first cracked open the pages I was expecting it burst into flames. But there are four, maybe five scenes in the whole damned book, none especially graphic. Compared to the TV show it's all pretty tame.

Bar the loss of hookers, though, there are a couple of cool little plot points that do get dropped from the show. One is that Drogo did intend to honour his deal with Viserys, but as mentioned, it was in his own time. Viserys was warned of that a bunch of times before the deal was even made.

And Joffree is even less likeable in the book. Because it's unseemly for a king to hit his lady, he has his men do it instead. She's about 12 years old. Of course, Daenerys is only 14...

[Alexia_Ashford]

The thing with Joffrey getting someone to hit his wife because it's unkingly to do it himself happens in the show as well.

[Darkmoon]

I must have missed that one. Oh well.

Still an asshole.

[Bertha]

Alright, so I've been reading the book for the last couple of days (I got side tracked watching episodes of Lexx) and just reached the end. It is very, very close to the series, I've gotta admit.

The main difference? The number of sex scenes. There are way, way more of them in the show than in the book. I gotta admit, when I first cracked open the pages I was expecting it burst into flames. But there are four, maybe five scenes in the whole damned book, none especially graphic. Compared to the TV show it's all pretty tame.

Bar the loss of hookers, though, there are a couple of cool little plot points that do get dropped from the show. One is that Drogo did intend to honour his deal with Viserys, but as mentioned, it was in his own time. Viserys was warned of that a bunch of times before the deal was even made.

And Joffree is even less likeable in the book. Because it's unseemly for a king to hit his lady, he has his men do it instead. She's about 12 years old. Of course, Daenerys is only 14...

I'm almost finished with book two and I must say...the sex scenes are present, but Martin doesn't write them in detail. He simply mentions the nudity or someone being busy that it goes fairly unnoticed. Sex is visually more fascinating (to most viewers probably), and when you actually see two people in the middle of it, you're more likely to remember. In the book there's much more subtlely to it in the books.

You're right about Joff though...Most characters I thought I'd really dislike have swayed me a bit to at least tolerate them...I cannot wait for Joff to meet his end though.

[Darkmoon]

Oh yes, there's a lot of nudity. But not that much actual sex. I admit, my memory is terrible, but in the first book all I can recall is:

Catelyn Tully - It mentions that she and Ned just had sex, and she hopes she gets pregnant from it. She does wander around naked in front of Ned and Maester Luwin, pointing out that she doesn't have time for false modesty and the man delivered all her children.

Jamie and Cersei in the tower - Same as the show, more or less. I think they might have been doing it standing up.

Random Dothraki - Same as in the show, during the wedding the Dothraki screw and fight randomly.

Drogo and Daenerys - There wedding night. Much more romantic than the show. Drogo is a very skilled lover, and spends a lot of time making the night as pleasant for his new bride before he does anything as he can.

Drogo and Daenerys again - After she eat's the horses heart and baths in a lake, when she comes out Drogo is rather...excited.

Tyrion and Shia - Same as the series, although they go twice in quick succession.

There are still a lot of scenes in the show that simply don't show up in the book. The red headed prostitute wasn't even mentioned.

[Alexia_Ashford]

I must have missed that one. Oh well.

Still an asshole.

Spoiler:

show spoiler

It's the scene where he forces Sansa to look at Ned's head on the spike outside, along with her Septum/Septa ? (don't know how spell it). He's standing on a bridge bit and she moves forward like she wants to push him off, but a guard stops her. He says he'll give her her traitor brother's head as well, and she says "Or maybe he will give me yours". Joff then says how his mum told him it's not proper for a King to hit his wife, so he gets someone else to smack her across the face. They all then walk off, Clegane gives her a white cloth to wipe her blood off with and she goes to hand it back, he just says "You'll be needing that again" and walks off.

[Trent]

All this information is very interesting, thanks!

Sex is visually more fascinating (to most viewers probably), and when you actually see two people in the middle of it, you're more likely to remember. In the book there's much more subtlely to it in the books.

To be honest, I'd rather have this subtility in the show.

Sometimes the scenes in the show feel like pornography. Perhaps they are trying hard to provide a down to earth representation.

[valentinesdead?]

And Joffree is even less likeable in the book. Because it's unseemly for a king to hit his lady, he has his men do it instead. She's about 12 years old. Of course, Daenerys is only 14...

You're right about Joff though...Most characters I thought I'd really dislike have swayed me a bit to at least tolerate them...I cannot wait for Joff to meet his end though.

I think if there's one absolute with fans of A Song of Fire and Ice, it's that everyone hates
Spoiler:

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Joffree

. . .Spoiler:

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. . .no. . .seriously. . .

Spoiler:

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http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/joffrey?before=1307979376

See?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYNeT2nzEgA&feature=player_embedded

The red headed prostitute wasn't even mentioned.

Yeah. She's one of those totally made up for the television series characters. . .which would make her the only one made up so far, if my memory serves me right. I hope it stays that way, as well.

And if you don't mind me asking Bertha, are you trying to catch up on the series, or just reading A Clash for Kings because it was next in your reading list? Just curious, as I'm looking at myself reading A Feast for Crows to get ready for A Dance With Dragons, but that's a serious enough undertaking given that's 2000+ pages of the same series in such a short time. But it certainly helps that Martin is such a fantastic writer, and my favorite, no doubt.

I swear, A Storm of Swords was the closet I think I'll ever get to know what it must be like to be a woman in the hands of an experienced lover. Talk about multiple climaxes, multiple orgasms! Just when you think you've had enough, Martin sends another fantastic crescent wave riding up to hit you to make you whither in delight. That's how damn good A Storm of Swords is over the 1st two books. It remains my favorite. . .unless A Feast or Dance can unseat it, which I doubt A Feast will, since it was originally supposed to be the 1st half of A Dance With Dragons.

Anyways, I'll leave everyone with this little nugget. Remember the kid Batman befriended in Batman Begins, and go stuck with Katie Holmes? No. . .well, I think you'll recognize him as a certain somebody. . .

http://imageshack.us/f/233/joffrey.jpg/

Damn I feel old now realizing that.

[Trent]

That's how damn good A Storm of Swords is over the 1st two books. It remains my favorite. . .unless A Feast or Dance can unseat it, which I doubt A Feast will, since it was originally supposed to be the 1st half of A Dance With Dragons.

I don't quite understand your conclusion here. Why do you doubt A Feast will based on it supposedly being the first half of a book yet to be published?

What I like about Joffrey is the fact that this character was nailed by Jack Gleeson (the actor). Even though Spoiler:

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I was heartily affected by the death of Ned,

I don't feel the urge to kill Joffrey, I simply think that the character-actor combination is excellent, the kid is excellent and he has delivered.

We should not expect Joffrey to meet his end, either. Because this is A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin - a mirror of reality.

[valentinesdead?]

I don't quite understand your conclusion here. Why do you doubt A Feast will based on it supposedly being the first half of a book yet to be published?

Well, firstly, any of Martin's readers who have read at least the first 3 books know enough about his style to know his strength lies not in the first half of his novels, but the second half. The series reflects this model as well. It's a slow build to the climaxs and conclusions that make his series so spectacular. Thus, if A Feast was originally half of A Dance--or more likely, A Dance was growing too big for his publishers comfort--it makes sense he'd make another volume. But the biggie here is that that A Dance is supposed to be where some real heavy shit goes down. Fan opinions and reviews in general seemed to be a bit sour about A Feast for more or less this reason.

I'm in about 100 pages of Feast, and I'm rather enjoying it, but then again, A Dance is about two weeks away. But, I very much doubt it'll surpass A Storm of Swords, given the fact with A Storm of Swords, Martin threw so many revealations and surprises at the reader--it's really hard to top such a thing. A Dance with Dragons, however, hopefully will be so mind-blowing skull-fucking awesome that'll make even A Storm of Swords seem sparse. But, as far as Feast goes, I'm expecting a novel as good as the first two books that may take a bit more from the school of thought of setting up things than resolving them. Hey, it's really all a gigantic story anyway, but quite a few people judge a series on a boob-by=book basis.. .. .one system I feel isn't always the best. Anyways, I'll see how it turns out.

[Vector]

So I finished A Clash of Kings the other day, and when finished I couldn't help but feel like I read around 1000 pages of filler.

Spoiler:

show spoiler

I drowned in Martin's need to beat you over the head with an incessant amount of details...sometimes I'd get really pissed off when reading a battle scene, only to have a character go into a flashback and start describing the outfit that someone was wearing five years earlier. You get my point.

I feel like not much happened with the POV characters. Tyrion pulled his strings and fucked his whore in King's Landing(the fight scene and his resulting injury at the very end was pretty cool, but that was about it), Jon Snow went north of the wall to find nothing until the very end of the book, Catelyn played her 'mother of the king' role while doing chores, Bran was just chillin' at Winterfell like only a cripple can do(again, until the very end, when something actually happened), Sansa is still a weary and nervous POW and you had a build-up with Ser Dontos saying he'd save her only to leave it for another book at a later time, and Dany was just trying to build an empire in her miniscule chapters. Even Arya's POV's felt like grinding...she really got nowhere. She's still an unknown orphan on the run. Two of my favorite characters were Davos and Theon, and now Theon's dead.

I'm tempted to start reading A Storm of Swords but I'm hesitant because I enjoyed Season 1 of the show MUCH more than I enjoyed the second book.

Anyway, here's some Season 2 casting news:

http://tv.ign.com/articles/118/1181265p1.html

Gwendoline Christie is Brienne of Tarth


Natalie Dormer(The Tudors) is Margaery Tyrell

Looks like more terrific casting by HBO. The biggest roles left to fill thus far are Stannis, Melisandre and Davos. IGN has some ideas:

http://tv.ign.com/articles/118/1181314p1.html