Game of Thrones

[Spevna]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ixEWrTLiZg

Looks pretty cool

[me_in_japan]

have you read the books? I have em, if you wanna borrow em. theyre damn, damn good, altho unlikely to ever be finished since GRRM takes aeons to write a paragraph...

[Primarch]

It has Sharpe in it. I'm sold.

[Spevna]

It has Sharpe in it. I'm sold.

Sharpe with a sword no less!!


@M_I_J - I may well take you up on that offer at some point.

[Primarch]

So if I'm reading the IMDB entry correctly, this is a TV series and Sharpe is the main hero? Yes! Its about time Sean Bean did something beyond "English Villain" (Golden Eye, The Island) with his career. I much prefer his "English Bad-Ass" style to his villains or his "Guy who dies pretty early on for no good reason" (Lord of the Rings, Equilibrium).
I haven't read GoT. Tell me the Eddard Stark doesnt get wasted in the first 5 minutes of the first story.

[Mike the Pike]

Sharpe with a sword no less!!

Sharpe used his sword at least as often as his rifle. Nothing new there

I'm looking forward to seeing this when it comes out as I love the books. If you haven't read them, you should definitely check them out.

I'm kinda glad that the Brits are doing this (rather than Hollywood), as, in general, British productions are more faithful to their source material, with better acting etc etc.

[me_in_japan]

Tell me the Eddard Stark doesnt get wasted in the first 5 minutes of the first story.

Eddard Stark doesnt get wasted in the first 5 minutes of the first story.

done.

Not promising he stays intact for the duration, mind you - it' s a pretty grim series, all things considered. In fact, as pleased as I am to see such a nice trailer, I have some reservations as to whether this series is filmable. Book 1, yeah, but books 2-4 (and, ahaha, optimism springs eternal, books 5 and 6?) will be a challenge and no mistake.

Tyrion Lanister, anyone? Jaime and Cersei? Heck, Daeny and her horse lord do all kinds of stuff that couldnt possibly make it onto a TV, yet are v important for character development.

hmmn. Still gonna watch it, mind you. Good call on Beanie as Eddard, too.

ps - a note to any who havent read the books - read em before you do any kind of research into the series, as there are tons of surprises and spoilers and stuff.

[jus]

After hearing everyone sing its praise, I've decided to give this series a good read. I've almost finished the first book, and so far - excellent. I find myself going through all the HBO previews and trailers listening for the lines from the novel, and its all quite accurate.

So, what other books of similar genre (fantasy/intrigue) would you recommend?

[Primarch]

So, what other books of similar genre (fantasy/intrigue) would you recommend?

I usually read High Fantasy (Elves, Magic, Dragons etc), so there isn't a lot I can recommend along similar lines. Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow by David Gemmell is pretty good. Most of his books are good to be honest, but they're less intrigue and more battles and action I guess.

[me_in_japan]

It took me a good long while to pluck up the courage to start, but Id recommend the Wheel of Time books by Robert Jordan. there's a lot of em (13 so far), but just start with book 1 and see how it goes. I love em, and am on tenterhooks for the final instalment, due some time at the end of this year. Theyre by no means as grim, but they are a bally good read in a fantasy stylee. I started reading them and ASoEaF at the same time.

Some of the Gunslinger/Dark Tower books by Stephen King can wander into the kinda dark fantasy territory, but I wouldnt stick them in the same category as ASoEaF, particularly. Worth reading, though. Start with The Gunslinger and work from there. They get a lot better from about book 3 onwards, mind you.