What is it?
HBO’s new adaption of “A Song of Ice and Fire” by RR Martin an epic fantasy series in a similar vein to Legend of the Seeker and Lord of the Rings. The marketing campaign and build up to this series has been huge and when HBO is involved you know that you are going to get a solid series.
What happened?
The first episode of Game of Thrones introduces us to the House of Stark who act as the Wardens of the North in the 7 Kingdoms. The deposed King Viserys Targaryen and his young sister Daenerys meet Khal Drogo a warlord who may allow them to reclaim their lost Kingdom with his nomadic armies. We learn about the wall that protects the 7 Kingdoms from the frozen north where barbarian tribes and mysterious creatures of lore are said to dwell, the Black Watch man the 300 mile long wall to protect the Northern borders.
What I thought
The adaption was incredible very closely linked to the original text including a few speeches that I remembered. The settings are great and feel like they have jumped straight out of the book. I have seen a lot of books converted for film and TV and this one looks excellent. The actors may not look exactly as I thought of as the characters but that is somewhat unavoidable especially when you think about things like the age of a certain princess bride.
For anyone who is a fan of the books which I had known nothing about prior to the marketing push by HBO I would recommend this show. For those who have not read the books there needs to be some caveats, yes this is a sword and shield epic fantasy but it is also a show for adults, there is a lot of sex and probably more swearing this is not something you and the family can sit down to watch.
If I had to compare it to other shows I would agree with some press story that compared it to a medieval “Wire” the long running cop and robbers show based in Baltimore. You can also compare it to epics like Lord of the Rings and shows like Legend of the Seeker just with more adult content.
Update:
Since I wrote this I have caught the next 2 episodes and I have to say things keep getting better and better things are shaping up nicely and of course things move a lot more quickly in the show as compared to the book. It is nice though having all the extra little scenes you read in the book informing you about exactly what is going on and people’s motivations for the things they do. I don’t know what else to really say without getting precariously close to spoilers.
So grab your nicest doublet and settle in for a great tale.
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