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The ONLY two issues I've had with this casting are, I don't know how good Lena Headey will look as a blonde, and the boy they got to play Robb's gonna have to put on some weight/muscle.

Other then that, I'm pleased as punch!! (George R.R. Martin has posted some pictures of him visiting the locations on his not a blog. Which, also, I hope that HBO can put some added pressure on him to FINISH THE NEXT DAMN BOOK)

Question: are we allowed to spoiler the show a bit? Because if they "Legend of the Seeker this" I will fucking hunt a motherfucker down and devise unheard of tortures to inflict upon them.

Also, there had better be incestuous and bloody sex or...well...see my comment above.

admin: you can follow along with developments at http://winter-is-coming.net/... there has been extensive discussion of the pilot script and it seems that the show will be VERY faithful. Not verbatim from the books but simply a version of the story shaped for the screen.

Jen: At least once a day I hope HBO will pull their head out of their ass and bring Rome back for a proper season 2 (and 3, 4, 5, etc). Especially when you read that the original plan was Brutus dies at the end of season 2, season 3 and 4 was in Egypt, and then season 5 saw the rise of Octavian. When they found out season 2 was it they jammed all the plot lines into those 10 headspinning episodes that aired. Also, Lucius Voreenus lived according to Bruno Heller.

Incidentally, I like to approach many a decision in my daily life with "What Would Attia Do?" It serves me well.

Hmm ... as long as they don't go the "Spartacus" route and get their costumes from the "Beastmaster" leftover collection.
I'm so sick of quasi-historical/mythological/fantasy equaling the WWF.

I cannot WAIT for this to be on HBO. That was my dream scenario, that HBO would turn the books into a series and it would be fantastic. Honestly, it's why I haven't dropped the HBOs from my cable bill...just to convince them to do this.

Ahem, 'scuse me for a moment...

SQUUUUEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeee ee e

Fuck yeah. I'm actually considering getting cable just for this. And as pleased as I am about HBO doing the miniseries (really, have they ever made a bad miniseries?) I'm curious how they're going to squeeze the book into 10 episodes. The episodes have to be an hour long, at the very least.

Valar Morghulis

I am super excited by this news. I never really read anything more than once and I've read the complete series (to date) four times. Well, I have listened to it twice and read it twice.

Here are my initial thoughts on the series:

1) This is HBO. They make the best TV series. There isn't much question there. From Sopranos, to Rome, to Deadwood, to The Wire, they are the best at what they do and what they do is typically awesome. Sure, they have their mis-fires, but based on the source material and the talent/money/power of HBO, you couldn't ask for a better foundation upon which to build a fantasy (or any other kind of) series. As these things go, I couldn't imagine a better situation.

2) The cast is great. Lena Headey, Peter Dinklage, Sean Bean, just to name the biggest stars... They are perfectly cast and there's a lot of talent there. The rest of the cast, I don't know much about. HBO excels at finding "no name" talent that works. I had never heard of Ray Stevenson or Kevin McKidd before "Rome" or pretty much anyone from "The Wire" before it, and the cast in those shows (as well as "Deadwood" and others) was stunningly good.

3) George RR Martin worked in TV for a long time. He wrote for the Twlight Zone series for that old "Beauty and the Beast" show with Linda Hamilton and Ron Pearlman. So, he understands the business, how scripts work, etc. His involvement will only be a plus.

4) There are a couple of reservations. First, it will be costly. They cancelled "Rome" because it cost too much. I don't see how this series will be cheaper. The action moves from place to place to place pretty quickly and the settings are very, very diverse. It will be hard to make some of these places/castles/keeps, etc. look good on the cheap. Second, the books are very complex and there is a cast of thousands. The beauty is often in the details and the plots within plots. While a 10 episode season allows you to flesh some of this out, you'll never be able to flesh it all out and some minor characters, who very, very cool, will likely be wrote out or multiple characters melded into one. Then there is the whole dragon/dire wolf thing.

These aren't killer points. Things have to be cut and reduced, the source material is just too dense, you just have to worry about cutting too much and, thus, ruining what makes the books truly excel.

If it doesn't work out with "HBO", it wasn't going to work out any other way. So, I am excited by the prospect. If it flops, it flops. It wont, in any way, ruin my joy, love or appreciation of the books and I will know that it was given the best shot it ever could.

...

Just emerged from my bunk. Still, I feel a tiny pang of bitterness as I applied for a spot to be an extra on the show as advertised on Pajiba last summer - and no answer! Maybe because I'm not based in Ireland but I would've paid good monies to be on that show.

But hey, Game of thrones!!! Finally...

*sharpens her knives*

1.- penis nailed to eight-foot 2x4 which is then used to build Drew Barrymore's new house

Hrm. Other notes.

I think the Starks are well cast. (I think of Catelyn being a different kind of pretty then Jennifer Ehle, but I adore Jennifer Ehle and think that she'll do a great job.)

I hope that they get Mark Addy to work out a bit (Robert's got a gut, but he was once HOT *see: Renly and Gendry*. Normally, I don't like seeing actors change their body shapes for characters, but . . .)

Tamzin Merchant has a GREAT look for young Daenerys. I'm intrigued to see how she, as an actress, deals with the fact that by the end of book one, the character is completely changed and much harder. (Also, I'm wondering if HBO's gonna up Dany's age to get around the whole underage sex/rape thing)

Rowen: I share your concern about Addy. He fits the personality of the character to a T, but one of the most important features of Robert is that he was once able to lead an army into battle with a big-a$$ warhammer, and in such a fashion that nobles and commoners alike flocked to him. I just can't see Addy being believable in that way... I hope I'm wrong.

Now, let's get Patrick Stewart as Tywin!

Oholyfuckingjesusijustcame!

I guess I better finally start reading these.

my gods. i. can't. wait.

Lindsay at least he's been writing book 5 updates. There was a 2 year period when he refused to say anything about it, so I'm taking these new, tiny updates as a good sign.

Not to be sacrilegious, but GRRM lost track of the story sometime during the 3rd book, if not the 2nd. I actually suspect that the HBO version may become my preferred, canonical version if they keep the story tighter.

Lots of fabulous ideas in there, but he needs a stronger editor and more pressure to actually advance the plot. Here's hoping TV provides those things, and it trickles over to the books.

Snath sure the mother is important, but it's the father that ties it up so nicely, doesn't it ;)

I am just starting A Storm of Swords at the moment. I received the books as a Christmas present and I just devour them. How do I watch this if I don't have HBO? *places call to husband demanding cable upgrade*

So, can anyone tell me when the actual fantasy aspect of this fantasy series starts? I'm midway through the third book and all I've seen is a spooky priestess summon a ghost-god, the wolf stuff, and three dragons who actually haven't done anything yet. The series is good, but it seems like it's all setup-setup-setup for something bigger that's going to happen later. The horse and sword stuff isn't really doing it for me. Will I have to slog through two or three more books before any of this pans out?

***SPOILER***

I think with Lena Headey as Cersei, they would have to giver her colored contacts too. Or maybe they just picked a different genetic trait for that particular plot point.

It would be REALLY nice if there actually were two or three more books past Book 3 to slog through at all...

Wow, Jennifer Ehle? That's suprising. Well they had me at Sean Bean, but they'll keep me with Ehle.

Forbiddenout: Yes, I stopped reading the third book around Thanksgiving and haven't picked it back up. I also didn't realize Martin was was only working on book 5 out of 7. Maybe I'll start again once I know the series will be finished.

I will watch the HBO series, though. A little consolidation would definitely help the story IMHO and the talent looks promising.

I AM SO FUCKING HARD FOR THIS. I've been following the news of this series for a while now, and hopefully they'll make it as entertaining and addictive as the books. If they more or less stick to the plot I don't think there will be a problem.

Seriously though, it's a huge boner.

Given that Legend of the Seeker is based on one of the worst series of all time, I'm not sure how comparisons between that and Game of Thrones matter