that was awesome. i love hbo.

1/17/2011 9:50:05 AM

I always imagined the throne to be much more throne shaped just made of swords.

1/17/2011 10:07:46 AM

^ I would probably agree. The throne is a little more abstract that I would have thought.

I trust anything HBO does though. Like Christoper Nolan and Batman...I learned to quit questioning and put my blind faith and trust in the fact that it will simply deliver.

1/17/2011 10:22:08 AM

I have to say it is pretty close to what I expected when reading the books. Everything the Targaryen's did was very dramatized with the dragon skulls etc. so I expected the Iron throne to be a pretty stunning piece. It's a room stealer, the focal point of the room - almost like a piece of art. On top of that it is THE Iron Throne. It is basically a piece of living legend in the Seven Kingdoms. It would kind of be a letdown if it wasn't over dramatized in the show imo.

Maybe my vision was slightly skewed by some of the art I saw early on with the books though for calendars and things. In fact it looks fairly similar to the most famous artist depiction of the throne: (sidenote: notice the dragon skulls in the background in the picture on the left since that was from a very famous scene taking place earlier than the storyline of ASOIAF Not going to give any spoilers in this thread though... )



[Edited on January 17, 2011 at 10:31 AM. Reason : .]

1/17/2011 10:27:48 AM

Ok, see to me the picture you linked along side it is what I had in my mind. More of a long flowing depiction with a hilt here and there. Maybe I am just that much more selective, but to me those two pictures are two very different interpretations...but both are awesome.

1/17/2011 11:36:28 AM

Understandable. That's why I described it as "fairly similar." I think there is a little allowance needed to take something from concept art or dramatized fan art to the big screen. The concept art and fan drawings etc. always seem a little edgier and more fantastical, but direct translation to a real-life situation would leave it looking somewhat cheesy at times. I think they took the idea and made the throne more substantial and have more weight.

Just my opinion though. And of course we're just discussing meaningless details anyway since we both agree the throne they made is awesome.

I watched that trailer several times and forwarded it to several friends. It doesn't mean as much obviously if you didn't read the books...but to finally see THE throne and all those characters there was pretty powerful.

[Edited on January 17, 2011 at 12:46 PM. Reason : .]

1/17/2011 12:45:31 PM

wasnt there supposed to be spikes protruding out of the back & the seat? i remember reading that it could cut you up pretty bad if you sat wrong. and i dont recall it being made of swords though.

1/17/2011 1:42:57 PM

Quote :

"Aegon I had the throne constructed at the beginning of his reign. It is forged from the swords surrendered by his enemies. It took 59 days and the fires of Balerion the Black Dread to hammer 1,000 swords into the shape of a throne.[2] The blades are still sharp, and those who sit the throne will cut themselves if they are not careful. This was Aegon's desired effect, as he believed that no king should sit comfortably on the throne. It is said that the throne itself has caused the deaths of several people."

1/17/2011 1:46:31 PM

Also, posted this in another thread but I am trying to figure something out:

Anyone in here ever used Amazon On Demand for HBO? Are they pretty current for all of their shows or is it more like DVD release time frame? By current I just mean sometime in the same week the episode airs you can stream the show via AOD. I see some of their current shows out there now (just looked for Big Love since it is a current show) but wasn't sure whether they did that for all shows (like if they withheld on their "flagship" type shows). I'm not a fan of True Blood but if I did see that season 3 wasn't on AOD yet.

Also, if the show is in HD, does Amazon always stream it in HD?

1/17/2011 2:11:06 PM

Amazon on demand is pretty spotty. I ordered a few eps of Sons of Anarchy and they gave me the German version. While not I wanted, it was quite humorous.

1/17/2011 3:33:01 PM

gotcha. Just trying to find a legal way to watch this show without having to pay for a full cable or satellite sub just to enable me to pay for HBO.

1/17/2011 3:41:19 PM

find a friend?

1/17/2011 10:31:44 PM

yeah I'll have to see. Most of my good friends that live near me have actually dropped cable and satellite like I would like to do. Instead they have opted for mixtures of an antenna for local stations, netflix, redbox, hulu, etc. In fact, a few of my friends here without cable were planning to watch this at my place if I keep cable and get HBO

They basically feel the same as me: after canceling cable the amount of channels they miss could be counted on one hand. Unfortunately there is currently not a great legal way to watch content from those few channels without cable.

[Edited on January 18, 2011 at 7:53 AM. Reason : .]

1/18/2011 7:48:27 AM

You can't charge your friends, but maybe you can make them bring you dinner each week. That should add up to the monthly fee for HBO.

1/18/2011 12:10:04 PM

Make everyone bring a snack to the viewing party, and if anyone brings something lame like carrot sticks or granola bars, they don't get in.

1/18/2011 12:12:08 PM

I would totally be 'that guy' who brought in granola bars to a medieval/fantasy television show viewing party.

1/18/2011 2:10:21 PM

Turkey legs and mead ftw

1/18/2011 5:05:47 PM

Perhaps a fine cornish game hen served with gruel

1/18/2011 5:20:10 PM

OOOOOO and one of those swans with the feathers put back on

1/18/2011 5:21:48 PM

Its not a real viewing party unless someone brings a whole roasted pig with an apple in its mouth

1/18/2011 5:24:48 PM

Lamprey Pie or maybe bread and salt, that way they can't kill you under your own roof

1/18/2011 5:52:23 PM

That fat motherfucker sure could describe some feasts, couldn't he?

1/19/2011 10:36:32 AM

^ hahaha, i think he spent more detail describing food than anything else.

1/19/2011 1:46:58 PM

I didn't think there was much time spent describing food...

I mean sure at a couple of the huge feasts but generally food in these types of stories is mentioned (or should be) for a reason. At times the food described helped flesh out the location/climate or the type of culture in a certain city/region (Such as the citrus or types of wine in Dorne). Other times types of food are used as a way to distinguish class/wealth as well as a comparison to show times of distress.

I can definitely remember him talking about the food, but it never seemed out of place or excessive, it just described the setting to immerse you in the story. /shrug

As an example, I can remember a specific scene from The Count of Monte Cristo where a fancy dinner was described in very fine detail and it was for a point: most of the food described was not native to that region (some maybe not even from the continent if I recall). Sure, on the surface it seemed like Dumas was just describing some food, but really it was a subtle, unobtrusive, and natural way to display Dantes' enormous wealth within the context of the story.

[Edited on January 19, 2011 at 3:29 PM. Reason : .]

1/19/2011 3:20:24 PM

That fat motherfucker sure could describe some feasts, couldn't he?

1/19/2011 4:59:31 PM

Okay, so I've tried my hardest, but there's no way that we're going to be able to show this on the big screen at Galaxy. HBO is unable to license at any price (well, I'm sure there's some price, but, you know...) it for public exhibition due to contract/union bullshit, and, as it turns out, HBO isn't even available to DirecTV business accounts for that very reason. HBO bros were actually very nice about it, btw, it's just that they pay everybody on their shows based on the fact that this stuff only gets shown in homes on pay TV.

So, question for those of you who have read the books: should I try and read one before the show comes on? I know it's hard to say not having seen the show yet, but does it seem like the type of thing that's going to be enjoyable to someone with no familiarity?

1/20/2011 3:42:02 PM

It should be enjoyable either way...it really depends on if you're a stickler for details.

Any book converted to movie or TV show is going to have to leave out a lot of the small stuff to make it work on screen. If this traditionally bothers you in other adaptations, it would be better to go in fresh. Otherwise, reading the books before hand will only enhance your experience when you see the show.

I go both ways...I never read Harry Potter but I like the movies, and I read all the Bourne books and liked those films as well.

1/20/2011 3:46:12 PM

This will be amazing without having any knowledge of the series.

That being said, do yourself a huge favor and read the books. Please, I beg you...

1/20/2011 3:59:35 PM

Yeah, especially the first one that this show is going to be based on (A Game of Thrones). It's one hell of a rollercoaster ride and i'm willing to bet the TV show will leave some stuff out due to time constraints.

1/20/2011 4:24:54 PM

^^^^ Read the books just because the books are great. I would imagine having the extra detail will help for some context, but like Slave said, things will inevitably be left out.

I plan on rereading the first book before the series starts.

1/21/2011 10:07:20 AM

Yes, read the books, but don't get to vested in caring whether the story will ever end. The first 3 are magnificent.

1/21/2011 10:49:32 AM

I suggest you don't read the books because the fat fuck of an author will never finish it and is doing everything possible to avoid working on it.

1/21/2011 11:32:09 PM

Quote :

"I suggest you don't read the books because the fat fuck of an author will never finish it and is doing everything possible to avoid working on it."

1/22/2011 1:04:02 PM

seriously i swear to god its always either some bullshit about the Jets or Giants, or how he's edited some other anthology of short stories, or his stupid wildcards books, or god knows what else.

and he was just in the hospital with e. coli in his urinary tract.

i bet he's dead inside 2 years.

1/22/2011 2:00:07 PM

Perhaps between the ailing health and the Jets winning the Superbowl, he will actually be motivated to start writing again.

1/22/2011 2:33:26 PM

maybe, but i am willing to bet he's getting all his notes and etc. together so he can find his own Sanderson to finish these books after he kicks the bucket

which may not be so bad. Sanderson has done a pretty good job so far for Robert Jordan, Towers of Midnight was pretty fucking awesome

1/22/2011 3:11:13 PM

as I said in another thread:

Quote :

"he takes hardly any notes and from what Ive heard does not want someone else to finish if he dies"

Also, he has stated multiple times that this TV show, while taking up a good bit of time during the first season, has really motivated him to finish the series. Last I heard a few months back he was down to single digits in chapters left to complete in ADWD. Not really sure how accurate that is today or how much he still has left to do but that's the latest update I have on the books themselves.

1/22/2011 4:00:44 PM

Quote :

"maybe, but i am willing to bet he's getting all his notes and etc. together so he can find his own Sanderson to finish these books after he kicks the bucket which may not be so bad. Sanderson has done a pretty good job so far for Robert Jordan, Towers of Midnight was pretty fucking awesome"

the difference is that, as annoying as martin is, he's an excellent writer and a song of ice and fire has been unfailingly phenomenal...don't get me wrong, i think jordan was also excellent, but before sanderson picked it up, wheel of time was becoming tedious

but yeah, i have a great deal of disdain for martin's laziness

1/22/2011 4:02:28 PM

who doesn't?

this show is going to seriously boost his popularity and more and more people will want to check out the books after watching the show. this should put a great deal more pressure on GRRM to finish.

Here's to hoping he'll have the next book ready before the end of the first season.

1/22/2011 4:07:03 PM

i have to agree about Jordan. I have great respect for Jordan but even as a fantasy fan I struggled to get through the WoT books that I did and eventually gave up. It's long and epic (and also very boring at times) but the writing is not even on the same plane imo. Martin also has a very specific style I feel like. I am definitely annoyed at his laziness but hopefully this show changes things.

edit: Yeah, I thought I posted the comment here from Martin's interview like 2 weeks back where he said he feels great pressure / has a fire under his ass to get moving on these books now. He plans to have this new book finished and ready before season 1 is over and he talked about how if the show did well and continued he saw Storm of Swords being split over 2 seasons meaning he had 4-5 years to finish the last two books (which would still be a feat for him).

[Edited on January 22, 2011 at 4:12 PM. Reason : ]

1/22/2011 4:08:36 PM

Quote :

" he's an excellent writer and a song of ice and fire has been unfailingly phenomenal"

yes for books one, two, and three. I think he's regretting the way he wrote so many pages about relatively nothing in book four. Book five makes or breaks it for me...

Check out Patrick Rothfuss if you need a fresh take on a dedicated fantasy author

1/25/2011 9:48:38 PM

yeah, rothfuss is definitely really good, but I know quagmire has already read TNOTW I have already pre-ordered Wise Man's Fear. Can't wait.

I still thought book 4 was good. Definitely not as good as the first 4 but it was also missing a lot of the characters people like the most because of the way he split 4/5. On top of that, it kind of had to play the role of the "middle." I imagine books 4-5 in a 7 book series play a similar role to the 2nd book in a trilogy.

Like I said, I thought it was good but not great, however he gets a free pass on that one because books 1-3 were so phenomenal. We'll see what he does in the next one...

[Edited on January 25, 2011 at 9:58 PM. Reason : ]

1/25/2011 9:56:30 PM

its funny because even though i had read book 4 most recently, i keep thinking back to storm of swords when i try to remember whats going on. it was just that uneventful for me.

1/25/2011 10:02:55 PM

Quote :

"I have already pre-ordered Wise Man's Fear. Can't wait."

1/25/2011 10:50:19 PM

I predict we will have at least 6 more "GRRM is dead" hoax threads before the series is over

1/25/2011 11:58:09 PM

100% will have cable before this comes out



[quoteI think he's regretting the way he wrote so many pages about relatively nothing in book four[/quote]

i have paper clips in my book of the chapters i skipped bc they revolved around characters i honestly could have cared less about

heresy i know

[Edited on January 26, 2011 at 12:41 AM. Reason : s]

1/26/2011 12:15:20 AM

Quote :

"i keep thinking back to storm of swords when i try to remember whats going on. it was just that uneventful for me."

yeah, the quality of his books went just like movie sequels:
the first is the best
the second is good
the third is OK
and the fourth makes you wonder wtf happened here anyways

1/26/2011 6:46:18 PM

I'd say the first 3 are on par with each other. SoS is definitely under contention for the best of the first 3, at least for me.

1/26/2011 9:04:49 PM

Quote :

"I'd say the first 3 are on par with each other. SoS is definitely under contention for the best of the first 3, at least for me."

this.

i haven't actually read AFFC, yet

1/27/2011 9:04:05 AM

I'm on hour 6 (of 33!) of the audiobook (had a road trip this week) and I'm really digging it.

1/27/2011 2:15:46 PM