Game of Thrones fans here?

[mu03eng]

I think that is pretty normal. I've never seen a movie/show that captures an entire book.

And to be fair, I wouldn't want to

[CTWarrior]

Am I the only one who stopped watching this show because they keep killing all the people I like? 

[Henry Sugar]

I've been reading A Song of Ice and Fire for 15 years. He'd better finish the freaking books!

It was bad enough with Robert Jordan died without finishing the Wheel of Time series! Gah!

Meh - I still don't really care. There are plenty of other nerd fantasy books out there to read.

GRRM is like Three Floyds. It's pretty good beer, but there are lots of other really good beers out there that don't have the distribution issues or attitude. The TV show is a fine substitute for finishing the books.

Other authors I would recommend:
Joe Abercrombie, Brent Weeks, Peter V. Brett, Patrick Rothfuss, Scott Lynch, Anthony Ryan.

[brewcity77]

I think that is pretty normal. I've never seen a movie/show that captures an entire book.

The first season of GoT was damn close. I watched it first, then read the book, which is usually the opposite of how I like to do it. It amazed me reading the book how I felt that I really didn't learn much that I didn't already know from watching the show.

[CreightonWarrior]

Am I the only one who stopped watching this show because they keep killing all the people I like? 

Most likely

[muwarrior69]

Am I the only one who stopped watching this show because they keep killing all the people I like? 

Wait until one of the dragons dies.

[WI inferiority Complexes]

I liked-- but didn't love-- Game of Thrones.  I sat down to watch the first episode of the new season and just felt overwhelmed.  The two minutes of "Previously on GOT" was filled with some many story lines, I wondered why I would even try to watch anymore.

I know I'm pathetic, but I've become too lazy to care about everything going on in this series.

[Skatastrophy]

Meh - I still don't really care. There are plenty of other nerd fantasy books out there to read.

GRRM is like Three Floyds. It's pretty good beer, but there are lots of other really good beers out there that don't have the distribution issues or attitude. The TV show is a fine substitute for finishing the books.

Other authors I would recommend:
Joe Abercrombie, Brent Weeks, Peter V. Brett, Patrick Rothfuss, Scott Lynch, Anthony Ryan.

Thanks for the suggestions, I don't have many people to talk about this with.

My bookshelf is packed with RA Salvatore and Terry Goodkind.

I need to get back into reading for fun instead of just reading management books!

[Henry Sugar]

Thanks for the suggestions, I don't have many people to talk about this with.

My bookshelf is packed with RA Salvatore and Terry Goodkind.

I need to get back into reading for fun instead of just reading management books!

I haven't yet checked out Salvatore and Goodkind, but will give them a shot. Any specific recommendations?

If you are looking at the list of authors, start with Abercrombie's First Law trilogy. I also really liked the Night Angel trilogy from Weeks.

[Skatastrophy]

I haven't yet checked out Salvatore and Goodkind, but will give them a shot. Any specific recommendations?

If you are looking at the list of authors, start with Abercrombie's First Law trilogy. I also really liked the Night Angel trilogy from Weeks.

They're fun fantasy romps, and not challenging reads at all. I enjoyed:

The Cleric Quintet the most from Salvatore, and the Sword of Truth series from Goodkind.

[brewcity77]

I liked-- but didn't love-- Game of Thrones.  I sat down to watch the first episode of the new season and just felt overwhelmed.  The two minutes of "Previously on GOT" was filled with some many story lines, I wondered why I would even try to watch anymore.

I know I'm pathetic, but I've become too lazy to care about everything going on in this series.

GoT can be very overwhelming. That's where I think reading the books helps a lot. My wife won't watch it without me anymore because she always needs to be reminded of which storyline we are watching. In the book, it works well because you get time to get back into the story each time they do a narrative shift, but in the series, you are dropped in story to story very rapidly. I hope in the coming seasons, they trim down the number of simultaneous narratives, because I think that is a complaint of quite a few viewers.

[muwarrior69]

Anyone catch last nights EPIC episode. Highlight of the series for me up to this point.

[tower912]

I thought the whitewalkers attacking Hardhome was more shocking.    Burning the princess at the stake was horrible.   

[Stronghold]

Both of the last 2 episodes have been action packed and definitely have a shock factor.  Hope the season finale next week lives up to these 2.  The princess scene was probably the most uncomfortable one for me to watch of the whole series.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Anyone catch last nights EPIC episode. Highlight of the series for me up to this point.

It somewhat jumped the shark for me last night.

[JuniorCardigan]

Anyone catch last nights EPIC episode. Highlight of the series for me up to this point.

It was an OK episode...but they totally butchered Stannis' character. Not in the good "lets make this guy a villain way" but in the "lets just ruin this guy's character in the most pathetic way possible." It seems like the writers really didn't know what to do with his character arc and just copped out.

[jesmu84]

I thought the whitewalkers attacking Hardhome was more shocking.    Burning the princess at the stake was horrible.   

Yea. Night's King > Dragon rider. The princess burning was absolutely coming since stannis left the wall, but it was still pretty terrible.

Cbb - I think I recall you're a big fan of the show. Why the change?

[chapman]

It was an OK episode...but they totally butchered Stannis' character. Not in the good "lets make this guy a villain way" but in the "lets just ruin this guy's character in the most pathetic way possible." It seems like the writers really didn't know what to do with his character arc and just copped out.

Completely agree.  And putting it on GRRM in their after episode comments was lame.  Yes, he told them Shireen is sacrificed in the next book (which was expected); but they went out of their way to do it in a way that completely misses the point from how Martin has set it up to happen.

[jesmu84]

Completely agree.  And putting it on GRRM in their after episode comments was lame.  Yes, he told them Shireen is sacrificed in the next book (which was expected); but they went out of their way to do it in a way that completely misses the point from how Martin has set it up to happen.

As a non-book reader... Care to explain how it's setup in the books?

[LON]

As a non-book reader... Care to explain how it's setup in the books?

Shireen/Selyse/Mel are at the Wall and not with Stannis.  Seems like it's heading to a point where Stannis won't witness it; perhaps not even sanction it.  Nor is it setup to be believable that Selyse has last second remorse/regret as she was depicted to have last night.

[Stronghold]

Shireen/Selyse/Mel are at the Wall and not with Stannis.  Seems like it's heading to a point where Stannis won't witness it; perhaps not even sanction it.  Nor is it setup to be believable that Selyse has last second remorse/regret as she was depicted to have last night.

Interesting because even last night the show had the chance to send the girls to the Wall with Davos.  Wonder why the deviation.  Time constraints?

[chapman]

Shireen/Selyse/Mel are at the Wall and not with Stannis.  Seems like it's heading that Stannis won't witness it; perhaps not even sanction it.  Nor is it setup to be believable that Selyse has last second remorse/regret as she was depicted to have last night.

Yep.  When they're starving in the snow and his men ask him to sacrifice non-believers, he tells them no one burns and to "pray harder".  He also sends a knight away from his camp, telling him that if he should die, his orders are to put his daughter on the throne.  

[JuniorCardigan]

Shireen/Selyse/Mel are at the Wall and not with Stannis.  Seems like it's heading to a point where Stannis won't witness it; perhaps not even sanction it.  Nor is it setup to be believable that Selyse has last second remorse/regret as she was depicted to have last night.

It would have been a lot more interesting if Melisandre had done it behind his back.

[brewcity77]

I'm lukewarm on this season. There are a lot of things I don't like. Last night's sacrifice of Shireen was certainly up there. I also didn't like the twist with Ramsey tormenting Sansa. Totally unnecessary twist. I mean...we know from the whole Reek thing that Ramsey is an awful human being. We also know that Sansa was tormented by Joffrey. Having her endure that again while reinforcing that Ramsey is awful is just unnecessary.

Sure, there have been some good moments this season, but there have also been some spectacular low points and not in a good way. This is why I didn't like it when they started deviating from the books in Season 2. I get it, a lot of people read the books and you want to spice it up for them, but GRRM is bloody enough with his main characters. You don't need to further kill/abuse/torture characters, especially ones like Shireen (one of the few innocents and already tormented by Greyscale) and Sansa (already been through this ringer before), just for the sake of "keeping it interesting."

I hate to be one of "those people" because I get creative license, but they are quite literally abusing it this season.

[Pakuni]

I'm lukewarm on this season. There are a lot of things I don't like. Last night's sacrifice of Shireen was certainly up there. I also didn't like the twist with Ramsey tormenting Sansa. Totally unnecessary twist. I mean...we know from the whole Reek thing that Ramsey is an awful human being. We also know that Sansa was tormented by Joffrey. Having her endure that again while reinforcing that Ramsey is awful is just unnecessary.

Sure, there have been some good moments this season, but there have also been some spectacular low points and not in a good way. This is why I didn't like it when they started deviating from the books in Season 2. I get it, a lot of people read the books and you want to spice it up for them, but GRRM is bloody enough with his main characters. You don't need to further kill/abuse/torture characters, especially ones like Shireen (one of the few innocents and already tormented by Greyscale) and Sansa (already been through this ringer before), just for the sake of "keeping it interesting."

I hate to be one of "those people" because I get creative license, but they are quite literally abusing it this season.

If it makes you feel better about Shireen, the idea to torch her came from Martin, who apparently told Weiss and Benioff that'll be her fate in the next book. As brutal as the scene was, I completely disagree with the complaint that it was for the sake of "keeping it interesting." To the contrary, it was essential to the character arc of Stannis, who we shouldn't forget not only is not a good guy, but someone who has burned people and sacrificed family before for the sake of his ambition.