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Started 1 year ago by honavery
Latest reply from bayrea

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honavery
Arizona
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This starts on Sunday on HBO. I've been working my way through the books and they are fantastic. Honestly the first fantasy books I've read that aren't hugely derivative of Tolkien. I just started on book 4 (A Feast for Crows) and book 5 is now set for release this summer. Hoping that the HBO series lives up to the book, but from the preview and the 25 minute making of below, it looks like they went all out. At the very least they've nailed the casting. Even if you're not a fan of the fantasy genre, I urge you to give it a chance.

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Posted 1 year ago #
gramarye
In Exile
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I haven't started the books yet, but I actually just learned last week that my dad has been reading them and has likewise given them high praise. He didn't even know that there was a TV show in the works--and I hadn't even known that the show was based on a book series. Here's hoping!

I was neither over- nor underwhelmed with the last book-inspired fantasy series that I watched for a little while, Legend of the Seeker, based on Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth novels. I liked it, but it's not the kind of show that made me plan to buy the DVD.

The Dresden Files, on the other hand, was outstanding (cheap special effects, but decent writing and good acting), and I was really disappointed that it didn't get renewed for a second season. Its setting was urban fantasy, not high fantasy, however. The series didn't last, but it at least clued me in to an incredibly entertaining series of books, which I've now read all the way through several times while waiting for the thirteenth book in the series to come out later this year.

Posted 1 year ago #
honavery
Arizona
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Yeah, I have read the Sword of Truth novels. The first few were decent, but the series really fell apart in the later books IMO (I still finished all of them for some reason). Legend of the Seeker wasn't amazing, but it was sort of fun and campy in a Xena sort of way.

Posted 1 year ago #
myliftkk
Columbus, OH
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Anyone else catch this last night?

The one hit I think might depress viewing for this is that they cover a lot of fantasy ground pretty quickly for HBO viewers who might not be all that well-versed in topics like Dire Wolves, and obscure savage races. It was a bit of an exercise trying to make sure not to miss all the character references since they seemed to introduce a new one every 2-3 minutes.

Visually I thought it looked good, but one thing that really caught me was the first coat that the queen's brother was wearing. It looked like someone had just picked it up from Brigade. Way too modern in it's styling given everything else the cast was wearing.

Also, I'm not sure I get all the steampunk visuals in the intro. All I saw from then on were swords and arrows, but maybe technology comes later.

Posted 1 year ago #
honavery
Arizona
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I watched (obviously).

As a big fan of the books, I thought it was close to perfect. So much care was obviously put into the sets and costumes. And the casting is pretty much dead on. Peter Dinklage is going to be awesome in his role. Sean Bean too is perfect for the role.

I will be interested to see how it plays for people who haven't read the books. Lots of stuff going on. I think it will get better if you stick with it kind of like a lot of HBO shows (The Wire comes to mind). The books are kind of like this. There are so many characters it takes some time to get to know them all.

I did read today that HBO is so pleased with how it turned out they are set to announce a 2nd season as soon as today.

Posted 1 year ago #
Andrew Hall
Dennison Place (The Circles)
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honavery wrote Sean Bean too is perfect for the role....I did read today that HBO is so pleased with how it turned out they are set to announce a 2nd season as soon as today.

Sean Bean's presence it what put this as a must-watch even before I had any idea what it was.

I think that is very smart. Announcing it will continue gives potential audience a reason to emotionally invest in the show.

Liked it a lot. Despite not being more than trivially familar with the books, it paced well for being so much intro material.

A.

Posted 1 year ago #
myliftkk
Columbus, OH
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@honavery - The difference between fantasy series in general and most HBO shows though is that there's no historical context resident in the average viewer to rest on. D&D players might know what Dire Wolves are, but to most people the term is meaningless.

Then again, I'm not a big fan of most fantasy stuff because it's so easily discernible as formulaic in its typical plot devices. I'll keep watching, but I'm far more excited (and simultaneously trepidacious) about the Dark Tower series getting upcoming trilogy and tv drama treatment.

I'll be interested to see if HBO does a big push for this series at SDCC this year.

Posted 1 year ago #
honavery
Arizona
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@myliftkk - Have you read the books? IMO The Dark Tower series is much more formulaic fantasy wise than this series. Not that I didn't love most of the Dark Tower books (although I think that the TV/film thing could be a total disaster). I'm sure that will merit it's own thread when the time comes.

I see your point on the dire wolf thing, but I can't really think of anything else like that in the rest of the books. This series is much more grounded in reality than most fantasy. I would almost go as far as to call them "medieval fiction".

Posted 1 year ago #
JimL2

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honavery wrote >>
This series is much more grounded in reality than most fantasy.

Look honavery. If there's magical talismans, or a magic sword, or wizards, or... fucking crazy not-real animals... all these basic things that break the laws of reality? That shit's all fantasy.

I'm into hard sci-fi.

Fantasy's bullshit.

Posted 1 year ago #
honavery
Arizona
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JimL2 wrote >>

honavery wrote >>
This series is much more grounded in reality than most fantasy.

Look honavery. If there's magical talismans, or a magic sword, or wizards, or... fucking crazy not-real animals... all these basic things that break the laws of reality? That shit's all fantasy.
I'm into hard sci-fi.
Fantasy's bullshit.

I also enjoy science fiction. Perhaps we can discuss on another thread.

Posted 1 year ago #
bastardsuperstar
ゴジラ
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JimL2 wrote >>

honavery wrote >>
This series is much more grounded in reality than most fantasy.

Look honavery. If there's magical talismans, or a magic sword, or wizards, or... fucking crazy not-real animals... all these basic things that break the laws of reality? That shit's all fantasy.
I'm into hard sci-fi.
Fantasy's bullshit.

are we having fun yet?

Posted 1 year ago #
mrsgeedeck
Castle of Lions
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bastardsuperstar wrote >>

JimL2 wrote >>

honavery wrote >>
This series is much more grounded in reality than most fantasy.

Look honavery. If there's magical talismans, or a magic sword, or wizards, or... fucking crazy not-real animals... all these basic things that break the laws of reality? That shit's all fantasy.
I'm into hard sci-fi.
Fantasy's bullshit.

are we having fun yet?

Best. Reference. Ever!

Posted 1 year ago #
joev
Merion Village
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mrsgeedeck wrote >>

bastardsuperstar wrote >>

JimL2 wrote >>

honavery wrote >>
This series is much more grounded in reality than most fantasy.

Look honavery. If there's magical talismans, or a magic sword, or wizards, or... fucking crazy not-real animals... all these basic things that break the laws of reality? That shit's all fantasy.
I'm into hard sci-fi.
Fantasy's bullshit.

are we having fun yet?

Best. Reference. Ever!

Seconded!

Posted 1 year ago #
myliftkk
Columbus, OH
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honavery wrote >>
@myliftkk - Have you read the books? IMO The Dark Tower series is much more formulaic fantasy wise than this series. Not that I didn't love most of the Dark Tower books (although I think that the TV/film thing could be a total disaster). I'm sure that will merit it's own thread when the time comes.
I see your point on the dire wolf thing, but I can't really think of anything else like that in the rest of the books. This series is much more grounded in reality than most fantasy. I would almost go as far as to call them "medieval fiction".

No, I stick to movies and pc games where fantasy is concerned (which is why I've got any background on the genre), so my opinion's only that of someone who's never going to read the books and doesn't have any knowledge of their contents. The only reason I even know anything further about the series (other that HBO promos during Big Love) is I read a review beforehand that clued me in on a few major plot points before it started. That said, the show might be a steep curve for the uninitiated, but it's only the opener and the pace might not be as frenetic from here on out (then again I loved carnivale and that was enormously hard to get into if you didn't start the series - also one reason why it got axed).

For the record, my memories of Dark Tower are mostly from middle school in the 80s. Don't know how the series ended, I only read the beginning.

Posted 1 year ago #
Core_Models
Columbus
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I'm freaking thrilled I"m not the only person alive watching Party Down.

Also, look forward to sitting down for Game of Thrones.

Posted 1 year ago #
honavery
Arizona
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I also like Party Down.

Posted 1 year ago #
Core_Models
Columbus
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Porn star: Can I have a vodka red bull?

Roman: Live long and prosper.

Porn star: HeyÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ are you into sci-fi?

Roman: Yeah. Are you into sci-fi?

Porn star: Yeah, totally. I even did a sci-fi movie once. This alien did me with his tentacle arms. It was cool.

Roman: It sounds cool. I havenÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t seen that one. WhatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s your name?

Porn star: Cramsy. Lisa, actually.

Roman: IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m Roman. IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m a writer. I write movies and books. I have a blog. ItÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s pretty cool. So what kind of stuff are you in to?

Porn star: All of it. What I really like is dragons.

Romans: Dragons? sigh. Dragons are fantasy. If thereÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s magical talismans or a magic sword or wizards or fucking crazy not-real animalsÃ¢â‚¬Â¦. all these basic things that break laws of reality: that shitÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s all fantasy. IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m into hard sci-fi. Fantasy is bullshit.

-Party Down

;)

Posted 1 year ago #
JimL2

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yeah sorry for derailing this thread, I figured you'd get it immediately and everyone would just roll their eyes at me and go back to discussing this massive TV event based on an apparently-impossibly-huge novel series that I'd somehow never heard of before yesterday.

Anyway. It seems like a bad idea--to me--to do a TV show retelling a story that isn't finished and may not be finished by the time the show catches up to the books. I mean eventually they're just going to have to end with a title card reading "To Be Continued...?" right?

Posted 1 year ago #
Core_Models
Columbus
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While it may be a series of films instead of a series of TV shows, I think JK Rowling may disagree.

Posted 1 year ago #
honavery
Arizona
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Wow, I caught the 2nd reference but not the first. Just watched that episode too. Right over my head.

Good point about it not being caught up. I hope it gets that far to start with. I think the author said there will be 7 books. Book 5 is out this summer. He has been taking a long time between books, but those things are hard to predict. The books are super duper long (book 3 is 1200 pages paper back). Honestly I was amazed when I heard they were picking it up at all. Some of the stuff in the later books is going to be really difficult to film. Especially on a TV show (even an HBO TV show) budget.

Posted 1 year ago #