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Happy Birthday

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In case I haven’t mentioned it before, I really enjoyed the Game of Thrones TV series. Enough that when it ended I was too impatient to wait for the second season to see what happens next and started reading the books. I am currently finishing volume 3 “A Storm of Swords” and here are my thoughts:

I love Jon Snow so much. It could have a lot to do with the fact that the actor playing him in the show is lovely, but I also think his story is very good. I was definitely more interested in learning what’s behind the Wall than reading about the petty political intrigues in King’s Landing.

I’ve found reading the second volume very uncomfortable. It just seemed like all the characters I liked had some sort of doom awaiting them and I was almost scared to continue and see what would happen. In comparison volume three was much better, especially since it gave me an actual hell yeah! moment when Daenerys started her conquests.

I was spoiled about Renly’s death, but it was still a shock how quickly and suddenly it happened. Poor Loras :sniff:

In comparison the Red Wedding wasn’t nearly as shocking. For one thing there was so much foreshadowing that I’ve figured there was going to be a blood bath and was just waiting to see to what extent. For another, by that point I was completely fed up with Catelyn, and as for Robb, we haven’t really seen that much of him, so I wasn’t very attached to his character. It’s a pity he died, because he did seem like a great king, but there are others.

Like Stannis. I’ve started off not liking him very much, but the more I saw of him the more I think he is the best candidate for a king Westeros can hope for (at least until Dany gets there). Sure we keep being told how stubborn and unflexible he is, but in all his scenes he actually comes across as just and reasonable. He certainly recognizes good advice when he gets it, and is not too proud to follow it. I definitely root for him at this point.

I’ve found Theon’s story surprisingly appealing. The way he was stuck between trying to fulfil his family’s expectations and the nobility he soaked up while growing up in Winterfell, and the tragic way it all ended… I hope there’ll be more of him in the future.

I just loved Brienne and Jaimie together. It was practically a slash story! The way Jaimie learned to admire Brienne and her strength, his unwanted attraction to her, the way he tried to cling to his memory of the beautiful and feminine Cersei… I was snickering all the way through ;-)

I want to learn more about the Dorne and Highgarden. More queen of thorns, she’s awesome! And I’m curious how much of her grandma Margaery has in her.

Joffrey’s death wasn’t entirely as satisfying as I would have wanted, but I guess it’ll do.

In other news, do go see The Warrior if you still have a chance. It’s a great film, full of hell yeah! moments, amazing acting, and it has a fascinating story. Also there are some hilarious lines courtesy of sport commentators. All in all the best kind of cinema experience!

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Aw, thank you! ♥ And yay, another GOT fan! I'm forcing myself to wait on reading the books until they're all finished, but I couldn't resist hunting for spoilers before the series aired so I have a general idea of what happens to everyone. I know they have to change/expand a few things for television and I'm really looking forward to seeing how it all plays out in the series, then diving into the books to get the juicy details that don't make it to the screen. If only GRRM would write faster...

Is there a planned ending of the series in sight, or is it just wishful thinking? TBH I can't quite imagine how the series can possibly end. There are just so many characters and plots that bringing them all to a conclusion seems an impossible task. Unless it'll be an ending of a "rock falls, everyone dies" kind...

I have to say when I was reading GoT fresh after seeing the show I was really impressed by how faithful the adaptation was. And also by the fact that it was the TV show that had additional material - all the non point-of-view characters had to be fleshed out, after all, so we got to see scenes that could not be included in the books. That's pretty nifty, particularly since GRRM was helping with the script. I really can't wait for the second season!

Hmm, I'm thinking the ending will be more like 'the Wall falls, the Others invade, everyone dies'--but I hope not! Apparently GRRM has a plan, but he doesn't have it written anywhere so if he dies before finishing the 7th book we're all screwed! Although I guess we can be pretty sure that a lot of people will die. ;_; As for the TV series the powers that be have said they want to get at least as far as the Red Wedding, but after that things may get tricky. The later books may need to be split into two seasons, and the show is super expensive to produce so everything depends on whether HBO stays willing to give them the budget they need. Fingers crossed!

Some of my favourite scenes turned out not to be in the book, and I agree that they work really well. I'm especially glad that the show is giving Robb more to do because he's so damn adorable! ;P Also I think it's interesting that none of the kings in the books (Robert, Robb, Joffrey) ever get POV chapters.