OMGWTFBBQHBO!

[salinea]

A TV series adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire on the work.

Does being extremely afraid of the result makes me a bitter, cynical girl?

Comments

[the-corbie.livejournal.com]

Nah, my first reaction was trepidation too. This could be fabulous, but it could also be an unholy mess. No matter what people say, there are going to be compromises involved... and old-fashioned guy that I am, I prefer the books as they are in my imagination, not on a screen.

On the other hand, it could be fabulous. Ignore me, I'm just an old cynic.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Even if we're lucky enough that it's a good adaptation, it will still be one vision... and I know from experience I hate when the visual adaptation of the book sweeps over everyone visual imagination. And I wasn't as invested emotionnaly in any of these previous experience. So yeah, I tend to prefer books.

And yes, it's exciting too. So many more material to fan about! So many more potential!

[zollo-the-fat.livejournal.com]

Bitter and cynical, alright. ;)

As Iain said, ... god knows what comes out of it. I am not holding my breath for the time being.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

well, it's not like it's already in production, either. I wonder how certain a deal it is ^^

[after-nightfall.livejournal.com]

I was all OMGWTFBBQ!!! at first, too. But now... damn, think of all the unholy fanfiction this will spawn, regardless of GRRM's displeasure! The thought of the inevitable Gregor/Tywin and Ned/Cersei makes me want to cry bitter emo tears.

I guess I'm ambivalent now... part of me wants to cry doom and gloom, and another part wants to audition for any part in it. :-)

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

bwahaha, yes there would be fanfics *fears*fears* actually i would rather enjoy that. Well, not the Gregor/Tywin ones XD (Ned/Cersei could be interesting, if well written and explained...) but I wouldn't spit on Jaime/Loras or others. Of course the majority would be bad, but having a thriving fandom is always fun!

What I will hate is seeing one character as one actor. I hate that. I have my own vision of the characters! I will think all of the characters will look badly for them!

OOooh. Playing in it!! *_*

[generalblossom.livejournal.com]

whoa, count me as cynical as well...

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

*makes the cynical dance*

I need a Something Positive icon to express the full of content of my black, sarcastic, cynical heart on occasion!

[inthesewalls.livejournal.com]

Ooh! Filming in New Zealand!

I am very afraid given that one of the writers was involved in Troy, but I've only read the first book of the series, so I can't really pass too much comment.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

New Zealand, land of fantasy XD

Yeah, Troy doesn't give confidence. OTH, it's HBO, and GRRM should be involved in the process and he's got quite a bit of TV experience, so that, at least, makes me hope ^^

What are you waiting for before reading the rest? (can you tell this is my first fandom^^)

[icemannorth.livejournal.com]

I assume this new is the reason the board is down today. Yesterday it was down due to Zak's cock. What will be the reason tomorrow?

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

tomorrow, the world!

[kingfisher1.livejournal.com]

Another cynic, here! :/

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

we few, we happy few... ^^

[mnemosyne-1.livejournal.com]

So it's a good series? I've never read it... actually, never really heard much about it, come to think of it.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

It's one of the top class fantasy series out there. As in, I can think about a couple of book possibly as good.

There's 4 books out, out of 7. It's medieval, gritty, with low key magic. The plot are exquisitely complicated. There is no manicheism. Many characters, most of them GREAT (can't name one favourite, can't name 3 favourite, too may good ones). It's very well written and some dialogues are extremely quotable. The only good reason not to like them is if you can't stand the violence and realism.

I've got a long review here : http://etrangere.livejournal.com/94362.html?nc=14

[mnemosyne-1.livejournal.com]

Good review - I think I'll like it a lot (I just ordered the first book from amazon). I usually dark, gritty, sarcastic, political and realistic, though I will admit I have problems reading about rape. So if there are any rape scenes in there is it easy to skip over them without missing key information?

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Err. There are many rape scenes, yes. Most of them happen to people in the background, as a consequence of war. They are rapes in the circumstance of mariage a couple of times. They are at least two occasions where a main female character is very close to being raped. There's a lot of sexual violence in general, though it's never condoned or portrayed in a shallow way.
I don't know if all of it is avoidable. So, I'm afraid to say it definitly could be a problem.

[mnemosyne-1.livejournal.com]

I knew I should have been more clear in my question :) I can handle it if it is not too graphic and descriptive of the pain/blood/etc. that is involved. One novel I had problems with was The Kite Runner (don't know if you've read that), because of the graphic rape scene. Anyway, I'm getting the first one, and I figure if it's too much, I can always stop reading.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I don't remember any graphic sex scene that was a rape. Maybe some of the ones in the background could be bloody, but in that case they were definitly skippable.

Yes, I guess you'll se with the first volume. I hope you like it!

[ponygirl2000.livejournal.com]

That sounds pretty scary actually. However it is a good idea to use one book for each season of the show rather than trying to compress the whole thing into some unholy mini-series. I wonder if this will encourage Martin to write faster or slow him down...

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Yes, a serialized work is definitly the best way to adapt this work. I'm fonder of animated adaptation, err, because I just like animation I guess. And the comic done for the Hedge Knight was very good. But for a live adaptation, a long TV serie is definitly the best format.

I hope he'll write faster! Need to finish last book in time for the last season and all that jazz (one can dream).

[harumi.livejournal.com]

Well, when I read George Martin's book I could appreciate the political weavings and the realism, but I did not like it. In fact, I had a very hard time stomaching it. Why? Because for me, the point of fantasy is to escape reality, not read another history book where all the people I root for seem to die. That was particularly frustrating for me, because each time I am about to connect to a character it is inevitably ruined by the fact that I am afraid George Martin will kill him/her off.

But I seem to be in the minority here.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

I can understand that. If what you like in fantasy is light in atmosphere and happy ending, ASOIAF is definitly not a serie for you. (I like escapism too, I guess i just like grim and gritty escapism ^^) That's why I said to mneonosyne that the only reason i could see for not liking it would be not stomaching the darkness and violence! You're wholly entitled to your taste ^^

I think I'm lucky, though, because none of the characters I really loved did die in the series.

You're in the minority here because most of the people who answered me are people I've met through the ASOIAF's fandom! (it was the first one I joined online back in 99/00)

[harumi.livejournal.com]

I don't mind nitty gritty violence and pain, but I do crave constancy. The lack of it for me was a painful shock. A lot of my favorite books had the characters die, but I suppose it is the number of times this happens in George Martin books. I can stand that once. Three or four times gets to be a bit much.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

so the killing of main character went against the constancy to you, you mean?

I don't think GRRM killed quite that main characters. There's the one in A Game of Throne, and two of them in A Storm of Swords, and that's about it. Other dying characters weren't what I would have called a main character.

[harumi.livejournal.com]

No, but I did like them.

Of course, liking something isn't a rational thing, so I can accept that somebody likes what I don't like. Unlike lots of fandom wanking, I'm not about to call anybody retarded over it. ^^;;

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

:)

I'm getting curious, now. Where were all these characters you'd liked? (i'll probably screen your comment after so as not to spoil others)

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

quite that many characters, I meant.

Okay, it should be more in ASOS depending who you count as main character, possibly as many as four or five. But that's still one of the climax of the serie as a whole and thus justifyable at this point of the story.

[alighiera.livejournal.com]

I just read the news, and I went from an initial squee to wondering just how all those twists and turns can be done in a tv series. They'd have to axe entire major plotlines and characters to make it even remotely comprehensible for viewers.

Besides, with only four of seven books out, either GRRM writes a lot faster from now on or there will have to be a compromise ending to the entire thing. So... cynical and bitter on this end as well, if fearing the outcome of this is any indication.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

I think by the time the series would begin, GRRM wouldn't be so far from releasing the ending. He doesn't write that slowly - AFFC was remarkably slower in coming than the previous volumes. If he's back to the usual schedule that shouldn't be so much a problem.

Totally wondering how it could work with all the characters, setting, intricate plotlines as well. It's so easy to mess up an adaptation!

[alighiera.livejournal.com]

If he's normally faster, that would be great. I got into the series about a year or two before AFFC came out, so it felt like waiting for ages. Actually, is there any hint of a release date yet for ADOD?

Easy to mess up, and this just feels far too big. The scope is so wide that it would be quite taxing for the viewers too, I think. Just consider the Daenerys plotline - it's quite remote from everything else, despite her connections, so how do you include that kind of story without confusing the viewers completely? It's much easier in a book than on tv.