Game of Thrones

A good friend of mine, David, has taken it upon himself to keep the masses on the internet informed on the details of the new HBO series "Game of Thrones", which is based on a book series entitled "A Song of Ice and Fire", on his blog "The Bimillennial Man". Last year, the first season of the show, he wrote up a recap of each episode after it aired as well as his thoughts and a grade. His posts were rather popular. As David is an excellent and intelligent writer I was not surprised by this. The recaps were great but took a lot of time and energy for him to write which caused David to consider not doing them again this season. He was quite honest about his concerns but his rabid fans, myself among them, practically begged him to continue during this second season. His recaps were insightful, informative, professional, and highly entertaining. Especially to those who had not read the books as we have. Well, I am proud to say that David has capitulated to his avid fans and admirers and decided to continue his recaps for "Game of Thrones" for the second season.

The "A Song of Ice and Fire" series is written by George R.R. Martin. It is a fantasy epic full of knights, kings, swords, fights, a bit of magic, and of course DRAGONS! (Here is an excellent resource of information for the books.) But what truly sets this series apart from most other fantasy stories is it is light on the fantastical and heavy on the political intrigue and family and house alliances, hence the title of the first book, "A Game of Thrones", where the show gets its title. Also what sets it apart from other tales, is the author plays no favorites with his characters. Characters who would normally be the "hero" and live will actually die and others you loathe and wish would die will live. Just like in the real world, being good and honorable does not always yield good consequences, and being bad and dishonorable doesn't always yield punishment. This is the true appeal of the series, and the transfer to the physical, visual medium of film has been beyond wonderful.

Mr. Martin has remained closely tied to the show as a producer. Contributing writing duties for some episodes himself, as he is also an experienced TV writer, he is truly devoted to the story he has created and that closeness shows. This is truly the finest transfer from book to screen I have ever seen. Usually so much is lost or changed in the book to screen transfer that the film/show is nearly unrecognizable to the readers. Not so with "Game of Thrones". Naturally there will be changes and all the changes so far have not only been necessary but enhanced the story experience, again, very uncommon but a huge bonus.

I've linked David's first season recaps above, and here is the recap of the first episode of the second, which aired on my Bornday, April 1! Go check out David's excellent musings on "Game of Thrones" and I promise you'll enjoy yourself


Bonus: Here is an excellent article on Salon.com about the women of the series.