One of the author's biggest problem is he bogs things down with too much writing. He could probably cut a 25% from each book and you'd not notice the difference. (in the fourth book it could probably be cut in half)
He goes a little overboard at times with the 'epicness' of the epic fantasy genre. The only thing that kept me going through the fourth book was that I knew book five would bring back the good characters. (and in all honesty, books four and five were only separated because )
Books four and five were separated because the whole thing would be over 2000 pages long. On top of that book 4 was written and published in 2005. Book 5, Dances with Dragons, wasn't finished until 2011. Six years! Even the author commented on it at various times over the years talking about writing it. If it was about the money book 5 would have been published in 2006-7 because the author wouldn't have dragged his feet writing it. Or if he had written the whole thing in one shot and then cut it in half both books would have been released in 2005. No this had nothing to do with money. It was simply an author who for various reasons took six years to write a novel.
The decision to split up the fourth book was due to the manuscript starting to become longer than the third book by a few hundred pages, and the publishers had issues with this. Even though it took six years between books four and five, a third of book five was from the manuscript for the fourth book. We'd more likely be looking at a 1000-1200 page fourth book, which is still entirely doable, especially considering half of the fourth book in its published form is filler.
Mostly it's not baggage. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of relevant characters, and having read the books helps me keep them straighter. It also makes me have a greater appreciation for things not fully developed, like references to Dorne or dragonfire. The "worst" thing about having read the books is it takes away some of the surprise factor when things like Melisandre's birthing scene happen. But then I also get a deeper appreciation than I think I would have of new scenes, or at least scenes that I don't remember from the books.
So by my count there are currently 6 major plotlines going: 1) Robb's war against the Lannisters 2) The conflict between the Baratheon brothers 3) Theon Greyjoy returning to the Iron Islands and dealing with his father's war plans 4) Daenrys Targarion and her followers in Qarth 5) Arya & Gendry on the lamb, now in Lannister hands 6) Jon Snow and the Black Watch marching into the Wilds north of The Wall With various subplots like - Tyrion's intrigue at King's Landing, dealing with Joffrey and Cersei, etc... - Catelyn's journey to secure Renly's cooperation in attacking the Lannister forces - Stannis' relationship with the red-haired witch priestess It seems like they focus on maybe 3 of the major plotlines per episode, with one or two of the minor ones thrown in as well. Obviously these plotlines will change over time, merging together for some, splitting off in other ways for others, etc... Which ones do you currently enjoy most? Which are your least favorite? Personally, I enjoy the Arya & Gendry plot as well as the Baratheon brothers conflict the most. And anything with The Imp in it! I find the Dragonlady Dany stuff rather tedious at present, and the Black Watch plotline less than thrilling (although I expect that to change sooner rather than later).
I would say that it's amazing that the show and the books handle this many plots and many more subplots more effectively than most shows handle just one plot and a couple subplots. I would add the Sansa/Jaime captivity and Bran's strange dreams to the list of subplots. I basically enjoy all of them.
Arya's journey has always been one of my favorites: the classic 'younger noble born child' becoming a dashing rogue storyline, only Arya happens to be female. You can practically see her D&D 'Thief' training happening right before your eyes in S1. The Targaryon storyline is pretty cool, once the dragons come along. ANYTHING to do with Tyrion.
I mean the personal baggage of having read the books, and thus have expectations, disappointments, complaints that the show is different, etc.
I tend to agree, and having not read the books, I'm enjoying the TV show and then catching up on the books AFTER the fact, so I get to enjoy the material twice!
Oh, The Imp is far and away the best thing about the show. Arya's Odyssey and Dani's story, in that order, next favorites.
Speaking personally, no real complaints or disappointments so far with S.2. I understand some things have to be compressed for the sake of TV, and as others have said, most of the time that works to the benefit of the series. Some scenes were invented for the series, and generally speaking those have enriched the story I was familiar with rather than detracting. I would have wanted the red priestess to be more sexy and imposing, but maybe that's asking too much. A bit of confusion about a point or two -- like in the book's Theon's sister is "Asha" rather than "Yara." Not sure why they changed it. Doesn't matter all that much.
Theon had a luke moment. lol. Peter Dinklage needs Emmy for best actor not just supporting actor and a snl guest spot. He played one of liz lemon's boyfriends in a 30 rock episode.
Watch the lore extras on bluray dvd. The commentary with the kids playing the stark actors was funny.
Watched the Garden Of Bones episode again last night. Tyron Lannister was indeed excellent. Poor Lancell. ... and the guy that plays Tywin Lannister totally nails his part. He has a way of looking down on people he's talking to even when he's eye to eye with them. Well casted, IMHO.
The whole thing is pretty well cast. I just have problems with Leana Heady being an evil, incestuous bitch. I much prefer her as a brunette and Queen of Sparta.
Absolutely rockin' except for the Obama part. Go figure, considering the poster. EDIT: The above post (with the graphic) makes this thread immediately Red Room material, BTW.
Never has it been so obvious that Newt Gingrich looks like a petulant child than when he is side-by-side with Joffrey. And the Ned Star/Al Gore comparison is gold.
I don't recognize the guy compared to GWB... Who is he again? [spoilers]So Renly's dead? Just like that? I really thought he was going to end up as King for a period of time at least. Oh well. Stannis just got himself an army with only spilling the blood of 1 man. I'm really interested to see where this all going. ... and it's good to see Aryia making new freinds! [/spoilers]
