Game of Thrones

I noted in my 2011 recap that I have started watching Game of Thrones sometime that year. However, I realized that I haven't made a post dedicated to that wonderful TV mini-series that made me read the dreadfully long but deliriously wonderful books.



I admit, the first time I saw a glimpse of the TV show, I recoiled from all the nudity and violence. But when I saw the trailer on HBO featuring the prologue which gave us an impression how the series really look like, I was hooked. The above is actually the opening credits of the show and it's just so awesome!

I love Sean Bean as Ned Stark. I don't care if he gets typecasted in historical/medieval/soldier roles (Lord of the Rings, Troy, Percy Jackson and now this) but he's just so effective. There's something about his face and performance that brings you back to the old ages where kings ruled.

The series made me search out the books and reading the novel while watching the show showed me are more in depth look on the wonderful world of Westeros and the intrigues played by the different lord and ladies of the realm. I'm a sucker for medieval stories as I grew up reading stories about knights and ladies and my favourite book ever is Jude Deveraux's "Knight in Shining Armor". When I was in third year high school, I got a perfect score in our World History quiz focusing on the medieval period. That's how much I'm into it.

My husband got me ebooks of all five existing books (2 are still yet to be released) which I downloaded into my Nook. I couldn't put the book down and hated it when I have to charge my device to be able to continue reading (that's maybe the drawback to shifting to electronic books. I have to plug it in when the battery runs out of juice).

The Game of Thrones mini-series is based on George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire books. The first of which is A Game of Thrones (GOT, 1996)--where the show started. Next is a Clash of Kings (ACOK, 1999), then A Storm of Swords (ASOS, 2000), followed by A Feast for Crows (AFFC, 2005). The fifth book which was released last year was A Dance With Dragons (ADWD, 2011). Two books have yet to be issued which are The Winds of Winter (TWOW) and A Dream of Spring (ADOS). As the books are quite long, the show only focused on certain parts of the first novel. I just read out the parts to fill in the holes.

However, when I got to the second book, ACOK really dragged at first. It was just in the middle of the book which I was forced to read while waiting in line the half day to get my NBI clearance, that the action really started. I literally could not put my nook down and was hooked at what's going to happen next. I grieved for those who died and applauded when my favourite characters won their battles.

I'm already on the 3rd book and I'm still engrossed. I dread finishing the fifth book as it will be a long wait before the sixth and seventh book will be released. I surely hope Martin finishes the 6th book soon and I really pray he'll still be alive to finish the 7th one. Actually, he's only 64 but he looks old in his pictures (must be the beard).

Sesason 2 of GOT will start on April which is three months away. I can't wait to immerse myself in their fascinating world afain.

In the meantime, here's a teaser trailer for the next season.