I’m a true fan of fantasy and consider myself well-read in that genre. I don’t know how I missed the debut of the A Song of Ice and Fire series. But there you have it. I missed it. At some point it became all the rage and I bought A Game of Thrones. And my life changed. Ok, ok. That’s wild hyperbole, even from me. But I became obsessed.
Just in case you live under a rock and don’t know what I’m talking about, according to Wikipedia, “A Song of Ice and Fire is a series of epic fantasy novels by the American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin. The first volume of the series, A Game of Thrones, was begun in 1991 and first published in 1996. Martin, who initially envisioned the series to be a trilogy, has published five out of a planned seven volumes. The fifth and most recent volume of the series published in 2011, A Dance with Dragons, took Martin five years to write. The sixth novel, The Winds of Winter, is still being written though is expected to be released in 2016.”
As fast as I could get the books I read them. I’m talking about reading The Game of Thrones in 3 days. I think it took me 4 days to read A Clash of Kings because I decided that I need some sleep. What’s the attraction? Multi-faceted characters, a flavor of medieval times, love, war, violence, sex, incest. Not for the faint of heart.
When the HBO series came out I flat-out refused to watch it. Does this happen to you? I almost always refuse to watch a movie based on a book I loved. I want the characters to look and act in the way that I imagine them. I don’t want to be shown how I should have imagined them. The one exception I can think to that self-imposed rule is “The Lord of the Rings“, the screen adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s trilogy. Which I’ve read about a million three or four times.
My husband and I went to see some movie years ago but it was sold out. He suggested “The Lord of The Rings” and ended up dragging me kicking and screaming into the theater. I was entranced.
Since the “Game of Thrones” HBO series came out, I have been receiving heavy pressure from my son, who also loves fantasy books and movies, to watch this series. Heavy pressure. I continued to refuse. And continued to refuse. And still refused. And refused.
And then gave in. Last night I bought the first season of “Game of Thrones” on Amazon Prime. I was hooked watching the credits. I started Episode 1 at about 8pm and couldn’t keep my eyes opened any longer at about 1am. I’m about half-way through Episode 7. Obsessed.
DO NOT TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. Oh, never mind, I’ve read all of the books.
It’s not enough just to go to Alcoholics Anonymous. Where’s Game of Thrones Anonymous when I need it?
saneteachers 
It’s the best when you become entranced by a series. I have threatened to join the Games of Throne’s followers for years. You have reminded me to get started! Have you watched a series called Vikings? I love it. Not so much fantasy as historic fiction but very addictive. Great characters!
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No I haven’t watched Vikings. Sound good. If it’s on Netflix or Amazon I definitely will. Do you know if it is?
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I am not sure, sorry. It is likely to be on Amazon though. My friend (who loves GOT ) reckons Vikings is better. I can’t stand by that just yet!!
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I have really got to jump on board this train. Everyone I know keeps telling me I would love this series and I have yet to pick up the books or even watch a single episode. I keep promising myself that I’ll get around to it when I have the time, but spare time is so elusive…
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I’m a prolific reader, so I glommed onto the books quickly and read them quickly. I’m less than 24 hours into the series and want to forget cooking dinner and just watch again. But to try to quell my addictive behavior, I’ll cook first.
If you like fantasy, you are doing yourself an disservice if you don’t read or watch this series.
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I understand where you are coming from. Unfortunately it is for Showtimes Shameless. When I first heard about it I thought it would check out an episode or two and that would be it. Over the winter break I watched 5 seasons to get caught up. Christmas Eve? Shameless. Christmas Day? Shameless. New Years Eve and Day? More and more Shameless. Being able to binge watch like this is almost criminal. But it is so much damn fun….By the way, another excellent post!
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Thank you 🙂 I was not a binge drinker but a daily drinker. I find myself with series that hook me being a daily binge watcher. Hmmmmm………
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My husband, as I type this comment to you, is watching Game of Thrones on DVD. He’s up to the fourth episode (I think) of the first series having not watched it on TV first, nor read the book/s. He adores it – is completely hooked. For myself, I’ve not read or watched any of it, but might give it a try one day. I have a suspicion thought that it won’t be my cup of tea, but who can tell? As for LOTR… I loved the book, all parts of it, and loved the movies which, unusually seemed to me to be very close to the book in tone and character. I also don’t care much for watching movies that are based on books (and often the other way around when something has had a book written to go with a film that started its life as a film.) Though there were parts of LOTR that bored me in both book and movies and that was the battles… I don’t have the mental concentration to be able to follow much of it, unfortunately.
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I completely agree about not liking books that are written after movies. It’s always fun to try at least the first episode of something. If it doesn’t click with you then you haven’t wasted too much time 😃
Funny that your husband is watching GOT just as you’re commenting here.
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I have not yet watched the show or read the books. I do however love this song by some of GRRM’s fans:
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I’ll check it out and let you know what I think. Maybe my post will nudge you to try an episode or a chapter?
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It definitely will–probably not right away, as I want to finish my sequel to “Majestic World”, but once that’s done, I’ll definitely check it out.
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I have made a lot of progress on my sequel to “Majestic World”, so I rewarded myself by picking up “A Game of Thrones” and starting to read it. I can tell it will be quite an undertaking, (and I’ll have to be disciplined to avoid addiction 🙂 ) but I am enjoying it so far. Thanks for recommending it!
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My ear buds are in my ears and connected to my kindle. Just as I was about to hit play on the next GOT series, I decided to check my stats and read your comment. I really hope you enjoy it.
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I haven’t seen Games of Thrones yet, but when I read your post I realize I might have to think of doing that. Good post!
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Thank you very much. I’m definitely hooked on it. And it’s very true to the books.
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Should I read the books first?
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Good question. The books are very long and not everyone likes to fly through books like I do. So maybe the series would be better. One is truly not better than the other.
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Thanks. Good to know. I have so many books to read anyway, so maybe it will be the series first.
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I think the GOT television series is one the best adaptations I’ve seen. The money this must have cost! And George R.R. Martin is involved withe the writing and production so that helps.
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I’ve thought of the money, too. Spectacular. I remembered that GOT is a favorite of yours, too.
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I don’t (quite) live under a rock – just in Italy – , but have managed to avoid/ignore the whole epic fantasy scene… up to now. You’ve made me curious! though I won’t try the waters till I have “more time”, whenever that happens 🙂
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Haha I was referring to Americans. I wasn’t sure if the description from Wikipedia would be helpful or seem condescending. So I opted for humor. I’m all up for giving any book a try, but if I think from the outset that I might not like it, I usually don’t bother. You may surprise yourself and like it, or maybe not. 😃
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Hmm let you know 🙂
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Winter is coming, Barb. 🙂
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I’ve spent an hour trying to copy my bitmoji of Winter is Coming here. I tried doing it on my laptop, kindle and finally iPhone. I give up trying to be clever. Oh wait I have an idea.
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It’s so annoying because I have posted pics as comments before.
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It is really an amazing series. I am not even a fantasy reader but it suckered me right in.
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Between GOT and Lord of the Rings, fantasy will be ruined for you. Actually, there are wonderful fantasy series, but I don’t know if they’ve been portrayed well in movies. Thank you for commenting!
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Of course! Do you read Mercy Thompson and Dresden Files series?
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No, is it good? Or are they two different things and then are they good?
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Lol both are amazing. They are more urban fantasy but so so good.
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I’ll put them on my list. Thanks!
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