Game of Thrones

I have finally gotten into Game of Thrones this last six months. I had watched the first six episodes of the TV series, and had liked it but did not understand the appeal until this 800 page written version. Written by George R.R. Martin, I can not begin to emphasize how well written this series is. Let me emphasize: I watched only six episodes of the first season of Game of Thrones, and each episode was roughly equivalent to 100 pp. of text. The information that was expressed in the novel made the tv series less informational. 

TV GoT (Game of Thrones) was good, do not get me wrong. Watching the show had allowed me to understand what the premiss of the story was, introduce all the major characters, and give me a feel for the events to come. However, the show did not make as much as chronological sense as the book did. The fact that 100 pages was summed up in 40 minutes of film alone shows that the written word had more information, most of which is inexpressible physically. For example, Catelyn Stark's motivations, and choices are more clear through her thought process. Even the importance of the Winterfell's catchphrase "winter is coming" has more meaning, or at least the meaning was more clear. I think that I could watch the show now and have a more complete sense of what is actually happening.  

Daenerys, the blood of the dragon.

I haven't even mentioned how competent and strong the female characters are. How often do we find a fantasy saga were females are slightly leading males? Of course, who really has power in this book is debatable, but it is undeniable that Arya, Dany, Catelyn, Cersei, and even Sansa are strong. I didn't even like Sansa for the first 700 pages. In her last chapter in the book, her strength finally showed through. I am excited to see how she develops--I find her situation at the end of the book the most interesting.

Last thing: the book ends in a very similar fashion to The Grapes of Wrath. [*hint,hint*]

Nerd, Fan or Bandwagon?
Emily