Friday, August 19, 2011

A Game of Thrones

I know it seems trite, but damn, A Game of Thrones (book) is infinitely better than Game of Thrones (series). It's not even close. Not even a little bit.

The show has pretty bad direction, awkward art design, with things being just... not at all how they are in the book, and this habit of awkwardly lifting "key" lines of dialogue from the book and using them as a catch-all for what's supposed to be going on. The action is... adequate? I mean, it's nothing special.

Seems like they did the show on a shoestring budget for being so high profile, and then it seems like they managed to give every aspect of it less than enough to be passable, but not enough for it to be in anyway exceptional.

I bought the book, because everyone around me seemed to be reading it. I saw the first 4 episodes of the show, which comprised around 350-450ish pages of the book, depending on certain details, and took a break for a few months. I read the book in a couple of weeks during my spare time, and it was riveting. Breathtaking. Spectacular. Without a doubt, right up there with The Fellowship of the Ring and The Gunslinger, and the other books that have opened my favorite epic series. (I don't include Harry Potter).

I can't believe the show could suck so hard. Look at what Peter Jackson did with LOTR. If you want to make a movie/show out of a book, follow his advice. Just without the whole 'every time Frodo puts on the ring, Sauron's eye is upon him' thing.

TL;DR - A Game of Thrones (book) is way better than the show. Obviously.