HBO adaptation of Game of Thrones - will this be just for nerds? (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

As in:

"Tyrion's belly growled loudly as he helped himself to a trencher of pointed mustachios."

I always have this initial reaction that a mustachio is a mustache made of pistachios

Is it all that badly written?

yes

well, that passage isn't really badly written, i suppose it is just the content that might offend. and if grrm is a bad writer it is definitely more to do with content then actual writerly aptitude. he definitely has the fantasy-series-writer curse of starting out with indulgent urges and then slowly losing the editorial checks on those as the series becomes more successful.

i mean, i have read some fantasy books and i...i've seen some bad writing. terrible, horrifying writing. sometimes i close my eyes and," he trailed off, staring into space, mayhap into the very void.

he was a tv writer for quite a while and that definitely shows in his writing. a lot of the first season of this show practically just used the book as the screenplay

The chapters feel perfectly paced to be scenes in a tv show.

Yeah the first book is rather tightly structured for a 900 page novel

he's talked some about how the act structure of building to commercial breaks by cutting on a cliffhanger really influenced how he approached the chapter structure.

Yeah the first book is rather tightly structured for a 900 page novel

― lego maniac cop (latebloomer)

The first is my favourite in some ways because of this. There's a neat inexorability to the plot which is missing in the later ones, particularly the last two.

yeah the first book is really the best-written one

The third is the most exciting though.

daario kept making me think of the groosalugg

"The third is the most exciting though."

For sure, I'm not sure I've ever read a book quite like it in that respect. Once it hits its stride it's totally relentless.

Seven Hells at the book's description of Daario! Still, I think it would have been more... interesting if the TV show had gone with something closer to that than the bland, romance novel guy that they did go with.

Daario morelilke Fabio amirite

FWIW I really don't think his prose is particularly bad. He's never going to win any awards as a stylist of course, but his writing is often pretty evocative, and he has a way of describing the big dramatic scenes in a somewhat understated way which is very effective. Also a good dialogue writer. As Roberto said, there's a ton of far far worse professional SF/fantasy writing out there.

yeah I was pleasantly surprised tbh tho by the third book he's definitely showing tics and by 4/5 he's straight-up lazy/maybe even a little bored.

aka second act problems I suppose

GRRM vs. Robert Caro in prose style showdown

if hes too lazy to write the books and hes bad at writing why doesnt he just hire someone to do it for him

I'm strangely upset that TV Daario doesn't have a gold tooth.

daario kept making me think of the groosalugg

― shit, cat shit, cat shit, cat shit, cat shit, cat shit, cat shit, cat (zachlyon), Tuesday, May 21, 2013 7:14 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol, yes

if hes too lazy to write the books and hes bad at writing why doesnt he just hire someone to do it for him

― lag∞n, Tuesday, May 21, 2013

he totally should tbh. too rockist tho.

(except I bet he's left instructions just in case something happens to him)

GRRM supposedly told Benioff and Weiss where he's going in case he kicks off.

the show is going to catch up to the books if he doesn't speed up his process significantly on the last two

even if it takes 2 more seasons to get to the end of book 5, he needs to have book 6 ready by then and also suddenly has a year to write book 7

i could imagine him writing the last season of the show before finishing the last book. i think he might revel in the howls of outrage

otm

but the show could probably spin the balance of 3 + 4 + 5 into…maybe even 4 more seasons.

Also GRRM is only two years older than my mom and I want her around for another 30 years :( :(

which book is the show in now

Three. They're likely to get about 2/3rds of the way through it.

do you guys think grrm is outraged over the casting of Daario? like arguing with the producers -- "no, this isn't attractive, this isn't attractive at all."

Not even a mustachio to be found, pointed gold or otherwise...

he doesn't seem to precious about his 'vision', as long as the cheques keep rolling in.

"bland, romance novel guy" is totally otm. but i like dude's casual smugness for the role.

"Ahhh, I know exactly the sort of guy that a stunningly beautiful and independent and strong-willed young queen with armies and kingdoms and dragons would be into"

Hah, from this I was expecting the description to be "portly bearded aging scribe"

he doesn't seem to precious about his 'vision', as long as the cheques keep rolling in.

Also he cut his teeth in TV, he must be resigned to the fact that some stuff is going to have to be changed/watered down. He's probably delighted to see his world realised on screen with the level of accuracy it has been.

I mean Tyrion's described as horribly ugly in the books, and he seems to be totally behind Dinklage's casting.

also he had his nose cut off

I suspect the reason for that change is to avoid having to expensively cgi out Dinklage's nose in every scene.

I think it also has to do with an attempt to give him a wound without seriously detracting from his overall attractiveness.

it would be too gross, like reading abt it is one thing

i bet they told dink they had to surgically alter his nose and he squealed like a bitch about it. fucking actors.

Yeah, it would've been too much to make him go the full Time Traveler's Wife

http://25.media.tumblr.com/b37ef1a61d968520e9d1bed7a6123300/tumblr_mn59h2j2cM1qb0gmwo3_r1_400.jpg

http://pixieorsomething.tumblr.com/post/51069131125/game-of-thrones-s03-my-understanding-so-far

okay, wait, is this not running tonight?

Memorial Day, and Liberace.

yeah hbo always skips big weekend holidays which is odd cuz that's such an old network mentality and hbo famously isn't even out for night of broadcast viewers anyway. no spoilers but i will advise ppl that they will want to watch the next episode as soon as it is broadcast and that they will otherwise want to stay the hell away from the internet until they do get to see it.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/be6c2dcbdb270ea7341f193766cb8a57/tumblr_mnfphz8f971qbypg1o1_500.jpg

You know, the wardrobing isn't all that different, tbh.