"When You Play the Game of Thrones, You WIN or You DIE." - A Game of Thrones George R.R. Martin
I am so ready to let my feels explode as I talk about the absolutely stunning TV show Game of Thrones and the incredibly detailed and fantastic book series it is based on - A Song of Ice and Fire! What seems like forever ago, I started hearing about this great HBO show and as some of its fans tried to tell me what it was about, I thought I would never watch it. But as most things seem to go in my life, my curiosity and desire to understand the fandom won out and I started watching the series as the fourth season was being released. It only took a few minutes into the first episode for me to decide that I was an idiot for not thinking I would love the show. I tore through the entire series as fast as possible and was forever changed. Of course the next natural thought for me was that if the show was this awesome, the books must be mind blowing, so I delved into the long and detailed books and fell even more in love with the fantasy world George R.R. Martin created. So without further ado, here are my favorite parts about both the show and the books!
The Best TV Show Title Sequence EVER!
"...A Mind Needs Books as a Sword Needs A Whetstone, if it is to Keep its Edge."- Tyrion Lanister, A Game of Thrones
OK, in case anyone was wondering just how detailed the books could be, the smallest book was over 800 pages long. But they are well worth the read! Since I had already watched the show, I thought I had a pretty acurate picture of what happens in the books...boy was I wrong. A Game of Thrones, book #1, was almost religiously kept accurate for season 1 of the show. By book #2, A Clash of Kings, started to veer off track as far as book to show adaptation, and by book #3, the lines between book and show became very blurry. I had thought each season equaled a book, but it was more like book #1-season 1, book #2-season 2, book #3-season 3 & 4. To say that I was shocked would be an understatement.
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| Houses and Sayings |
The books delve deeper into more of the fantasy and religious undertones than the show has, which is why I love the books so much. Since the books are told in different perspectives each chapter, you get to really understated the character whose point of view you are reading. In the later books, there are chapters told from the perspectives from characters who are not the "main" characters, but their chapters serve as a peek into how the rest of the world is reacting to what the typical characters have been doing. The books are full of fantastic quotes and cover super deep themes. From family to destiny, this series really transports you into this high fantasy take on the Medieval period.
My final say on the books; the show is the simple, basic, PG version of the books.
Game of Thrones: The Show
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| All Men Must Die |
I give the show a pretty hard time in comparison to the books, but the show has become almost its own separate entity so I still love and appreciate it for what it is. The show does such an AMAZING job with the costumes and the casting choices and the set design. Since I read the books after watching the show, I already had some idea of what everything would look like, and the show really did a fantastic job bringing this epic fantasy to life. There are some pretty big differences between the show and the books, but I can understand the decisions behind why those changes were made. There are some things that would have been too confusing or boring to explain in a TV show format, but the decisions the show made, did make sense so I can't be too mad.
Combining the show and the books together to make one super awesome fandom is really great and I love being super knowledgeable about the Game of Thrones world. For the main characters, the show managed to portray them almost perfectly, like 99.9% accurate, and it makes my heart sing. My favorite characters from both the show and the books are Arya Stark, Bran Stark, Sansa Stark, Tryion Lannister, Jaime Lannister, Jon Snow, and Daenerys Targaryan. Also, I would totally be in House Stark and my direwolf would be named Shadow, and I would probably be both an excellent archer and an experienced sword fighter. I wonder how long I would last before Martin killed me?
So, have you seen the show or read the books? If yes, which house would you be in and who is your favorite character? Comment down below, and I will see you all next week!
I have not yet jumped on the Game of Thrones bandwagon, but everybody seems to be talking about this series! I am curious about your thoughts about the portrayal of women in the series. I had heard it was a bit misogynistic, but others have said it is not. I've never watched it, so I can't speak one way or the other. What are your opinions on the subject?
ReplyDeleteWell, it is misogynistic at times and sometimes it isn' it really depends on the situation and the character. While at times it is frustrating to watch women be thought of as sex items, or bused, and put down because they are the "weaker sex", one has to admit the treatment of women is probably historically accurate. Yes, the show contains a lot of fantasy elements, but the wide variety of roles of women in the medieval time period are fairly on point. So yes, misogynistic, but also historically misogynistic.
ReplyDeleteI've taken multiple quizzes, and as I've changed my house has changed. Most recently I found myself taking up mostly with the Tullies. Family first seems like a good motto to live by. My favorite character is Jon Snow, without a single doubt in my mind.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like such an interesting show/book series! It sounds like the books take a lot of commitment to get though, but those are by far the best ones, because as a reader you can get so devoted and involved. I almost always love books more than the films, so these will definitely have to be some that I check out! I wonder why they changed the name of the show from the book series?
ReplyDeleteI planned to read the book series this summer, and now I am definitely going to! And the HBO show is also on my list now. :)
ReplyDeleteI started reading the first book my freshman year which is when I started the first season of the show. While I am caught up on the TV show, I'm still only partway through the third book. One day I'll catch up on the books.
ReplyDeleteMartin take me now, I cannot wait to finally be able to catch up with this show again. It's been driving me nuts as all my friends have been watching, while I've been left in the dust.
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