My bestfriend has been ranting all about it and her talks of how really good it is and how it somehow resembles Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is enough for me to add this to my already cramped up list of series to sink my teeth into. Like I always say, I value her aesthetic taste in things :)
A Game of Thrones is based on George R. R. Martin's epic fantasy saga, A Song of Ice and Fire. I am currently half-way reading the first book for which the whole series is named. Martin has created a mystical world where summers last decades and winters a lifetime; a Middle-Earth-like world in a time of kings, ladies, horselords, wildlings, and magical creatures whose fate were interwoven snugly by political conflicts, romance, and magic. Like LOTR, what made this really interesting (and quite a headache to read) is the intricacy of the history, the different cultures that make up the fictional universe.
I am really excited that HBO decided to develop this for television. HBO has a reputation for producing series with bold screenplay (bold meaning "Keep away from children." This is teeming with explicit sexual acts, mutilation, blood, and blood, and blood which I think is necessary to make the screenplay deem effective) and extravagant production perfectly capturing the essence and overall feel of the series.
I am done with the 10-episode first season, and I am really happy that Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister) just won a supporting-role Emmy. I love his shady character; simply my favorite in the sreies. GoT garnered 13 nominations in total including Best Drama series along with Mad Men, Friday Night Lights, to name a few. Sadly, it didn't win. I was also really rooting for FNL (Congatulations to Mr. Kyle Chandler for pulling that upset to win the leading-role Emmy), but Mad Men has proved yet again that there is no competition in this category.
Season 2 of GoT premieres next year, based on the second book of the saga - A Clash of Kings. Winter is coming.
