Nov 12 2008
George RR Martin Gets HBO Treatment
According to Tor, HBO has ordered up a pilot of George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series. If picked up, the series would focus on an individual book each season. Who knows whether this is the kick in the ass that Martin needs to actually finish the f-ing series. (Yes, I am totally bitter because there are a ton of hanging threads out there and the last book that Martin released which was way past due was only half of the story and apparently, from all reports, its about the characters no one cares about). I do know that Charlaine Harris' books have become extraordinarily popular with the launch of the HBO series True Blood based on Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series. Maybe Tor can use the money that an HBO production will bring in terms of increased sales of Martin's epic books to digitize more books. Via Galley Cat .
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Nov 12, 2008 @ 14:57:44
Wow. I’m trying to picture how this would even work. Talk about complicated. It’s like Lord of the Rings for the small screen (I’m so with you on the FINISH IT ALREADY feeling; I've sworn off reading any more of it till the final book is published and I can just read it ALL).
Nov 12, 2008 @ 15:15:02
I don’t know how it would work either, although I guess if anyone would be up for Bad Things Happening to Good People it would be HBO. I can’t even remember which was the last book I read (either 2 or 3, definitely not the half of 4 that came out). My husband is more addicted than I to GRRM, and he’s fed up with what’s available on TV, so this would be a nice treat. Especially since The Wire is over.
Nov 12, 2008 @ 16:02:49
Speak for yourself. The last book had Jaime and Arya in it, and those are my favorite characters. ;)
Nov 12, 2008 @ 16:17:06
Are any of the original characters still alive? (Joking, the last one I read ended with the disastrous wedding.) I love the series, but swore I wouldn’t read any more until the whole story is done. I have a suspicion about Jon Snow and I’m more than half afraid to find out it’s not true.
However, I made the same promise about Robert Jordan’s WOT series after book 10. *mourns*
Nov 12, 2008 @ 16:22:18
My friends and I call it the “Don’t get attached, they’ll all be dead soon anyway” series.
I wish they'd make something out of Guy Gaveril Kay's books (esp A Song for Arbonne!) or P.G. Hodgell's Godstalk series. *sigh*
Nov 12, 2008 @ 16:31:19
Wait…did I miss something? Isn’t Martin’s imprint Bantam Spectra?
Nov 12, 2008 @ 16:34:44
@B: No, you are right. I checked Amazon. The original article from Galley Cat quoted Tor so I’m not sure what the deal is.
Here’s a longer piece on the pilot deal.
Nov 12, 2008 @ 19:59:26
That’s one of the things I love about it.
Oh yes, on GGK. Any of his, from Arbonne to Sarantium, would be awesome with the HBO treatment. And I think GRRM’s stuff could be gorgeous on HBO–look how well they did Rome. Multiple threads, epic scope, lots of gore… yummy.
Nov 12, 2008 @ 21:02:13
oh man oh man, this is one of my favorite series and if anyone can do justice to it, it’ll be HBO. The fact that they want to do each book as an entire season is also good. Though are HBO seasons 13 or 26 episodes?
Nov 12, 2008 @ 22:25:11
Look on the bright side. It’s HBO that’s picking it up, and not Sci-Fi. They’re bound to do better at least than what Sci-Fi did to Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files. v.v
Nov 12, 2008 @ 22:54:43
HBO Seasons are usually 10-12 episodes. Sometimes they’re less, unfortunately.
Nov 13, 2008 @ 00:39:30
GRRM has been blogging about this off and on for a while, since HBO picked up the option. I think it’s terribly exciting, because only a series could do justice to such a complex story.
I love that [almost] no character is “safe” in these books — none of that Star Trek red tunic crap! I also love how the PsOV shift around; that helps make the books absolutely unique in my experience. I understood and respected his decision on Feast For Crows, once the book was getting just too long to be one volume. I thought it made more sense to tell half of the stories all the way to where he’d planned than to try and tell the first halves of all of them. And unlike some long, drawn-out fantasy series, I love how long each book is. No three-page descriptions of clouds or teacups here, and never the sort of repetitive writing that makes me throw some other fantasy best-sellers at the wall.
While I’m as impatient for the next book as anyone, I can’t say I’m in any hurry for the series itself to end. I know I will be sad when it does. And if he needs this much time to get the story how he wants it, I feel that’s his prerogative as a creative artist. But I won’t rant, because I’ve done enough of that in other discussions on the subject. ;-)
Nov 13, 2008 @ 11:01:53
I love Martin’s books, and one of my favorite things about them is that he has no sacred cows. Much more like real life, with all its good and bad, and bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people. Not everyone deserves what they get in life.
Arya and Tyrion are my husband’s favorite characters. I never thought I would say this myself, but Jaime is also one of my favorites. It is amazing how Martin can redeem a character who started off as horribly nasty and disturbing as Jaime did. But that is part of what makes him a great author.
I agree that he should be able to tell the story how and when he wants, but the frustrating thing for me is that he started this book with half of it already done (from cutting the last in two) and he has worked on a freaking TON of other stuff in the meantime, from a children’s book to multiple volumes he has edited, to a couple of sci-fi novels. It makes me wonder if he even WANTS to finish this story, and if he ever will just do it. It’s like Stephen King and the Dark Tower series. He talks about it, it’s one of his most popular works, but he just won’t finish it.
Jun 05, 2012 @ 11:58:32
HBO had just finished airing the second season of Game of Thrones and i should say it is a very good series. I am looking forward for the third season. The Awkward TV series is coming up next. I’m excited for Jenna’s return.