Longtime fans are well aware that George R. R. Martin based the non-magical conflict of A Song of Ice and Fire off the very historical War of the Roses.
Do you wanna know what those are? Some nifty animation laid over a TED talk will give you the basic historical background needed to get where the show went and where it may be going. See the video after the cut.
Last week, we here at Gabbing Geek ran a “Year of Anticipation” column discussing all the stuff we were looking forward to this year.
Well, one of those things probably isn’t showing up this year.
2016. Did any of us think we’d live this long? Yeah, probably. We’re Geeks, not morbid.
So, what sort of Geek Entertainment has us here at Gabbing Geek at least a little curious? See behind the cut, with some items getting some expert Geek Commentary from the Geek Guru himself, Jimmy Impossible.
Before Martin. Before Tolkien. Before Shakespeare, fer cryin’ out loud, there was Beowulf.
In January, the Esquire Network…wait, that’s a real thing? never mind…will air a new mini-series based on the epic poem. See the official trailer after the cut.
You can’t spell G R R Martin without Grr and that’s probably because he infuriates us all. Between the book delays and the TV show passing the book series–he’s certainly given his fans enough material to be less than thrilled with him. So when I saw he was working on a new Cinemax series I thought “Oh, great, another excuse for more Game of Thrones delays. At least this one will skip the pretense of having a story and just skip straight to the nudity. Because Cinemax.”
But it turns out the series is based on a novel he already wrote (The Skin Trade, all about werewolves) and he isn’t revisiting the work with new novels. The most he did was approve the writer for the show from a number of interested candidates. Bah. No big deal. He’s not any better, but he certainly isn’t any worse for cashing in on his current fame.
Skin Trade. Who could’ve guessed that would end up on Cinemax?
My wife is, as I have often said, not a Geek. She doesn’t like superheroes, Star Wars, science fiction, or a host of other things that routinely appear on this site. She has two exceptions. One is YA distopias. We always go see a new Hunger Games movie. Actually, that’s the only one she’s really interested in. She watched The Maze Runner but wasn’t overly impressed.
Her other, bigger weakness is high fantasy. If it’s based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, she’ll be there. She loves Harry Potter. And, though it took me a lot of effort to convince her to give it a shot, she goes for Game of Thrones in a big way. Why did it take me so long to get her into that one? Well, I had to sell it for what it was: the opposite of Tolkien, and in a good way.
Explanations and SPOILERS after the cut.
Continue reading Tropebusting! One Thing I Dig About The Song Of Ice And Fire
The recent season finale for HBO’s Game of Thrones did its usual job of shocking viewers who maybe thought they had the whole thing figured out. By this point, even book readers are likely to be a little shocked since the show has more or less used up all the material George R.R. Martin had published officially to date, with changes made and some characters (Lady Stoneheart for example) being completely omited.
But Martin has said there are two more novels to come, and while The Winds of Winter may be finished next year (or it may not), the books do have a number of unsolved mysteries left to be explored.
After the cut, I’m going to write up 15 unsolved mysteries from the novel series. I’m not ranking them. That’s for other people. The list is no doubt not exhaustive either.
Obviously, there are MAJOR SPOILERS below the cut, and some of the mysteries listed may be true for the show as well. You’ve been warned.
Continue reading 15 Unsolved Mysteries From A Song Of Ice And Fire
Season five for Game of Thrones ended on HBO last night. My wife and I watched and she declared for all the world to see on Facebook that she had not been this upset by the show since Season 1, Episode 9.
Seriously, my wife almost stopped watching at that point.
For myself, I read the books and more or less knew what was coming. But aside from some Iron Islands stuff and a bit more of Arya in Braavos, there isn’t much left for even book readers to feel smug about seeing coming for the uninitiated (red wedding anyone?). Besides, major changes were made this year the instant Sansa turned up in at a certain northern location.
Does that count as a SPOILER? I don’t think so. There may be more after the cut where I make my predictions for next year.
Hi George. Can I call you George? No? Cool. George it is.
I’m here to tell you why you suck. Doubtless you’ve heard it before, but you’ve never heard it from me. Because I’ve been a huge supporter and a fan. Not as long as others, for sure. Long enough. Continue reading ICYMI-Why George R R Martin Sucks
Are you into Episode 32: The Hill or are you so over The Hill? At least 33% of our podcasters fall into the latter category–find out who and what we talk about after the break!
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