A GAME OF THRONES TV Series in Time Magazine

Here's an excerpt:

But great HBO series are about more than plot and skin; they're about great themes, which Martin's story has aplenty. In the tradition of HBO's antiheroes and antiheroines—and unlike the protagonists of The Lord of the Rings—Martin's characters, even the best among them, are flawed, ambivalent and deeply fallible. He constantly forces you to question whether the "honorable" resolution to a conflict is the best in the long run. The saga is littered with fallen heroes and shattered myths, as well as apparent villains and rogues who make surprising turns.

And as in series like The Sopranos, Deadwood and The Wire, the story is filled with the mournful sense that the characters and their civilization have outlived their best days. A Game of Thrones is a fantasy, but most of the magic is in the past. We learn early on, for instance, that there were once dragons in Westeros (the continent where most of the action takes place), but they died off; there were magicians hundreds of years ago, but all that remains of them are some of the weapons they forged, and a vaguely described "Doom" that has thrown the world off-kilter. (Among the oddnesses in its fictional world: the seasons last for unpredictable spans of time, often years. As the series begins, the world is in its ninth year of summer.) Magic is not necessarily dead—there are rumors, for instance, of a ghastly threat stirring in the primeval woods beyond the borders of civilization—but it is mostly considered to be child's stories, or ancient history. It is a little like The Lord of the Rings, if you continued the story after the Elves and wizards left Middle Earth to the mundane and flawed rule of men.

Read the full piece here.

6 commentaires:

Dave said...

I hope they do this series justice ...

Anonymous said...

They better!

Anonymous said...

First episode to air Fall 2010. Episode two to follow Spring 2011. Episodes three and four are being filmed as we speak; we hope to release them soon.

Ian said...

Also a bit like Jordan's WOT and the old series Invaders it'll never get to the end!

Unknown said...

Seriously, we're all just going to end up really disappointed. Optimistically, we'll get one or two really good seasons before HBO realizes there is no more books forthcoming.

Adam Whitehead said...

Not sure what anonymous is going on about above. The pilot for GoT starts shooting mid-October. HBO should decide on a pick-up either just before or just after the Christmas/New Year break, then Season 1 will be produced in 2010. Probably transmission time I would guess would be around January 2011 at the earliest.

Based on HBO's form, if we get a first season we'll probably get a second as well. If it's a big success then great, we get the rest and if we don't, then the books get a ton more readers and we can still read how the story ends. It's not like DEADWOOD where you're just left hanging in mid-air. So it's an all-round good situation.