So, long after the rest of the world, I have finally started watching Game of Thrones. It's always looked like something I'd probably like, so I really should have gotten to it sooner, but I was thwarted by my own indecisiveness. Every time I'd find myself thinking I should watch the TV series, I'd immediately think of good reasons why I should read the books first, and every time I'd consider reading the books, I'd immediately come up with good reasons why I should watch the TV series first. This conundrum apparently being impossible to resolve, I just kept never doing either one.
But a friend of mine recently announced he was planning on starting up a Game of Thrones-based RPG and asked me if I wanted to play. Sadly, between my highly inconvenient work schedule and the fact that it'll be starting up about the time I'm having my surgery, whether I want to or not may prove to be academic. But, regardless, that served as the impetus to finally break my mental logjam on the issue, and I decided to just Netflix the damned thing.
I've only watched the first episode, but so far, it seems like it's going to be pretty decent. There's lots of complicated and potentially interesting stuff going on, some nice visuals, and what looks to be some thoughtful worldbuilding. And the end of the first ep made me sit up and go, "Yikes!", which is always promising. If I'd known there was going to be quite that much in the way of viscera, I might not have watched it while I was eating lunch, but that's not exactly a problem.
My main reaction, though, is, "How am I ever going to keep all these characters and their relationships straight?!" Seriously. I was desperately trying to draw up family tree diagrams in my head while I was watching, but I fear that by the time I watch episode 2, I'll have forgotten it all and be completely lost again.
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Wait a minute, this is on Netflix? I thought HBO didn't *do* Netflix.
ReplyDeleteNah, there's lots of HBO shows on Netflix. That's how I watched The Sopranos, Deadwood, Six Feet Under...
DeleteOh, wait, when you say a show is "on Netflix", you mean you can get them to mail you the DVD, right?
DeleteYes, I got it on DVD. Netflix doesn't have nearly enough of the things I'm interesting available via streaming to go the streaming-only route.
DeleteWell, streaming-only is the only thing Netflix offers outside the U.S. Fortunately, thanks to VPNs and the like, people like me have access to all the different Netflix streaming libraries (in the U.S., in Canada, in Europe, etc.). So that broadens the selection a bit. :)
DeleteI'm sure some helpful geek has already posted the family tree online somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI have no doubt there are tons of them, although I'd be leery looking them up for fear of spoilers. I should check if the first book has a chart, if I need one. I do have it sitting on the TBR shelves.
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ReplyDeleteYeah, it's on HBO Go, which is where I watch it, which is why it's not streaming elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteI read the first book almost fifteen years ago, and I always meant to continue with the series. But I let so much time go by that I felt like I wouldn't remember enough to understand the second book, even with the extensive character lists at the start. But then everyone told me the first season of the TV show pretty much just follows the first book, and I thought, well, okay, I'll watch that before I read the next book. It's now season four, and while I've watched up to the most recent episode, I still haven't gone back to the books.
It's less difficult to follow than you might think, despite the large cast of secondary characters, but your mileage may vary. And, not to spoil anything, but I wouldn't get too attached to any of the characters. :)
It certainly seems to require paying a lot of attention, but that's OK. Heck, I kind of like that in a TV show. I'm six episodes in now, and complex although it all is, I think I'm following everything without too much trouble. And I believe I've got most of the main characters straight. Some of the secondary characters I'm still figuring out, though. (Like, oh, OK, that guy's the king's brother! That explains why he's fourth in line to the throne! Wait, what's his name again?)
DeleteAnd I've heard character-killing is George R. R. Martin's favorite pastime, so I figured that would apply to the TV version as well. Heck, I they've already killed off one person I was at least expecting to make it to the end of the season.