# HBO greenlights "Game of Thrones" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2010, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-greenlights-game-of-thrones/531108 "2010-03-03T12:04:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-greenlights-game-of-thrones/531108/1 "2010-03-03T12:04:48Z")
[HBO Greenlights To Series A GAME OF THRONES!!](http://www.aintitcool.com/node/44136) (semi-safe for work picture of Lena Headey) Hollywood reporter: > **[Live Feed](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/e/live-feed/)** Woot! I knew the announcement was coming soon (GMMR himself said it would happen in March) [http://grrm.livejournal.com/](http://grrm.livejournal.com/) Brian ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-greenlights-game-of-thrones/531108/2 "2010-03-03T12:33:56Z")
Next SPRING! SQUEEE! ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-greenlights-game-of-thrones/531108/3 "2010-03-03T12:43:46Z")
Great. Now there are two series I have to worry about whether they’ll be finished. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-greenlights-game-of-thrones/531108/4 "2010-03-03T15:36:53Z")
Excitement here too! Not just for Thrones, but for some other stuff coming from HBO – Boardwalk Empire (gangsters/Scorsese), Treme (David Simon/New Orleans/Katrina), Pacific (Tom Hanks/WWII), and something new from David Milch. Hard to know whether this will help or hurt GRRM finishing the series, maybe a bit of both. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-greenlights-game-of-thrones/531108/5 "2010-03-03T15:46:59Z")
Are these books really good? I was thinking of reading the 1st one but I noticed it’s very long and the others are even longer. I am not a fan of long books. I like Raymond Feist’s books, are these similar? They seem to be. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-greenlights-game-of-thrones/531108/6 "2010-03-03T15:49:45Z")
They’re similar to Feist’s books in that they’re chock full of sex, violence and court intrigue, and different in that they have a lot less “epic magic.” They’re also much, much better, by any conceivable standard. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-greenlights-game-of-thrones/531108/7 "2010-03-03T15:54:12Z")
I keep wondering if Feist will ever change the setting of his books but so far almost everything he writes is based on the same place , he only changes the time and some characters. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-greenlights-game-of-thrones/531108/8 "2010-03-03T15:58:22Z")
The Chicago Tribune’s Mo Ryan has apparently been a fan for a while; her latest [here](http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2010/03/game-of-thrones-hbo-george-rr-martin-.html). Guess it’s time to start reading the books. And get HBO some time next year… ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-greenlights-game-of-thrones/531108/9 "2010-03-03T16:01:59Z")
Does this mean we might actually have a timeline within the next year for _A Dance With Dragons_, or does this mean that Martin will have even LESS time to actually write new stuff since he’s going to be involved with the series? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-greenlights-game-of-thrones/531108/10 "2010-03-03T16:04:05Z")
HBO has way more hits than misses in their series so this should be good. I loved Band of Brothers , it will be hard for the Pacific to equal or top BOB. One of my favorite parts was they did not ID any of the vets until after the last episode, that way they were all equal you had no idea who was a private vs. a major. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-greenlights-game-of-thrones/531108/11 "2010-03-03T16:14:41Z")
Wait, is this the series where life sucks and everybody dies? Or is that the other one? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-greenlights-game-of-thrones/531108/12 "2010-03-03T18:01:11Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Wait, is this the series where life sucks and everybody dies? Or is that the other one? No, that’s this one. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-greenlights-game-of-thrones/531108/13 "2010-03-03T18:11:10Z")
Come on, now. Not \*everyone \*has died. Yet. ---
**Author:** ![Woeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Woeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Woeg)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-greenlights-game-of-thrones/531108/14 "2010-03-03T18:37:17Z")
Hush! Every time someone speculates, Martin kills a Stark! ---
**Author:** ![maladroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@maladroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maladroit)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-greenlights-game-of-thrones/531108/15 "2010-03-03T18:39:10Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Wait, is this the series where life sucks and everybody dies? Or is that the other one? Winter’s coming.:eek: ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-greenlights-game-of-thrones/531108/16 "2010-03-03T20:05:34Z")
I guess I’m the only one who didn’t care much for this series. Probably my problem was that I read the first book before the second one was available, and the end of the first one is not satisying in any way. By the time I started the second book I had forgotten some of the details that, had I remembered them, might have increased my enjoyment. Getting through that entire book was such a slog with no real payoff that I lost interest in the whole series. I might really like it on HBO, though, especially if I wait and watch a whole season at a time. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-greenlights-game-of-thrones/531108/17 "2010-03-03T20:19:58Z")
While I enjoyed the books, I gave up on the author some time ago. Either he’s lost his momentum with the series, or he’s deliberately delaying it. Maybe he’ll die and let someone else finish it for him? \ ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-greenlights-game-of-thrones/531108/18 "2010-03-03T20:29:26Z")
> [@palindromemordnilap](#): > > Probably my problem was that I read the first book before the second one was available, and the end of the first one is not satisying in any way. By the time I started the second book I had forgotten some of the details that, had I remembered them, might have increased my enjoyment. ``` I faced this same problem with Feast for Crows and found Wikipedia a great resource for refreshing my memory about the earlier books. Of course Wiki wasn't around back when the early books were written. ``` Anyway I don’t have too many hopes for Martin actually finishing the series. It does look as if DoD will really happen this year and apparently he is planning to tie up some of the cliffhangers from the last book. I wouldn’t be surprised if it is the last book we get so I hope he gives it a bit of closure. As for the rest I am hoping that the TV series is a success and that Martin will at least write treatments covering the events of the remaining books. So if we don’t get the books, hopefully we get a quality TV series to finish the story. ---
**Author:** ![Anonymous\_Coward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/94ad74/32.png) [@Anonymous\_Coward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anonymous_Coward)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-greenlights-game-of-thrones/531108/19 "2010-03-03T20:59:14Z")
As long as the series doesn’t stop him from writing more blogs about football and editing Wildcards compilations. /sarcasm ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-greenlights-game-of-thrones/531108/20 "2010-03-03T21:22:28Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Are these books really good? I was thinking of reading the 1st one but I noticed it’s very long and the others are even longer. Yeah, I just finished this book, and I’m not sure I’m willing to commit to reading the entire series. Game of Thrones could have used an editor to cut out about 150 pages of pointless description, and the other books are all _longer_ than that. And my dad complains that women authors are wordy! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-greenlights-game-of-thrones/531108.md?page=2)