LucasH

Casting is well underway for A Game of Thrones the TV series based on the amazing fantasy novel by George R R Martin of the same name.

Now, I think these books, A Song of Ice and Fire, are the best fantasy series I've ever read. I've read a lot, and these are the best, in my opinion, so far. That's a pretty big call, but I'm making it. The people behind this series are the same who created Deadwood and Rome; two good shows, in their own ways. Today I'm going to outline my response to each of the announced cast choices. George R R Martin also said on his Not a Blog recently that six more characters are about to be cast, but we will have to wait some time for the announcements. When they are announced, I will do a follow up post. I'm interested to see how this series works out, because as I said, this is an amazing book they are working with, and Martin has even been involved with the screen plays, I believe he is writing one episode himself. Now, onto the cast and my impressions!

Sean Bean will do quite well as Eddard Stark, in my opinion. He voiced Martin from The Elder Scrolls Oblivion game quite well, and the character has a similar sense of... rigidity or dourness, so I think this was a good choice.

Peter Drinklage as Tyrion Lanister will be awesome, I think. Drinklage has a tenacious and sardonic personality in many of his roles, and I think this will suit The Imp so very well.

Jennifer Ehle as Catelyn Stark will work very well, even as Elizabeth Bennett in the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice she had an austere coldness that I think will work wonders - now that she is older - as cold and hateful Catelyn. I dislike Catelyn intensely.

I've never seen Kit Harington in anything before, but he looks okay for the part. I would have liked to have seen someone perhaps a little longer in the face, but this serves, and there could be - with hair and make-up - similarities brought out with him and Sean Bean.

Mark Addy as Robert Baratheon is interesting... I've no doubt he can play it, I just envision him as being... bigger, swarthier, and at least somewhat intimidating... :lol: But I still think this will work out well.

Jack Gleeson as Joffrey Baratheon I'm not sure about because I can't see a picture of him that is anything like recent on the net, so I don't know. It's going to take a good actor to portray that horrid little abomination.

Harry Lloyd as Viserys Targaryen... he seems too old, to me. This one sticks out a bit... but with a lot of alterations, silver hair, lilac eyes, maybe it'll work.

So far only the pilot is sure to be shot, but if the reception is good enough, more could follow, and I for one, bloody hope so!

I am about to finish, about to finish, HA! I have around one hundred pages left to read, anywaaaay , in my current book, Reaper's Gale by Steven Erikson. There are two reasons why this is a really good thing. One, this book is damn awesome and I am looking forward to seeing how certain things pan out, and two, I already have a brand new copy of Toll the Hounds that I picked up today!

I love a new book, I really do. It is all pristine, the spine is un-creased, the pages are yet to be opened, the book sits perfectly flat. There is also, with an unread book, a sense that you are an explorer. You are the very first person to watch this story unfold, share its triumphant victories and harrowing defeats. Perhaps that is just me, and the fact that it is really late is making me somewhat poetic in nature. I'm not sure, and I don't really care, as I really am looking forward to this next book. And, thanks to the well paced writing of Erikson, I don't have to wait a couple of years before the next book, either, as it is scheduled for August 27th!

Great authors inspire this Christmas like joy in me, waiting for years to finally see the end to the saga that is the Wheel of Time, or reading those final chapters in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, hoping that George R R Martin lives up to his bloody promise of delivering another book... sometime... soonish... maybe... FINISH THE DAMN BOOK ALREADY, GEORGE!!!

Yeah, I have been waiting for Dance of Dragons for a few years now, since 2005 when he released A Feast for Crows. See, the thing with that book was, that only half, HALF, the character list even made a damn appearance in the book. Why, I hear you ask? Because ol' Georgie boy had written the bloody thing so long that he had to separate it into two books . Right. Now. Okay. The thing is, when this happened, it was really frustrating for me because you miss out on some of the best characters, in my opinion. But there was hope! That hope came in the form of George saying he was almost done with A Dance of Dragons, so it wouldn't be long before we got the rest of the point of view characters. So. Four years later. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zip. WHERE'S THE BOOK, GEORGE?

For the loyal fans, he is really being a git. I mean, he is working on completely different projects, completely different books that he co-wrote with other authors; this angers me no end. His story is just good enough that I will pick up the next book in the series, but seriously, his piss-farting around has seriously diminished what was a great set of books.

And I was feeling so upbeat until I remembered I was waiting for that book. Bah! By the time George finishes the bloody book, I will have read the next two installments of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series! Maybe three, and will have finished the whole lot! Now that's a thought that makes me a little happier and a little less angry.