This headline at Winter is Coming has me freaking out.
While the wait for "A Dance with Dragons" continues -- and I get more and more worried that Martin will never finish the series -- I've kinda pinned all my hopes for new ASOIAF content on the HBO television series. If we have to wait half-decades between books, at least we've got the TV show to look forward to every year. This is my line of thinking anyway.
But if HBO decides to pass on the show, what the hell will I do for my ASOIAF fix???
So, basically, I'm concerned. Is this just the usual network tinkering that goes on with every show, or is the "Game of Thrones" pilot really that bad? How could it be bad? From everything I've read regarding script, actors, set design, costuming, and the experience and pedigree of the filmmakers, how could this thing turn out to be so underwhelming for the HBO brass?
I'm also concerned because I've been looking forward to where the TV show might take the show in future seasons. For seasons 1-3 (all hypothetical, of course, since the show hasn't even been picked up), I'd like the series to stick pretty close to the books.
But starting with season 4 (in my fantasy perfect world where a "Game of Thrones" makes it to a fourth season), I'd love it if the show would start deviating from Martin's text. I know this sounds heretical for someone who professes to be a fan of the books, but frankly, I thought "A Feast for Crows" was pretty weak. It had some great moments, some interesting storylines, but too much of the book was taken up with smelly Greyjoy pirates and useless plot threads. Too much of the book was boring filler, taking us on pointless excursion to various parts of Westeros and beyond. Too much of the book was told from the POVs of boring, cliche characters (the people of Dorne, I'm looking at you).
And in the case of Cersei, Martin took one of his best villains and practically destroyed everything about her that was dangerous and fascinating. She became a paranoid, sex-craved lunatic. She ceased being a menacing and somewhat cunning villain and became instead a ridiculous buffoon.
In my opinion, if the TV show were to make it to a fourth season, I'd love to see them repair some of these missteps on Martin's part and take the story into a fresh and better written direction. Give Cersei depth, sure, but don't turn her into a raging harpy crazypants. Make her a worthy villain to our lovable Starks and Tyrion (and Jaime). Streamline the Greyjoy/Dorne plots so that we still get those plot threads, but without spending huge amounts of time with a bunch of people we care nothing about (or better yet, the show should *make* us care about them).
Anyway, my dream for the TV show to fix the missteps of the fourth novel will be totally dashed if the show doesn't get picked up at all.
5 comments:
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I'll probably just give up on the books in general if I don't have the TV show to watch until the next one comes out. I am sad :(
I totally agree with everything you said about the 4th book and a potential season. That book was just not constructed very well at all and could really have used some major tweaking. methinks the tv show could definitely help sort it out
....if there is one D:
I don't know if I can give up on the books totally, regardless of whether there is a tv show or not. If Dance with Dragons turns out to be as uneven as Feast for Crows, though, I might be tempted.
You know what I think Martin should do if the show doesn't get picked up? He should release a couple of chapters from Dance, just to give us *something* to keep us interested in ASOIAF.
Or maybe do a graphic novel version of the TV show pilot script? I don't know if that would be possible, though, with HBO and rights issues involved. But it would be cool!
Honestly, I don't know how people who finished Feast five years ago have been able to stand it!
yes yes! he should totally do that. throw us a frickin bone here!
oh, and i totally forgot, i read the pilot script! and i thought it was really good! of course, a lot could change from when it was first leaked, but i really thought HBO had something there (not to mention the awesome cast they've put together).
*shrug* aw well...we'll just have to see what happens
Hello, ladies! I hope I'm not intruding. For what it's worth, I remain cautiously optimistic that whatever issues HBO might have can be worked out to everyone's satisfaction. However, what I really want to comment on is your criticism of Feast.
In my opinion, you can't really say A Song of Ice and Fire (Song hereafter) is a series of novels, as Mistborn or the Sword of Truth novels are. It's more like Lord of the Rings or The Wheel of Time, which tell one long story over several books (rather than several stories that combine to tell a larger story). Feast is not likely to be anyone's favourite entry in the series, but no one is going to skip it and miss out on the continuation of Song's plot.
Feast isn't perfect; its' pacing problems are seen in many other works' late second acts: the action slows down to set up the big finish. This is what bogs down the Ironborn and Brienne subplots (the two weakest parts, imo). The other subplots I like, with the exception of Arya's three chapters, but they're also slower and exposition-heavy. The plus side of this is Winds of Winter and Dream of Spring will benefit from the setup they get in Feast; keep the long game in mind too, not just the short game.
One last thing on Cersei -- if you reread the Tyrion chapters from Clash of Kings and Storm of Swords and the Sansa chapter in which she escapes the Red Keep, you'll see quite clearly that her characterization as a sex-starved, paranoid (is it paranoia if they really are out to get you?) easily manipulated bitch was established well before Feast came out. I like her story in Feast because Martin does something interesting with this character I was worried had become just a stupid Ted Baxter pastiche. He puts us inside her head as she plots and schemes, which lets us, the readers, pick apart her delusions, as opposed to having a more objective character do so for us. This lets Martin be both more subtle than otherwise (I missed the first time that when Cersei punished her maid for "shrinking her gowns" it was because she's been eating and drinking a lot lately and is getting fat -- just like Robert) and more blatant.
(shrugs) I liked it, anyway.
Hi JJ, thanks for the comment! I wrote a big, long response to your awesome comment but it was so big and long that I figured I turn it into a new blog post, heh. :D
So, to see my full response to your points, check out the new post.
I think, in a lot of ways, we agree more than we disagree, but I wanted to clarify some of my thoughts on Feast, especially re: Cersei and the use of POVs.
It's not so much that Cersei becomes a different character once we get to her POV. It's more like the curtain has been pulled back a la The Wizard of Oz and we see Cersei fully on display as nothing more than a useless old fraud. That's probably my biggest problem with her POV. She's been turned from a rather good villain into a total joke. This is all my opinion, of course, but I don't think Martin was well-served by making her a POV. And I don't think I'm alone in my dislike of Cersei in Feast.
Anyway, thank you so much for the comment. Please comment more if you can! We always love to know someone out there is reading. :D
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