reading A Game of Thrones, plus links and stuff
For those of you wondering if you should change your passwords, Mashable has a list of major sites and whether or not they were compromised by Heartbleed.
For those of you who were wondering if last night's Hawaii Five-0 was as slashtastic as the previews made it appear, it was. It was like fanfic. Literally. It was like old-school Starsky and Hutch, it was that ridiculous. You kind of have to ignore almost everything else in the episode, but this part of it was entertaining.
I've been watching Black Sails, also, because I have had the time. I find it generally disappointing and poorly paced. Also infuriating, from time to time. But Tom Hopper is super-hot in it (and he has a larger role than I expected), and also Zach McGowan. I would have listed Jessica Parker Kennedy here, but her story arc up to episode 4 (which is where I am presently) makes me so angry I can't, even though she was lovely in episode 1.
Meanwhile, yesterday I started reading Game of Thrones, because I had nothing better to do while waiting for my car to be serviced. I have a lot of trouble with massive fantasy novels. I don't like to try to remember dozens/hundreds of characters; it feels like work and it taxes the limits of my short attention span. I've also been concerned that the divergence between the HBO show and the novels would end up causing me to get spoiled for future events on the show, even if the novels add richness and texture to the viewing experience. But last weekend, a friend emailed me she was like, "Now! Start reading them now!" Because she knows me, and she apparently thinks we've reached critical mass on book text vs. show text, and now I will actually get something out of the books.
And she was right!
1. I know now why my friend shoved me toward the books this week. It's because the show is now showing things that lack context due to not having been explored on the show itself, and so to be properly excited or angry about them, it's necessary to read the books. For example: the backstory for Ice, which is given in a few throwaway paragraphs in the first couple of chapters of the book; it gives the melting-down scene in 4x01 more depth and poignancy. Also now I get the Kingsguard, which brings some relevance to the book of deeds Joffrey was poking at when he was taunting Jaime in 4x01. Now that I've read the book, I was able to tie things together. For example, what the hell that book was good for. And the idea that Jon Snow's mother could be the sister of Ser Arthur Dayne...or maybe not. Just the fact that that offhand reference is interesting to me now is pleasing.
2. I like Littlefinger SO MUCH MORE in the book. His every comeback to Ned Stark is hilariously sarcastic. The show emphasizes his sly and calculating nature, and the burning snark doesn't always come through as clearly. He's very enjoyable in the books.
3. Other characters that come off better in the books: Renly. Definitely Renly. He seems bright and happy, and he doesn't give a shit what anyone thinks, and he laughs a lot, and I liked him. Damn it Renly.
4. I'm impressed to see that the first season of Game of Thrones stuck very closely to the novel. Many of the scenes seem to have been scripted nearly verbatim, and that helps me with getting into the book itself. There are some things that are very different in tone, if not in text. For instance, Dany's first night with Drogo. The book is quite a bit less rapey in its depiction of the night. However, dude, WTF, she is 13 in the book, and she gets pregnant before she's even 14, and now I can't un-know that, and it skeeves me out immensely. I'm glad that the show aged everyone up, across the board, except maybe for the youngest Stark kids. And if they couldn't age them up, they cast actors who didn't look like tiny children. (Sansa.)
5. I still find Bran hella boring, and I confess to skipping every single chapter featuring him thus far. I did slow down long enough to read his first existential flight around the kingdom. BECAUSE WINTER IS COOOMING and there might be OMENS and shit. Also boring: Jon and Catelyn. So incredibly boring. So it's nice to know that my reaction is standard across formats. (I don't know how it'd be possible to like every character, but at least there are tons I like.) I remain hopeful that Jon will live up to his potential, eventually. Heh.
For those of you who were wondering if last night's Hawaii Five-0 was as slashtastic as the previews made it appear, it was. It was like fanfic. Literally. It was like old-school Starsky and Hutch, it was that ridiculous. You kind of have to ignore almost everything else in the episode, but this part of it was entertaining.
I've been watching Black Sails, also, because I have had the time. I find it generally disappointing and poorly paced. Also infuriating, from time to time. But Tom Hopper is super-hot in it (and he has a larger role than I expected), and also Zach McGowan. I would have listed Jessica Parker Kennedy here, but her story arc up to episode 4 (which is where I am presently) makes me so angry I can't, even though she was lovely in episode 1.
Meanwhile, yesterday I started reading Game of Thrones, because I had nothing better to do while waiting for my car to be serviced. I have a lot of trouble with massive fantasy novels. I don't like to try to remember dozens/hundreds of characters; it feels like work and it taxes the limits of my short attention span. I've also been concerned that the divergence between the HBO show and the novels would end up causing me to get spoiled for future events on the show, even if the novels add richness and texture to the viewing experience. But last weekend, a friend emailed me she was like, "Now! Start reading them now!" Because she knows me, and she apparently thinks we've reached critical mass on book text vs. show text, and now I will actually get something out of the books.
And she was right!
1. I know now why my friend shoved me toward the books this week. It's because the show is now showing things that lack context due to not having been explored on the show itself, and so to be properly excited or angry about them, it's necessary to read the books. For example: the backstory for Ice, which is given in a few throwaway paragraphs in the first couple of chapters of the book; it gives the melting-down scene in 4x01 more depth and poignancy. Also now I get the Kingsguard, which brings some relevance to the book of deeds Joffrey was poking at when he was taunting Jaime in 4x01. Now that I've read the book, I was able to tie things together. For example, what the hell that book was good for. And the idea that Jon Snow's mother could be the sister of Ser Arthur Dayne...or maybe not. Just the fact that that offhand reference is interesting to me now is pleasing.
2. I like Littlefinger SO MUCH MORE in the book. His every comeback to Ned Stark is hilariously sarcastic. The show emphasizes his sly and calculating nature, and the burning snark doesn't always come through as clearly. He's very enjoyable in the books.
3. Other characters that come off better in the books: Renly. Definitely Renly. He seems bright and happy, and he doesn't give a shit what anyone thinks, and he laughs a lot, and I liked him. Damn it Renly.
4. I'm impressed to see that the first season of Game of Thrones stuck very closely to the novel. Many of the scenes seem to have been scripted nearly verbatim, and that helps me with getting into the book itself. There are some things that are very different in tone, if not in text. For instance, Dany's first night with Drogo. The book is quite a bit less rapey in its depiction of the night. However, dude, WTF, she is 13 in the book, and she gets pregnant before she's even 14, and now I can't un-know that, and it skeeves me out immensely. I'm glad that the show aged everyone up, across the board, except maybe for the youngest Stark kids. And if they couldn't age them up, they cast actors who didn't look like tiny children. (Sansa.)
5. I still find Bran hella boring, and I confess to skipping every single chapter featuring him thus far. I did slow down long enough to read his first existential flight around the kingdom. BECAUSE WINTER IS COOOMING and there might be OMENS and shit. Also boring: Jon and Catelyn. So incredibly boring. So it's nice to know that my reaction is standard across formats. (I don't know how it'd be possible to like every character, but at least there are tons I like.) I remain hopeful that Jon will live up to his potential, eventually. Heh.