Comments | skywaterblue: I wish Game of Thrones was a little more like Doctor Who:

skywaterblue

I wish Game of Thrones was a little more like Doctor Who:

Apr 24, 2011 11:10

1. I am reading Game of Thrones, but very very slowly. It's not that interesting to me and often I will read one chapter and be like 'that was great' and then the very next chapter will have me saying 'and that was complete shit'. I think this may be one of those books where if I was LESS well-read in the genre I would be more impressed, because ( Read more... )

peter dinklage, doctor who, game of thrones, tv: teacher mother secret lover

Comments 7

caz963 April 24 2011, 23:53:06 UTC

I tried to watch the first ep of Game of Thrones last night. I'm not familiar with the book or the story - but it completely failed to capture my interest.

DW on the other hand, was fab. I thought the same about the Oval set ;)

I absolutely loved the way that Rory came up with the idea to use the boat for the pyre, and the way he's often so quietly authoritative. He's quiet, but he's not stupid and while he'll put up with a lot of crap, when it comes to it, he'll stand his ground. Yeah, I like Rory.

I think that the showing of so much NOT from the Doctor's pov has been one of the major shifts from RTD to Moffat. The latter has distanced us from the Doctor so that we usually see him from the perspective of another character and/or through the filter of their knowledge of him.

I'm already speculating wildly about what it all means, even though I'd promised myself that I'd try not to get too sucked in this year! So much for that.

skywaterblue April 25 2011, 00:31:02 UTC

I'm hoping that tonight's episode will be better. TV reviewers seem to suggest it gets really good about episode five/six, which is I think, basically a few chapters ahead of me. I also hope that the show itself will have relatively toned down the stuff about the book I'm really disliking - the psychic vision quests of the disabled person and the soulbonded wolves. For a 'this is GRITTY' fantasy book, there sure is a LOT OF THAT BULLSHIT.

I absolutely loved the way that Rory came up with the idea to use the boat for the pyre, and the way he's often so quietly authoritative. He's quiet, but he's not stupid and while he'll put up with a lot of crap, when it comes to it, he'll stand his ground. Yeah, I like Rory.

He's really grown into a quietly great character, and I like that Moffat is comfortable enough about him that you'll get that on your own without it having to be pointed out very strongly. (Yes, the Doctor says 'Rory the Roman!' twice, but not in any of the scenes where he really shone.)

I think that the showing of so much ( ... )

caz963 April 25 2011, 22:32:14 UTC

Which is, of course, the traditional way of writing this show.

*nods*

Although, as you'll know, my personal preference tends towards Rusty's way of doing things.

But change is the way of things when it comes to DW.

dragonethos April 25 2011, 16:05:17 UTC

Interesting! I am planning on watching both these shows.

I won't say much about Doctor Who, except it was interesting to see your analysis because I actually didn't feel like I enjoyed River as much in this episode as I think I have in the past.

As for the Game of Thrones pilot, I think I can agree about the info dump quality. I'm still looking forward to the season, especially to see what Peter Dinklage does with Tyrion.

As for the book, your comments make me really curious about how far along you've gotten. I've read, I think, the first three of the series. I just re-read Game of Thrones in anticipation of the tv show coming out. I found that a lot of the things and character impressions that stuck with me from when I read the books a few years ago are things that actually happen in the later books.

(Do I need to *Spoilers* comments to correspond to what you put behind a cut in the post?)

They are creepy old man sex scenes and every time I read one I need a fucking shower. I do agree with this! I also kind of forgot how ( ... )

skywaterblue April 25 2011, 17:55:15 UTC

Eh, I've read a bunch of spoilers at this point which don't really convince me I'm that interested in ACTUALLY reading the rest of the books.

I also kind of forgot how young so many of the characters are, which kind of bugs me. (In far more than in relation to sex scenes.)

Yeah, even in medieval Europe it's hard to buy the 14(?) year old Stark heir leading a battlegroup against the king to ransom his mom. I'm not actually at this part, but I'm spoilered out. At least in the series, he'll be a more reasonable late-Teens character.

Anyway, I'm not very far along and kind of don't think I'll finish this book let alone move on to another one. I can't believe everyone's like 'it's the greatest thing since sliced bread and SO REALISTIC' about a book where a nine year old noblegirl somehow becomes an assassin's guild apprentice. I mean, where to even fucking start with that...

1996 makes a lot of sense though. "It's gritty because there's rape and senseless murder!" was so big then.

dragonethos April 26 2011, 02:27:48 UTC

Okay, fair enough. :)

I have to admit, I consider it one of my favorite set of books for characters. When I think of "real" character portrayals I've liked, I pretty much think GRRM and Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy. (Which... I don't think I've run across other people who really like the Mars books.) I have trouble thinking of other things I've come across where characters have such compellingly structured personalities and flaws which have the feel of coming from a life lived in a certain way. I'll grant, that it could be due to my lack of exposure, a bad memory, and/or inconsistency in how I perceive things as I've read over time!

Back to: They observe which characters are evil slimy bastards and the narrating character is So Obviously Correct About It.

And yet... one of the things I love is that we eventually get another side of the story in so many cases. I'd say that the "correctness" of any character in this series is debatable.

a book where a nine year old noblegirl somehow becomes an assassin's guild apprenticeIt ( ... )

baked_goldfish April 26 2011, 00:12:59 UTC

Yeah, I didn't really care for ASOIAF when I tried to read it a few years ago, and I'm pretty much only into the TV show for Jason Momoa's fine naked body.

I thought it was odd that DW went for a sympathetic Nixon - and while I'm pretty certain the color barrier in the Secret Service presidential protection detail was broken around JFK, I'm also pretty certain Nixon rolled that back once he came into office, for exactly the reason you state. As awesome as the episode was, the whole concept of good-guy Nixon annoyed me a bit.

But still, they're in America! The Doctor came to America!...to die.