Why Game of Thrones on HBO is Way Better Than A Song of Fire and Ice

A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones is the first book in the series) by George R. R. Martin constantly ranks at the top of fantasy lists throughout the internet, even beating out Lord Of The Rings on occasion. So it’s no surprise that it would be picked up by HBO to make a series about it.

Game of Thrones is an epic fantasy tale that is gritty, realistic, and you never know who’s going to die next.

Kind of like Battlestar, except instead of being a Cylon, they get a sword to the neck.

The HBO series does a pretty good job of bringing the story to the TV set. It’s graphic and doesn’t pull too many of the punches that Martin swings around so liberally in the books. Some things are mentioned earlier in the series and there are minor little changes to plot or detail, but all in all, it’s a very faithful translation of the story.

Tyrion Lannister is the coolest little person you've met since that time you went dwarf tossing.

However, it does leave some things out. Like the 300 pages of names and characters who serve zero useful purpose in the book. Seriously, this series has a cast like War & Peace. It has an appendix at the end that lists all the characters and their affiliations.

Thank God, because it’s not hard to forget who Sir Somebody of Somewhere is.

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Westeros: It is a silly place.

I have read a lot of fantasy books. Good fantasy, not just cheap fluff. And A song of Fire and Ice is good fantasy. It’s just not great. The book series is full of knights, intrigue and the casual slaughtering of primary characters, yet it always seem like nothing is happening. In short, the books are kind of…boring.

Game of Thrones the television series however, is fantastic. It cuts right to the core of what makes Martin’s books so epic, and delivers it in a more exciting way than the books do.

Yeah, like this guy. And just as pointy.

We’ve talked about some movies that were better than the book before, but this is a television show that is outdoing the book. While this has been tried before (Legend of the Seeker, anyone?), this is the first one I can think of that was this good.

Game of Thrones Seasons 2 Premieres April 1st on HBO

I actually started the series just so I could watch the show. (I’m weird like that.) I’m halfway through the fourth book, and I’ll finish the series because the story is interesting. But I’m more looking forward to the premiere of season two on HBO April 1st.

Season 2 will likely be a better paced and more interesting story than the second book in A Song of Fire and Ice, A Clash of Kings.