I remember seeing the first teaser for HBO's Game of Thrones over a year ago and not being all to interested in it. I saw ravens flying and sword warfare sound effects and realized it wasn't really my thing. In the behind-the-scenes featurette, George R. R. Martin was featured prominently and I thought that was interesting that HBO was partnering with the writer of a long form fantasy series. Something that I think would do True Blood some good. Being a fan of the Potter books and films, the Song of Ice and Fire series (four books out at the time of production) was the next logical step for me but for some reason I ignored the series and didn't pick up the book until the pilot aired.
I must have read reviews about the first season or saw so much buzz online that got me interested. The wife and I were watching True Blood pretty regularly (I've hated it ever since the second season, but she reads the books so...) so maybe I saw adverts for the season but after watching maybe three episodes I looked up everything I could on the background and history of the books. Biggest surprise was that it took the writer almost six years to finish writing the current book A Dance with Dragons. I wanted to read them as I'm attracted to sophisticated character studies in the guise of political and personal drama (see The Wire), but I was spoiled on the J.K. Rowling release style of a book or a film a year.
With Rome being cancelled it seemed like GoT would get a similar fate but it was renewed, thank god, after the second episode. Supposedly HBO execs said they will continue the series as long as Martin writes the books. That, all things going to plan, would be seven seasons, if they don't split it up. Season 1 basically followed a one book duration. I don't know if longevity as a series is necessarily a good thing. Even The Wire had trouble with the 3rd and fifth seasons, but I'm hoping if they stick close to the source material and know how to trim and add accordingly to the law of translation (first season did a good job in my opinion of adding scenes to give proper backstory and skipping over unnecessary scenes to film). That isn't to say the series isn't perfect as a novel or a TV show. I think even the most scholarly readers will feel the impulse to skip over some of the more uneventful chapters in the series (each character is a POV told in a nonlinear style that actually gives a more comprehensive realistic depiction of the fantasy series). The television show starts a little slow and has the obvious eye-rolling HBO signature T and A scenes as filler and "sexposition."
One thing the television show has over the novels is the ability to let the filmmakers and actors interpretations of the roles give a new perspective. Many characters that in the book come over as stale or uninteresting become fully realized and compelling on screen. One example is the character of Bronn, who I never really paid attention to in the books, but in the show the actor Jerome Flynn is incredibly watchable as is his partner in crime Peter Dinklage playing the Imp, Tyrion.
So now you're hooked like me and you've read all the released books and watched all of the first season over and over on HBO go or TiVo and will hopefully make it until after Christmas for the Blu-ray, but you need something to hold you over until April when HBO airs season two (still called Game of Thrones not Clash of Kings). One thing that helps me along is podcasts. Beyond the Wall is a good foray into the series as it mostly deals with the TV show and takes in to consideration the "noobs." Podcast of Ice and Fire is another good one and talks equally about the books and the TV series but is less academic and more of a social podcast that usually ends up in tangents that might drive some people crazy but if you have a short attention span and an adult sense of humor you might enjoy it. It's sort of like having an audio version of geeky forum post being read aloud.
Another thing, which seems obvious, is re-read the books. If any book series begs to be over-analyzed and repeat readings is aSoIaF. I don't know how many small and big details I missed the first go round. One suggestion I might also make is to listen to the audio books. Roy Doltrice is a great voice actor and gives the text a lot of energy and presence (although it is weird at times hearing a 80 year old man voice a 13 year old princess).
The last thing I can recommend to deal with GoT withdraws is to visit the numerous fan sites that are great companions to the series.
Westeros.org is probably the best and most comprehensive, with an excellent Wiki on the series as well as a very popular forum and updated news section.
Towerofthehand.org is probably the next best site for study and exploration of the series, boasting very complete chapter summaries, family trees, and essays as well as news about the books and TV show.
Winter-is-coming.net is a great news/blog resource for the television series with reports on casting, filming locations, and any other miscellaneous news regarding the HBO series.
And finally you can tease yourself daily for updates from the man himself at Georgerrmartin.com. Sometimes George gives hints and clues to HBO casting on his "not a blog" but he posts on a lot of subjects including his other fiction as well as football game recaps (he's a huge Jets fan--literally).
I'm sure GoT coverage will be a big part of this blog as I'm officially obsessed so now that I've read the books I might do some comparative reviews of the new season this Spring.
