Speaking as the guy who founded one of the main game of thrones related subreddits way back in the day (and, incidentally, it was also the very first game of thrones related subreddit), it's still ridiculous to me how that show went from being the most talked about shows on TV to being totally forgotten.

But then, that's going to happen when you have two arrogant idiots running the show and they run out of original source material and have to come up with it themselves.

Seasons 1-4 were very good overall. But the show gradually shit the bed. So as I'm sure you're already aware, your not missing much.

And the last season was so bad I don't think I'll even bother reading the next book (assuming it ever comes out).

[–] nuggsy 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

It was a nice pile of hot garbage. They took everything they did for the previous 7 years, bundled it into a wood cabin and set it on fire. Which is pretty fitting for the finale, haha

Entertainment-wise, it may be fine? Story-wise, character motivations don't really make sense because they just rushed it to move onto other projects. If they were that done with it, just pass it to someone else. It could be they were contracted to finish it, but if that's the case, they signed those contracts.

Either way, it had so much potential and fizzled out the worst way possible. Shows just how much damage they did.

The books are fairly good. I can't remember what I got up to, but I found other books I wanted to read more and haven't gotten back to it since.

[–] ThePowerOfGeek 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, if you leave a series of books unfinished they will disappear from the cultural zeitgeist. Especially when it's concerned to the screen and botched in the process. It's very understandable that you (and I, and numerous others) world move on to other books when the supply of ASOIAF novels dried up.

Side note: if you want to see an excellent example of a book series being adapted to the screen, you have The Expanse. The two coauthors (one of whom used to be Martin's assistant) kept the plot lean and moving along well, had the overall plot well planned out, and pumped out quality novels at a frequent rate. And they were active in the screen adaptation - and the producers were very welcome to their suggestions.

[–] nuggsy 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

It's interesting you mention that since I have been re-watching the series over the past few weeks, lol.

The books are on my list I want to read. I have a few books I should go through first though. I haven't been consistent with reading over the past few months, but I'm slowly getting through Good Omens by Neil Gaiman

[–] ThePowerOfGeek 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I've read the first couple of the Expanse novels, and they are really really good. But I slightly prefer the TV shows because I feel like they slowed things down a little bit (in a good way) and added a bit more depth to the broader plot points. But I'm definitely in the minority there. About 99% of fans prefer the novels.

Good Omens is great. The mix of Gaiman and Prachett works so well together. That show is very good too, but I definitely prefer the novels.

If you're into sci-fi, I recommend the following authors (probably all of them you've already read):

Neal Stephenson
William Gibson
Charles Stross
Iain Banks

And of course, Frank Herbert's Dune series.

[–] nuggsy 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I also want to rewatch the Good Omens show they made xD

I have read Dune, which was a pretty good book. Takes a little bit to build up, but well worth it. Have you seen the Dune movies yet? I thought Pt 1 was fairly faithful to the book. Not sure on Pt 2 as I haven't seen it yet.

I don't believe I have read anything from those authors. Any suggestions for each one? I'll add them to my list!

[–] ThePowerOfGeek 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I'm a huge fan of the Dune novels (the original ones by Frank, not so much the prequels and sequels by his son). I really really like the new films - both of them. And I agree with you that they are pretty faithful to the novels.

The things that impressed me about them are: a) they managed to catch the vibe of the novels really well, b) they do a great job of making the plot accessible without all the internal monologue exposition that the novels rely on, c) I really liked the pacing, in that they take time to pause and 'breathe' at the right times in the story, and then pick up the intensity when it's right.

As for those other authors, here's what I recommend:

Anathem by Stephenson. Note: it's really slow to get doing, but stuck with it, it picks up as it goes on and it ends really well.
Necromancer by Gibson. Apple TV is actually making this into a miniseries.
Accelerando by Stross
Consider Phlebas by Banks

[–] nuggsy 2 points 11 months ago

I heard the other Dune novels weren't as good. I planned on getting to the 2nd one at some point, just had other stuff I wanted to get to. There's also only three book series I have been able to read back-to-back; The Shardlake Series - C.J. Sansom (history/mystery novels) and The Edge Chronicles - Paul Stewart (fantasy novel series with my favourite illustrator Chris Riddell), Riftwar Saga - Raymond Feist (fantasy).

I'll jot these down, thanks for the suggestions :)