Thank you, Mr. Martin... and HBO!

I finished reading Game of Thrones. All I can say is, "wow". I felt like the book took a while to get interesting, but once the action started and secrets unfolded, it got really good. The last chapter was absolutely epic. The kind of chapter that makes you want to grab book #2 and keep reading. Unfortunately I don't yet own a copy of the second book. Maybe that's a good thing for now! I have another book I want to read before the movie comes out in theatres next month, and I have the first season of G.O.T. to watch now. No rush, I suppose. There are at least six more to go (Thanks, George R.R. Martin!)

Speaking of the first season. Once I had finished the book, I knew I had to get to watching the TV series to see how much they'd left out or changed. I found a great copy and had it downloaded in a few hours. After only one day I've already watched 7 out of 10 episodes. Paul even started watching it!

It's pretty good but... gosh, I wish they hadn't left out so much. I mean, for someone that hasn't read the book I guess they won't be missing anything, but it's pretty obvious to me. They even wrote in new parts. I suppose they thought it would be more interesting at certain moments. I don't know. It makes it weird for me. There were so many amazing parts of the book and to cram it all into 10 hours of television... near impossible. I am still enjoying it and am looking forward to reading the rest of the series and watching more seasons to come.


The one part of series I'm very happy is different from the book is related to the character of Khal Drogo, the horse lord. After reading the book, I had a picture in my mind of some dirty, smelly, scary-looking, overweight, monster of a man. Someone who looked more like a barbarian than a lord (aka Khal). I was pleasantly surprised when HBO's version of Drogo showed up onscreen. They picked a much younger, sexier, easier to look at version of the man in my head. Amen to that! It definitely helps a show out when there's some eye candy for the ladies! Haha.

So I enjoyed my weekend after all! Much relaxation was had, and now I only have a few more episodes to watch before I can proceed with book two: A Clash of Kings. On the cold front (pardon the pun), I'm still getting better from this one and should be back to normal shortly. Just a little sniffly still, but that's normal. Back to work tomorrow it is!