Who thinks that George R.R. Martin is a genius?

[Lacedaemonian]

Orthandor, I think it would be best in a television series. If some nugget producer in America would just throw millions at the project, hired an English director, got George to do the screenplay and used no name actors we would be laughing. It could run for several seasons..... Wake up!!! Apparently Phillip Pullman is the next fantasy writer to move into film, so a lot will be depending on the success of his films. Ender's Game also being made into a fim for 2006.

 

[erickad71]

Personally I don't think anybody would be able to do it any justice. It's just too big. It would take someone like Peter Jackson, who is willing to devote several years of their life to the project. It's just so hard to turn a book into a movie and get it right. Not to mention keep all the fans happy.

 

[Orthandor]

Sorry that i havent posted any i was in quebec. anyway the small series is a good idea , peter jackson is a bad idea. the song of ice and fire is not LOTR and should not be confused. The actors that played in LOTR should not be participating in another movie.The actors being amatuers is a good thing because it brings new people into reality. the only thing i dont like about it being made is that it will be rated above my age group, all the rape and all. i wanna be older then thirteen!lifes not fair.

 

[dwndrgn]

Trust me, old age will hit you before you know it. Enjoy being thirteen while it lasts!

Anyway, yes, I think a series might be good - it would almost be like a fantasy version of Dynasty! And Orthandor is right, no-names would be better for the cast, especially since it is such a large cast and it would cost too much to hire so many high-priced actors.

 

[Lacedaemonian]

I would give my left arm to be thirteen again! Of course if this dream was realised I would be back at school getting bullied for only having one arm....

I think the book would translate easier to film/tv than LOTR. It would be much cheaper to make anyway. The book is well suited to drama.

 

[Orthandor]

I can see the producers turning it into a soap opera!The evil nasty producers love doing things like that.kinda like how they removed tom bombidil from the movie version of LOTR.Its funny because you can ask anyone who read the books who tom bombidil was but if you ask a movie watcher they dont have a clue. That was a sad day.Anyhow being 13 is ok i only wish my school would give us windows XP professional instead of windows 98.

Has anyone noticed that Westoros reminds them of dark age Britan?And that the Khalasaar sounds alot like Khazaar(the mongol monarchy in the late medieval period).I can see all the different great houses being countries too.Even the land looks close to the same.

Stark- Scots
Tully - Northumbrians or as there called now yorkshireman
Lannister - Welsh
Tyrell- Mercian
Baretheon- Danish england (danelaw)
Martell- Saxons
Greyjoy- Irish

 

[erickad71]

When I mentioned Peter Jackson, I only meant that someone would have to have the same kind of passion for Martin's series as Jackson did for LOTR. I would also agree that the actors would not be major movie stars.

You'll have to forgive me I don't know what "mercian" is. What land would that be? Other than that, it sounds good to me.

 

[Lacedaemonian]

Orthandor you have a rough idea of the layout of Britain but are slightly wrong. The Northumbrians are a far superior people than the Yorkshiremen. I am a Northumbrian, Brian(owner of this site) is a Yorkshiremen. I won't take offence this once. I would say that the Starks were Northumbrians, the wall could be Hadrians wall and the wildlands north of the wall would be Caledonia etc etc. The Greyjoys could be the Irish. The Welsh are a very poor people and always have been....

 

[Orthandor]

The Northumbrian and Yorshiremen, were grouped up as a single country in the dark age. in the same ball park.but i get what you mean. iam yorkshire descent and yorkshire was the english name for it but it was called Jorvik by te vikings. Yorkshire was split in two by the danelaw if i rember correctly also.Anyway I am not english and not from the British Isles so prehaps i am wrong. but i do study dark age britan in my spare time. You might be able to put the Arryns as Yorkshirmen.the starks being scottish is a thought i never thought of."the wall" as you said probably is hadraians wall. I remember thinking about that when i wrote the last one but i guess i forgot to put it in.
The welsh might be poor but they are a powerful country, like scotland and ireland. one of the few countries to still exist today without being conquered by england.
I wish i had time to study dark age britan and finish "A Storm of Swords" which i'm getting closer to finnishing.

 

[Orthandor]

And to anwer erikad71's question, Mercia was east of wales, south of northumbria, north of saxony and west of the Danelaw. so it was right in the middle of all the action in southern britan. the group was wiped off the map when the normans arrived though.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Yes - Northumbria and Yorkshire were part of the Kingdom of Mercia, if I remember right.

 

[Lacedaemonian]

Orthandor, I am impressed with your interest in my countries history mate. The Welsh, the Scottish and the Irish were countries which were well and truly conquered by England. Wales, Scotland and part of Ireland still belongs to England, we harvest their taxes and spend those taxes in London and the SE of England. Just like the good old days.

 

[erickad71]

You learn something new every day.

 

[Lacedaemonian]

Britain... Not being Welsh, Scottish, or Northern Irish I am not sure how those people feel about being British, but being English I have no problems with the idea of Britain.

 

[The Master™]

It is the same for any conquerored peoples... They accept it publicly, resent it privately and try to arrange for it to change one way or another...

And Yorkshire folk and Nortumbrian folk used to be either the Parisi or Brigantes tribe..

But as far as the kingdoms were concerned:

 

[Brian G Turner]

Ah yes, my bad - The Master corrects.

As for the Parisi and Brigantines - these were the pre-Roman tribes, with the Parisi reportedly an East yorkshire people culturally distinct from most other British tribes, being most similar to those in the Benelux lowlands.

 

[Esioul]

And this was East Anglia, with Jutes, Angles, and Saxons. I think.

 

[aimee02]

Martin is actualy a student of English histroy and openly admits that a lot of his inspiration for these books comes from the wars of the roses. I asume te Starks represent the Yorks, the Lannisters would be Lancaster and... but then again the politics were too convoluted to really seperate out this way.

 

[LadyFel]

Actually, I got the feeling the Starks and Lannisters are both on the York side, and the Targaryens are Lancasters...

Mainly cos I read a novel about it years ago, and the characters sort of stuck with me...Cersei has to be Elizabeth Wydville, Robert would be Edward IV - the same 'strong in battle, weak in peacetime' type who did most of the things his wife wanted just because he could'nt be bothered to argue...

And Eddard Stark puts me in mind of Richard III, Edward's youngest brother...He was practically brought up in Yorkshire, and HATED going to London, where he wasn't known so people didn't like him too much...

Jon Snow would then come into the story in the role of Henry Tudor - if it's true that he's Rheagar and Lyanna's illegitimate son - and Danenerys ties in there with him...

 

[Brian G Turner]

Whoah! Ned Stark as Richard III? Well, they were both demonised...but Richard III was deprived of the throne by Henry VII at the Battle of Bosworth Field. I'd say the War of the Roses may have provided inspiration - but not too close.

His historical references are great on the everyday living, but his social development - and espeially the everyday role of religion and folk belief - are pretty much left out of a Song of Fire and Ice. Also, he's got a bad mix of cultural elements in there.

Strong and appealing characters, though.