By showing a dead King Kong, George R.R. Martin has let the world know that he has finished writing A Dance with Dragons!
The due date for this fifth installment of the highly acclaimed fantasy series A Song of Ice & Fire is July 12, 2011.
The timing is of course great as HBO’s new TV series Game of Thrones, based on the first book of Ice & Fire and co-produced by George Martin, has just aired and is turning out to be quite the hit series. A Dance with Dragons with fly of the shelfs!
I cannot wait to get my hands on this book, read it and let you know if it is just as great as its predecessors!
Source: Not A Blog
Preview
The future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance.
In the east, Daenerys, last scion of House Targaryen, her dragons grown to terrifying maturity, rules as queen of a city built on dust and death, beset by enemies.
Now that her whereabouts are known many are seeking Daenerys and her dragons. Among them the dwarf, Tyrion Lannister, who has escaped King’s Landing with a price on his head, wrongfully condemned to death for the murder of his nephew, King Joffrey. But not before killing his hated father, Lord Tywin.
To the north lies the great Wall of ice and stone – a structure only as strong as those guarding it. Eddard Stark’s bastard son Jon Snow has been elected the 998th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, but he has enemies both in the Watch and beyond the Wall, where the wildling armies are massing for an assault.
On all sides bitter conflicts are reigniting, played out by a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skinchangers, nobles and slaves. The tides of destiny will inevitably lead to the greatest dance of all…
Much has been said and written about the first Game of Thrones episode. Viewer numbers of the first episode were very good and most reviews have been quite positive. Some reviews however, were rather negative.
I have decided to wait with writing a review till after the second episode to be able to better form my opinion.
Having seen all the trailers and previews out there, most of the first episode was already known to me. I was somewhat surprised that the episode started beyond the wall but it did set a the stage for the episodes and seasons to come and created an exciting and tense start of the first season.
Positive elements
Game of Thrones clearly has it positive elements. First of all, it looks great: the settings created, the landscaped, the computer-generated elements, and the costumes all are visually stunning. You immediately see that there are no amateurs at play here.
Secondly, the acting is really good. Both the young (inexperienced) and the older actors put in an excellent performance which is especially important for such a character driven series.
Lastly, viewer numbers are good and HBO has ordered a second season. With enough viewers and the backing of the studio, Game of Thrones will have time to develop and find its place.
Less positive elements
A lot of time was spent on introducing all the characters and their personalities, which is understandable given the sheer amount of characters involved in the series. This was done well but I am still afraid that viewers unknown to the books will have had a hard time with the first episode. For me, having read all the Ice & Fire books so far, it resulted in a feeling of being a bit overwhelmed as well.
A second point, but this may be personal, is that the sex and nudity in especially the first episode were a bit over the top. I got the impression a lot of it was included in the episode just to make it more interesting instead of it being really needed for the story. On the other hand, George R.R. Martin never shied away from a bit of flesh in his novels.
Conclusion
I can be short in my conclusion: I liked the first two episode of Game of Thrones but they left me not completely satisfied. Somehow, the series has not yet been able to truly grip my full attention. I will continue to watch the series and I hope that it will become better by the episode, resulting in it being the best fantasy TV series ever.
The last point I want to make is with the story of A Song of Ice & Fire being so good and complex, the TV series may take its time to find the perfect combination of complexity and accessibility but it the end I am confident it will result in something great.
Contrary to almost all other well-known fantasy series, the Shannara trilogy is set in the distant future. However, all other classic elements of fantasy stories are present: strange lands and races, magic and a fight between good and evil.
Author Terry Brooks has written many Shannara series after the original trilogy, many of them best sellers, making him one of the most successful fantasy authors.
Story & Setting
After the destruction of the world as we know it, several races (men, elves, dwarves and trolls) fight each other for world domination. A group of elves, known as the Druids try to prevent war and defeat evil, as do the members of the Shannara family, who are from mixed heritage of elf and man.
Magic plays an important part but throughout the series technology is also being used.
Conclusion
With a storyline and races comparable to those of The Lord of the Rings, some say this series is a simplified copy of LoTR. To me, that statement is cutting corners a bit. However, I also feel that the series is a nice and easy read but not much more than that. Then again, Shannara has a lot of fans and has been an introduction to fantasy for many so I felt I had to include it in the list of best fantasy series.
There have been plans to make a movie based on the Shannara novels (Warner Bros had to rights to do so until 2010) but so far this has not happened.
After months, even years of waiting, tonight at 9PM Game of Thrones will premiere at HBO!
Tomorrow, April 18 at 9PM, Game of Thrones will air in the UK on Sky Atlantic.
The series, based on George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire, has been hugely hyped over the last couple of month. Reviews of those fortunately enough to have already seen the first episodes are mostly very positive, with only a few critics still claiming that fantasy is for geeks and should not be taken seriously.
I expect millions to hold their breath tonight and anxiously await if Game of Thrones can become the first major and successful fantasy TV series.
Enjoy!
First released in 2004, Fable is a high profile role playing game series on the XBOX, Windows and MAC PC. They are among the best fantasy games made.
Fable is best know for the choices between good and evil the player will have to make continuously throughout the game. These choices will determine the storyline of the game and the development of the character.
Hype
The first Fable game was much anticipated due to a good marketing campaign by Lionhead and positive previews. After release, the game was also mostly well-received by critics and gamers. Fable was one of the best sellers of 2004 and by 2007 had sold more than two million copies (including the extension The Lost Chapters).
The two sequels, Fable II in 2008, and Fable III in 2010, were also received well and successful. However, both games also have quite a few bugs and glitches giving them a bad reputation on this end. Most agree that especially Fable II could have been really exceptional without the many bugs.
Story & Gameplay
In the Fable games, set in the land of Albion, the player starts out as a young boy or girl destined for greatness. The character evolves to a good or devil hero, depending on the choices made by the player throughout the game.
Fable has often been criticized as being too easy, everyone could complete the games without much effort but I see this also as one of the strengths of the game. This, together with the nice graphics and the fact the easy way of moving and fighting.
Prime Focus has released a press statement informing the world that it has come to an agreement with sir Terry Pratchet to make a television series based on the Night Watch of his popular Discworld series.
Personally, I love the Discworld novels and the Night Watch is my favorite group of characters so I really hope this cooperation will result in a great new fantasy TV series!
Press statement
Sir Terry Pratchett and Rod Brown, managing director of Prime Focus Productions, have announced an agreement for the unprecedented and exclusive worldwide television rights to create brand new storylines for the iconic characters of Pratchett’s phenomenally successful Discworld series.
Terry’s universal success has seen him create one of the leading fantasy fiction franchises of all time, with 70 million worldwide sales of his 38-book Discworld titles. This will rise to 39 following another book to be published in October 2011. While there have been three successful mini-series adaptations of his Discworld books made for television in the UK, this is the first time Pratchett has granted a production company the international rights to his characters and their world. The agreement will see Prime Focus Productions create a series of new stories exclusively for a television audience.
The main focus of the series will be the bustling, highly mercantile, largely untrustworthy and vibrant city of Ankh Morpork. It will follow the day-to-day activities of the men, women, trolls, dwarves, vampires and several other species who daily pound its ancient cobbles. This will of course also include Igor in the forensics department. Terry commonly refers to the City Watch police force series as “the jewels in his Discworld Crown.” These richly developed and highly compelling characters will feature in a ‘crime of the week’ episodic storyline. As each weekly adventure unfolds, viewers will be taken on a ride through Pratchett’s genius imagination, with the author overseeing the creation of the series. In this world, wild and exciting encounters with werewolves, dragons, dwarfs, trolls, golems and the classic heroes and villains are an everyday occurrence… many of whom even make outstanding crime fighters!
“I believe the globally successful Discworld franchise will readily translate to the small screen in the form of a high-end, mass appeal weekly drama series, giving the audience the anticipation and excitement of brand new Discworld stories every week through the medium of television, rather than books,” said Rod Brown, managing director of Prime Focus Productions. “It’s a huge responsibility to get this right for Terry, his legions of Discworld fans and the new followers that we’ll attract along the way. I believe they’ll be in for a treat with a high calibre writing team already attached, including Monty Python’s Terry Jones and Gavin Scott (Small Soldiers, The Borrowers). We’ve already spoken to a number of international broadcasters who’ve shown early interest and we hope to move forward very quickly to bring this exciting project to fruition.”
Sir Terry Pratchett said of the agreement: “I’m very excited and incredibly happy about this because Rod was co-head of the team that produced the very successful Sky One adaptations. My message of encouragement to him now is: don’t bugger it up!”
Source: Prime Focus Productions
