Game of Thrones On HBO - Almost Here!

Like a lot of geeks, I am a huge fan of fantasy novels, but I recognize that a lot of them are actually pretty terrible. A lot of the pre-canned tropes are trotted out, the kid who has nothing but a secret destiny rising to power, the ridiculously overpowered Gandalf/Merlin clone old man who gets to Deus Ex Machina when the author writes himself into a corner, etc.

Yes, you. Stop embarassing yourself.

But even when they are bad, I enjoy the hell out of them, and on rare occasion that they are good, I get straight-up obsessed. In the “obsessed” category, we have George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. Political, dark, full of betrayals and sex, and with no droopy-bearded Merlin popping out from behind a rock to fix everything.

If you've read any of the books, this title is kind of hilarious.

So I was skeptical when I heard that the first book, A Game of Thrones, was optioned as a project for TV. I've seen what bad adaptations can do to a much loved and well-respected geek property (I'm looking at you, LXG.) However, as details emerged, a brief flicker of hope sparked into a tiny flame. The sex and death would be intact, and each book would not be a movie or miniseries, but a season of a new series for HBO.

Then I found out that the author was working very closely with the team making the series, and casting details and promo shots started making their way out... that little fire got bigger. Further emboldened by the recent successful adaptation of the Graphic Novels/Comic series The Walking Dead, I'm thinking: “They're actually doing it... the crazy bastards just might make it work.”

Now we've got a few great promotional trailers and the first episode is a little more than a month away and I am stoked. The flames of geek-obsession are raging, especially since being out of work gives me plenty of time to read about the show, watch behind the scenes videos and the like.

I know what I'll be doing on April 17^th. 

This is normally where a shot of Sean Bean as Ned Stark would go, but that casting was obvious. Peter Dinklage as Tyrion was inspired.