Esteliel

HBO greenlights 'Game of Thrones' to series (pic)

Winter is, indeed, coming.

HBO has greenlighted highly anticipated fantasy series "Game of Thrones."

The premium network has picked up the project for a first season debut next spring (below is the first released photo from the series). Nine episodes plus the pilot have been ordered. Production will begin in Belfast this June.

From the moment the project was first announced in development, the series based on the George R.R. Martin novels has generated enormous, perhaps unprecedented, online interest for a series at such an early stage.

The sprawling tale set in the mythical land of Westeros tells the story of the noble Stark family who become caught up in high court intrigue when patriarch Eddard (played by Sean Bean) becomes the king's new right-hand man. The four-and-counting books in the series would each be used as one season of the series.

Unlike many fantasy novels, the "Thrones" series largely avoids relying on magical elements and instead goes for brutal realism -- think "Sopranos" with swords. Martin, a former TV writer ("Beauty and the Beast"), writes each chapter as a cliffhanger, which should lend itself well to series translation.

SQUEEEE!! I so can't wait!

Squee - seven more roles have been cast for the A Song of Ice and Fire pilot: Jaime Lannister, Theon Greyjoy, Arya, Sansa, Dany, Robb and Ser Jorah Mormont.

Call me shallow, but I am SO glad they found a good-looking Ser Jaime - give him a blond wig and I think he could totally play the part. I'm so looking forward to this... Maybe I should reread the books until next year. :)

Speaking of books:

28.) Fiona Patton - The Silver Lake (Warriors of Estavia 1)

29.) Fiona Patton - The Golden Tower (Warriors of Estavia 2)

The Silver Lake is actually a reread, as it took three years or more for The Golden Tower to come out, and when I finally picked it up a couple of weeks ago, I could remember absolutely nothing, not even the characters, so I went back to book 1. With the second book, this series has really started to grow on me, as everything becomes clearer, the motivations of the characters and especially those of the Gods. I can't wait to get my hands on the next one, but who knows how many years that will take.

What I especially love about this is how fluid sex/gender is in that universe - bi-gender people are common and can change their sex to their preference, and people born as one sex can petition a God for that ability.

Gender has always been one of the themes I'm fascinated by, and though this is not truly one of the themes of the series but more a part of the background of that world, it's still really refreshing after the conservatism of fandom when it comes to the portrayal of gender. The way that "He acts like a girl" is one of the gravest insults that can be made about a slasher's characters, and the "Real men don't cry" that gets bandied about all the time annoys me like nothing else.

If Real Men don't cry, then I guess that Real Women do cry? Pity I'm not a real woman, then. In any way, I have long since decided for myself that I am not interested in writing about Real Men. I have very little interest in perpetuating conservative gender roles, and while the sex of my characters might be male, their gender is something different alltogether - a third gender maybe, as there are so many guides out there to tell us misguided women how to write Real Men.

Anyway, the purpose of the post wasn't really to rant, but more to rejoice at surviving yesterday's heat - without going to the ocean, or a lake, but instead I sat outside in the shade and wrote. I had two glasses of wine in the evening and continued to write until it got dark and the promised thunderstorm came with the 10°C temperature drop... And at long last, I finished the CE chapter. I feel really guilty that it took so long, but I think it's a good chapter, though all happy-fluffy. Legolas is full of ideas about how to make up for the fluffiness in the next chapter, which is a welcome change, as usually it is Glorfindel who gets ideas. ;)

O_O

OMG OMG OMG...


This is not April 1st, right? RIGHT?

George R.R. Martin has confirmed that Sean Bean has been cast as Eddard Stark, the Lord of Winterfell, for HBO’s pilot of Game of Thrones that will begin shooting in Belfast, Ireland in October.


*IS DED FROM GLEE*

OMG Sean Bean as Ned! *dies all over again*

*goes to call her brother to squee at him*

Only 14 days until my birthday... and I just realized that the day after my birthday is Ascension Day, which means it's a holiday! *rubs her hands* If the weather is good, we can have a barbecue, and hopefully my sister won't have to work. I have so many recipes I want to try...

Also, an actor for Tyrion Lanister has been cast for the ASOIAF pilot! I can't wait to see who is playing Jaime, and Jon! I'm really looking forward to that, especially as no one knows when GRRM will finish the next book.

I read Roche's Feuchtgebiete yesterday, which was less pornographic and more disgusting than I would have thought, and also quite interesting in the questions of female sexuality and hygiene it raises. Looking forward to discussing this one. Which reminds me that I totally failed in keeping my 'books I've read' list up to date. Maybe I'll manage to remedy that today.

(And I wonder if I will ever be able to write anal sex again after reading Feuchtgebiete.... Must read fic today to get rid of the mental images, urgh.)