pinata242

It's never too early to try to peel away conversation about season 4 characters and casting away from the weekly threads. Obviously this thread will contain spoilers if you haven't read the books. Read at your own risk.

I really hope this is just a quick, nameless cameo and not a speaking role.

From the S03E01 thread:

I sure hope this isn't true because of how big (pun intended) of a character Manderly is in book 5.

wishbone

I'm hoping for more giants, titties and dragons in the next episode.

Ropes Pierre

please keep that in spoilers. that is the title of the next Dunk and Egg story

hanshotfirst1138

Aren't they going to catch up to where Martin is in the books soon? I mean, they have a couple of years, but still. Apparently he takes his time between them, but presumably everything will time out correctly.

pinata242

They'll have to get through season 5 or 6 to catch up with book 5. Book 6 is in the works. I would hope that only book 7 is the holdup, but the showrunners have enough info to conclude prior to or in parallel to the book.

I wouldn't be surprised if it takes 9 or 10 seasons to get to the end of book 7. 100 episodes has a nice ring to it.

superdeluxe

Dunk and egg

Dave99

yeah, S3 & S4 will only cover storm, it'll take probably 3 or perhaps 4 seasons to cover feast of crows and dance of dragons.

Although you have to look at how quickly he banged out the first 3 (4 years total), then took 5 years for feast, then 6 more for dance, it's not looking good. I think if they catch up with book 7, they'll finish it their own way before the book is done (they have the outline of what happens already).

johnnysd

I am not sure of that. I think that FoC and DoD could be covered in 2 seasons as not much happens especially since there will already be elements of those books in this season and next. There is a lot of filler in those books.

Burnt Thru

Lets at least hope they cover those two books in just a couple of seasons. If they really try to string it out the way Martin has I fear the audience will wander off and we might not get to see the conclusion filmed at all. So far they have left out Strong Belwas which should leave us hopeful that they are planning to truncate much of the pointless filler which Martin waded in for his last couple of books. Fingers crossed, anyway..!

Philzilla

yes, LOTS of filler.

Josh-da-man

I don't see Martin getting book seven out in less than ten years.

And it wouldn't surprise me at all if he expanded the series into eight or more books before all is said and done.

superdeluxe

http://winteriscoming.net/2013/05/ca...-4-mace-tyrell

WIC takes a look at casting Mace Tyrell.

Who do you guys think?

Hugh Bonneville? Jim Broadbent?

DaveyJoe

Broadbent is probably the best of those choices. Of course the season 4 role that I'm most interested in is Oberyn Martell. I would not mind seeing Alexander Siddig as the Red Viper but a left field(pipe dream) choice would be Viggo Mortensen.

creekdipper

Maybe Hodor will go shirtless so you'll get at least one wish.

Dave99

No shit, the fatman needs to be sitting behind a keyboard writing the books, not waltzing around on a tv set.

creekdipper

Normally I give incredible authors the benefit of the doubt & can be patient, but Martin (and HBO) knew what they were signing on for when the series began.

I'm wondering if Martin has writer's block, is allowing the distractions to interfere with his writing, or has just fallen so in love with his characters that he can't bear to end the saga. I wish he'd quit treading water, stop treating the story like the Holy Grail, and just get on with the characters he already has created and give his loyal readers a satisfying conclusion. He's already flirting with shark-jumping (not revealing anything here) and tampered a bit with one of the main strengths of the whole thing, and the filler in Books 4 & 5 demonstrates that it's not as if every word he writes is gold. So just get on with it.

If he wants to revisit the characters, he can always produce prequels & side stories. I'm afraid that what, if he's not careful, he's going to produce the literary equivalent of what Peter Jackson is doing with The Hobbit. All of the parts which should be short story material, appendices, etc. is ending up in the published manuscript. The same thing happened with Stephen King when he experienced runaway success...his early tightly-plotted writing successes gave way to bloated, self-indulgence in much of his later work.

Initially I was disappointed at the thought that HBO might have to strike out on their own to finish the series according to Martin's outline, but that would be preferable to endless meandering or delays while Martin contemplates his navel.

Maybe The Mountain can get his own spinoff.

Dave99

As for the castings, I can't remember one notable scene with mace tryell, don't think you need to spend big money on that casting. red viper OTOH...

Canis Firebrand

What? you mean you don't want 20 minutes of scene and dialogue about the food that's being served for some event?

adamblast

I remember years ago in a book thread, I was bemoaning what had happened to the Wheel of Time series, and saying I'd never start another contemporary multi-book fantasy series until it was completed. Everybody swore to me that Game of Thrones should be my exception, that it was too good to wait, and that GRR Martin would never succumb to filler, dragging his heels, writer's block, or whatever it is that makes a decent series peter out into near-worthlessness once the author has some clout.

I'm glad I didn't listen. I love the TV show. Whether I ever read the books, well, I guess it still depends.

Breakfast with Girls

I'm mostly through book 4. The first 3 books are better than the first 3 seasons, IMO.

johnnysd

While there are growing similarities to the writing arc of WOT, you really do yourself a dis-service not reading the books. There is a reason season 3 is so good as it may be based on the best fantasy book ever written, it is really that good. Even books 4 and 5 are extremely well written but somewhat self indulgent and overly padded. Still worth reading. There are some awesome events in books 4 and 5 that will quite possibly make the TV show better than those books. But I would read them if I were you. The frustration of waiting is mostly worth it in this case.

Josh-da-man

I'm not going to read the books until they're all finished.

When it comes to series, I'd rather read the whole thing at once while it's still fresh in memory than wait years and years between installments.

I've been waiting twenty years for the final installment of Clive Barker's "Art" trilogy.

wishbone

http://wicnet.tumblr.com/post/505898...-kcrws-upclose

superdeluxe

malichai

I agree that the first three books will be better than the show's first 4 seasons, but I have to believe that seasons 5 and 6 will be better than the last two books: Feast of Bores and Where Do Whores Go.