IMHO, A Song Of Ice And Fire is the greatest fantasy series of all time. Compared to this, the Lord of the Rings is a mere fairytale. And HBO is just perfect for adapting this, due to the considerably violent and adult nature of the books. If done well, this could be just as critically acclaimed as Rome and Deadwood, and perhaps more commercially successful than both, because it comes with an huuuge fanbase, just like True Blood. IIRC, HBO began marketing it as "Middle Earth meets the Sopranos". That's a pretty accurate slogan!
Official site - http://www.hbo.com/#/game-of-thrones
Fansite - http://winter-is-coming.net/
Crew - http://winter-is-coming.net/features/crew/
- David Benioff and Dan (D. B.) Weiss are handling the show running duties, they collaborated on writing much of the first season and are involved in all of the decision making on the show.
- Five directors have been involved with the first season. The pilot was directed by Thomas McCarthy. The ten episodes of the season (i.e. including the pilot reshoot) are being helmed by Brian Kirk, who among other things directed episodes of The Tudors and Boardwalk Empire, and Alan Taylor, Daniel Minahan, and Timothy van Patten, all HBO veterans.
- The pilot episode was written by Benioff and Weiss. Brian Cogman has written episode four, Jane Esperson episode six, while GRRM is the author of episode eight. The rest of the episodes have been divided between Benioff and Weiss, with Cogman as script coordinator.
Cast - http://winter-is-coming.net/features/cast/
Among the established names cast in the series are Sean Bean (as Eddard Stark), Peter Dinklage (as Tyrion Lannister), Charles Dance (as Tywin Lannister), Lena Headey (as Cersei Lannister), Aidan Gillen (as Petyr ‘Littlefinger’ Baelish), Peter Vaughan (as Maester Aemon), Mark Addy (as Robert Baratheon), and Jason Momoa (as Khal Drogo).
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About the Books -
A Song of Ice and Fire is an ongoing fantasy series by American author George R. R. Martin. Dubbed “the American Tolkien” by Time magazine, GRRM has seen his series grow in popularity with each book. The story of A Song of Ice and Fire takes place in a fictional world, primarily upon a continent called Westeros but also on a large landmass to the east, known as Essos. Most of the characters are human but as the series progresses other races are introduced, such as the cold and menacing Others from the far North and fire-breathing dragons from the East, both races thought to be extinct by the people of the story. There are three principal storylines in the series: the chronicling of a dynastic civil war for control of Westeros between several competing families; the rising threat of the Others who dwell beyond an immense wall of ice that forms Westeros' northern border; and the ambition of Daenerys Targaryen, the exiled daughter of a king who was murdered in another civil war fifteen years previously, to return to Westeros and claim her rightful throne. As the series progresses, all three storylines become increasingly interwoven and dependent on each other.
The thing that makes these novels unique among fantasy is their gritty realism. Heroes can fall, villains can triumph, those you thought were good can turn out to be evil, those you thought evil can turn out to be good. And while there are magical and fantastical elements present in the series, they are rare and regarded as fairy tales by most characters. The series is expected to last seven books, four of which have already been published. The author is currently writing the fifth book and hopes to complete it soon.
