Game of Thrones Season 2 – Casting Update!

HBO has a hit on its hands, and it doesn't hurt at all that between seasons of Game of Thrones a new book in the series finally released (No, haven't read it yet. Have three things on my list to finish first, including one other that will for sure be reviewed here.) Fans of the show who haven't read the books are likely reeling from the last few episodes of that first season, and wondering with all of the tragic and exciting, erm, things (don't click that if you don't wan't spoilers) that happened, where can the show go next season? Those of us who have been fans of Westeros for years already know that we've got a few new characters turning up, and some of these are incredibly important for the story to be able to move forward.

Casting has been surprisingly amazing for the characters I've grown to know well over the last ten-plus years that I've been a fan of the books. I've heard the usual complaints from the people I expected to hear complaining that this character wasn't cast quite old enough, that one has hair the slightly wrong shade, and the other one isn't actually and actor 8 feet tall capable of shooting lighting from his... well, you get the point. Reasonable folks who have seen casting directors do a hell of a lot worse with beloved characters have, in general, been very pleased with the actors selected so far. These new characters, however, give casting directors all new opportunities to enrage fans, and some of the people showing up in season two are ones you just can't get wrong and do the rest of the show right. So, how'd they do?

The face of Stannis Baratheon. I always kinda pictured him as
Sam the Eagle from The Muppet Show, but I suppose he was busy.

There's been an awful lot of talk about wars, and succession and family, and at the center of those conversations has been Stannis Baratheon. We haven't seen him yet, but we've heard a whole lot about him. He's younger than Robert, but older than Renly, and his personality leaves quite a bit to be desired if the rumors are true. His strict and grim nature make it impossible for a populace to ever love him as a king, and this fact means that people can (and will) go to war to make sure exactly that can never happen. Stephen Dillane, best known for his work on The Hours and his role as Thomas Jefferson in John Adams has been cast as the Lord of Dragonstone and potential heir to the Iron Throne. Dillane is a versatile British actor, capable of pulling of the gravity that personifies Stannis. It is a challenge to play a character with absolutely no sense of humor or warmth, and I look forward to his portrayal.

Stannis' religious beliefs have also remained off-screen for the first season, as we've been introduced to two of the Westerosi religions, the Old Gods of the North and their godswoods and the worship of the Seven as practiced by the Andals and most of the rest of the continent. The Red Priests and Priestesses of R'hllor, Lord of Light hasn't even been mentioned up to this point, but, to be fair, even in the books only minor characters espoused this new faith in the beginning, and it feels more like a cult than a legitimate priesthood. This will all change with the introduction of Melisandre of Asshai, advisor to Stannis Baratheon. The mysterious and reverent (some might say fanatical and seductive) Melisandre is a tricky character to cast, and Carice van Houten, a Dutch actress best known for her part in Valkyrie is a flat-out perfect choice. She looks amazing with flame-red hair, and should nail the piercing gaze and exotic mannerisms of the Red Lady just fine.

Melisandre has that look like she wants to have sex with you
 and set you on fire, maybe not in that order.

Earlier this summer, two other casting announcements were made, and I won't gloss over those. There are two ladies associated with Robert's other brother, Renly, who haven't made an appearance mainly due to his brief time in season one being on the Small Council, rather than at home. We saw in Season One that Renly has already found love, though very few publicly know of his homosexuality, and it wouldn't really do for someone taking a shot at the throne to have his knight-champion and his, um, queen, for lack of a better word, to be the same person. In preparation for “looking the part,” Renly must marry, and who better to assume that role than his lover's sister, Margaery Tyrell? Ser Loras' beautiful younger sister has been cast, with Natalie Dormer, who played Anne Boleyn on The Tudors taking on the role in a spot of inspired casting. They've managed in all cases to get actors who look as though they could be related to their on-screen siblings, and this is no exception.

Cute as a button, and perfect for the younger Tyrell. At least she won't
have to worry about her husband and brother not getting along... and her wardrobe will be fabulous.

The other woman in Renly's life who would desperately like to be both knight and queen if Ser Loras didn't already have the jobs locked up is Brienne of Tarth. Brienne “the Beauty” was tricky casting, as she's described as freakishly tall with a broad and homely face. I personally worried that they'd take one of the pretty actresses known for “tough chick” parts and cast her here. I am glad that my fear was completely unfounded. Gwendoline Christie is 6'3”, and while not bad looking while fully made up, her features are well-suited to the part without modern cosmetics and with just a little bit of grime and makeup to “ugly her up” a bit, I couldn't imagine a better job casting. Her only major screen role was a supporting player in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, but she's been working in the UK for years.

I can't imagine that is is much of a compliment to be called "perfect"
for Brienne, but she is such a loved character that the adoration of fans can't hurt.

With summer rapidly giving way to a new fall season, principal shooting will likely have to start fairly soon, which means that there are only a few key characters left uncast. I'm looking forward to hearing who is finally cast as Davos Seaworth, the Onion Knight, though insiders say the most likely choice is Irish actor David Wilmot, also an Alumni from The Tudors. If all goes well, the new faces we'll run into next season will help to bolster the cast, as we know the body count rises as the Game is played. You win, or you die. 

Game of Thrones – Post-Season Recap of HBO's Epic Fantasy Series

Long before the show actually premiered, I wrote about my excitement concerning HBO's Game of Thrones, considering how big a fan of the novels I am. Now that it is all said and done, season one aired and picked up for a second go, how did it all pan out? In a word, fabulous. I was particularly impressed by the delicate balance struck between a wide variety of factors that, if ignored, might well have prepared this series for an entry in a future sequel to my “worst adaptations” article.

The producers of the series had challenges. George R.R. Martin's Westeros is a complex and dark world with a detailed history and subtleties that affect the plot in sometimes unexpected ways. However, a book has the freedom to meander about and plumb the depths of a fantasy world's history that a television show or film cannot. Without some of these details, however, the world loses its unique character, and certain players of the great game act in ways that make no sense, due to lack of proper context. Setting the stage without leaving the important stuff out while not boring the audience with a long history lesson is tricky, and they nailed it. I was amused when I noticed that the appearance of a nude prostitute nearly always signaled a scene featuring a history lesson, a process I've seen referred to as “sexposition.”

Then King Robert proclaimed that all History Lessons must be taught
in the presence of whores. Nude whores. He was probably drunk.

The producers also had to effectively manage the time they were allotted for the first season in order to tell the story contained originally in an 835 page book, and to best use the budget they had for the season as well. Cuts on details in the books were merciful, and the essence of the story and every key scene was retained. I'd have liked to see more of the direwolves, but I understand that shooting with animals costs time and money that adds to a budget very, very quickly. The lack of large battle sequences on-screen was regrettable, but most of the action in terms of large-scale military conflict was told “off camera” in the first book, as well. The decision to be careful how often Rickon Stark was shown was also in the service to logistics, as the youngest child actor is likely to change the most in the filming of a long-term production.

Casting was handled particularly adeptly, given the large number of people in the ensemble, and my early excitement for the casting of Peter Dinklage as Tyrion turned out to be spot-on. Also of particular note is Maisie Williams, the young actress playing Arya Stark. Arya is a great character, a favorite of many who love the books, and they found a shockingly brilliant young actress to fill the role. Arya isn't an easy character to play, fan expectation is high, and the youth of the actress makes her performance incredible. Lord Varys, the Spider, is one of my personal favorite characters, and the more I saw of Conleth Hill, the more I liked the casting. I can't think of a single casting decision that I don't applaud, as most characters looked as I had pictured them, or were so well acted that they changed my mental picture for their roles.

Lord Varys. Fear his gash.

The big moments, the shockers and iconic images were handled adeptly, and one of the great pleasures of a fan of the novels is watching Twitter and reading recaps posted by people experiencing the story for the first time.  I've read each book at least three times now, and have been proud to see a story that has meant so much to me reach a whole new audience in a new way.  Now, a little less than a month to wait for the new book, a Dance With Dragons.

The Malazan Book of the Fallen - Dark, Complex... Worth a Read?

A lot of the time I spend not writing or playing games is spent reading, typically fantasy novels. I've had an uptick in reading activity of late, which is not surprising considering that my Kindle is still very new. One series in particular has dominated the vast bulk of my time spent with the Kindle, and I'd like to talk about my early impressions of it now that I'm well into the second book. The Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Stephen Erikson (and additional novels set in the world by Ian C. Esselmont) is a dark fantasy epic comprised of 10 books published between 1999 and 2011. The series final book, The Crippled God was released just this February.

Cover art for the first book, showing Andromander Rake, a character reminiscent
of a cross between a drow and Elric of Melnibone.

Many people start as I did, with the first novel, Gardens of the Moon, and never make it through. Malazan books are surprisingly heavy reading in a genre whose critics often chide it for being too light and bereft of any real substance. The setting is complex, the cast of characters is huge, and the exposition is nonexistent. As a result, many readers struggle to keep track of all of the different characters, their motivations and alliances, and the lack of background means that even when the action isn't hard to follow, sometimes the purpose behind it is. As motivations become clearer and details slowly fill themselves in from context, I don't necessarily consider these statements a downside to the series.

The books have been compared most often to Glen Cook's The Black Company series and George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (the series that inspires Game of Thrones). Like Martin's Westeros, the world containing the Malazan Empire has a deep, rich history and the story presented in both follow a large number of viewpoint characters through complicated and often political plots. The stark, gritty and sometimes overwhelmingly dark tones are reminiscent of Cook, and there are characters similar to the grim mercenaries of the Black Company in the Malazan world, both series of books also present magic as an incredibly powerful and often destructive force, capable of wiping out armies or even nations.

The final book in the 10 part series. At least one fantasy series completed before the author's death.

A lot of summaries of Malazan novels start as I have, talking more about what the novels are like, rather that what they are about. This is because the question “So what are the books about?” is harder to answer. The backdrop for the stories presented in the books is the Malazan Empire's war of conquest and its internal struggle to wipe out the memories of the last Emperor, as the current Empress assassinated him and usurped his position. Powerful beings involve themselves in the conquests surrounding the Malazan Empire, including surviving members of nearly extinct founding races (one of which survived, after a fashion by becoming undead) and the gods, who are similar to the Greco-Roman Pantheon in terms of their direct interference in mortal affairs.

The high magic and intricate cultures presented in the novels come naturally from the origins of the creation of the world in which the novels are set. Erikson, a trained archaeologist and anthropologist from Canada created the world along with Esselmont as a campaign setting, first for Dungeons and Dragons, and later to be used for tabletop gaming using the GURPS rules. Gardens of the Moon was originally a screenplay written by both men, who unsuccessfully pitched it as a feature film. Erikson rewrote the screenplay as a novel, with much of the original material appearing as the book's third act. As more distinct cultures with their own traditions, worldview and distinctive feel appear in the books, it is easy to see the influence of Erikson's academic training in anthropology.

Stephen Erikson, reading a book much smaller than any of the ones he's written.

Overall, I've really enjoyed the books so far despite (or maybe because of) how difficult they are to read. My main criticism of the work at this point (and I may change my opinion as I get further into the series) is that plots are frequently resolved through Deus Ex Machina. The frequent timely interventions and convenient turns of fate are somewhat forgivable in the first novel, given that the god(s) of Luck are personally involved in the events described. The sudden appearance and intervention of one of these gods or other powerful beings sometimes damages the tension created in storytelling, as it is hard to maintain suspense when you know that the character whose story you follow may be saved at the last minute or have their plans dashed to bits by an ultra-powerful entity at any moment.

There have been a few moments, elements and characters that have made pushing through the series page by page all worthwhile. I particularly liked the assassins' rooftop war, at one point turning into a three-way conflict between groups of highly-trained killers with powerful wizards supporting them, which is a main feature near the end of the first book. I also really like the concept of the Jaghut, an ancient race who eventually decided to go their separate ways and live in isolation, as they believe that community leads to a desire to exercise power over others, and Jaghuts are susceptible to the lure of tyranny, often leading destructive empires of slaves for many years until they are destroyed. The Deck of Dragons, a tarot-like magical fortune reading device also predicts and explains some of the main events in the story when it is used, especially in a funny scene where a group of soldiers is using it to play cards with a “wild talent” dealing as they gamble, their hands revealing important events many miles away.

Artist rendering of the start of the rooftop war, something unpleasant en route to the fan.

Many people have strong opinions about the series when they first encounter it, most either decide very quickly to love it or hate it. Even with my few objections, I'm coming down in the “love it” camp.

Monday Potpourri, or How I Spent My Geeky Weekend.

Today's post may be a little more unfocused than my usual articles. I have a lot to talk about today, and about the only theme I can come up that links the varied topics is that they are all about things that happened this weekend. A few events relevant to this blog happened in the course of a few days, I had the opportunity to follow up on and am prepared to revisit two topics I've covered before, and I got to experience a major world news event through a uniquely geeky lens.

Throwing chronology completely to the wind, I'll start with one of the very last things that happened this weekend. Weeks before the first episode came out, I wrote a bit on HBO's Game of Thrones, and how excited I was about it. Right before bed last night, I caught the third episode and I'm about due for an update on how I feel about the show. There is a LOT of material to cover to tell the story laid out in the first book, and so far, I feel the show is doing a good job of telling the story without losing too much of the detail that gives the world its depth and unique feel. Many favorite characters have been presented at this point, and the casting choices have been uniformly good. Any changes from the books have been tiny things, needed to improve the flow of story, and I think the show is comprehensible to people who haven't already spent years discussing the books.

Arya Stark learning "dancing" from Master Syrio Forel. Great casting.

I've also had a full week, and much of the weekend to try out the new content I touched on in World of Warcraft, the “update” of classic raid dungeons initially designed for between 10 and 25 players, re-imagined as longer than usual 5 man adventures. Zul'Aman is virtually unchanged from its initial release aside from the same monsters being tuned a bit for fighting groups of 5 level 85 characters as opposed to 10 level 70s. Still frustrating in the same places, still easy in the same spots. More interesting to me is Zul'Gurub, which kept the original environments, but completely rethought the monsters and bosses, including a clever encounter that is only accessible if someone in the group has sufficient archaeology skill to mess with a cache of cursed artifacts. Both of these new 5-man dungeons are like running 2 heroic dungeons back to back, all gear drops are purple (Epic) quality and they take, typically 2-3 hours to finish unless you have a very good group that knows all the fights already. We got to figure out the bosses in ZG for ourselves, no guides or YouTube strategy videos to help us along, and that was great fun, and a refreshing change of pace.

One of the Tiki-themed Minibosses in Zul'Gurub.

On to blog business, this weekend, two things of note happened, my post “Can't Stick The Landing – RPGs and Poor Endings” was a featured article in this month's Carnival of Video Game Bloggers here at GamingMyWay, and I got another award! This site received the “Stylish Blogger Award” from The Angry Lurker, many thanks to him, and this is another “with rules attached” award, so here they are.

Now the rules of this award are to:

1. A thank you and link back to the nominating blog.
2. Share seven things about yourself.
3. Pass this award on to 10 or so other deserving blogs.
4. Let them know of your nominating them for the award.
   
   

Rather than fill the rest of this post with links to blogs, I'm going to comply with rule 3 in my own way. Throughout the coming weeks, one or two at a time I'll add my nominations. A lot of my favorite blogs already have this award, so I'll get the time I need to figure out who to pass it on to (no begging in emails or comments please) and the deserving sites won't get lost in a long list.

As for seven facts about myself... Well, here goes.

1. I grew up in a particularly dangerous neighborhood, the only Irish-American kid in an area that became a gang-controlled barrio just outside Chicago.
2. I was the initial designer of the Town Project in the RPGA's Living Greyhawk Campaign, which allowed players to write, develop and spend in-game resources on the management of their D&D character's home towns and villages in a global campaign. The towns could build structures to defend themselves, harvest resources and grow population, adding a lot of “Civilization/SimCity” elements to a shared-world campaign.
3. While working in the hobby game industry, I also pursued a performing career, working as a concert tenor, improv comedian and actor.
4. The band I've seen more often in concert than any other is They Might Be Giants.
5. I've taken classes in and since forgotten how to speak or read almost anything in the following languages: Spanish, French, German, Russian and Japanese.
6. I didn't have a driver's license until I was 21, and took the test to get one my 2^nd time ever behind the wheel. (Nearly passed, nailed it on the next try.)
7. I've been to the mayan ruins of Chichen Itza four times, and got to see the Throne of the Red Jaguar inside the central chamber of El Castillo.

El Castillo, the famous temple to Kukulcan in Chichen Itza.

Last, but not least, I'd be remiss if I didn't at least mention the announcement last night of the confirmed death of Osama bin Laden in an American operation. My wife and I were online in our Sunday night raid, working on killing Heroic Maloriak with our WoW guild when the news broke. We have several active duty military personnel in the game who claimed to have known already, but were under strict orders to keep quiet on the subject until DNA testing confirmed the news. We alt-tabbed from game to news sites and social media outlets for details or confirmation that the news wasn't a hoax in between boss attempts. Eventually, the news became so distracting that we broke for the night so all the players could watch the televised speech.  Rather than cynically insist that this news changes nothing, or hop up and down chanting “USA, USA!” I find my reaction rather more complex, but a blog I read this morning put it more succinctly than I feel I could. That link is here.  

Brandon Sanderson - Fantasy Author/Publishing Machine...

 There's a famous quotation that has been named “Sturgeon's Law” which states that 90% of science fiction is crap. (I'd extend it to all entertainment, as others have in the past.) That said, that other 10% is where the stuff that creates a lot of the basis for our shared geek culture lives. That 10% includes Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Dune, Firefly and A Game of Thrones, among many other gems in sci-fi and fantasy. That 10% also includes the books of Brandon Sanderson.

If you don't know who he is, you aren't alone. He's not exactly an obscure fantasy writer, but Terry Goodkind, George R.R. Martin and other big names in fantasy took many years to carve out their niche audience and become popular enough that the average book geek has at least a passing familiarity with their names and work. Brandon Sanderson has become prolific very quickly, having only published his first novel in 2005, he now has 10 books in worlds of his own creation published. He's also only 35 years old.

Mild-mannered author, or cyborg sent from the future with  hyperspeed manuscript powers? You decide.

The reason he's been able to publish so much in such a short period of time has, partially, to do with his association with one of the largest fantasy properties of all-time. After being very impressed by the first novel in Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy, Robert Jordan's widow, Harriet McDougal, selected Sanderson to complete her husband's Wheel of Time series, which had a collection of notes and ideas, but was not completed before the author's death in 2007.

A lot of Sanderson's work is characterized by fans and critics by the unique and frequently intricate magic systems he creates, which differ greatly from world to world. The Mistborn series of books starts as a kind of “heist movie” meets “fantasy revolution” story, which is interesting on its own, but each “specialist” can ingest and “burn” different metals in order to produce specific superhuman abilities, and the rare few exist (including the series protagonist) who can burn any of the metals and with proper training are very, very powerful. His debut novel, Elantris, features beings who were once normal humans but woke up one day to find themselves godlike, with the ability to infuse specific patterns, whether drawn in the air from light or worked into metal or stone, each pattern releasing energy to produce a miraculous event.

It really does play out like a classic bank robbery story, with wizards.

Sanderson had produced a wide range of different types of stories in his body of work. Elantris is the first book I read by Sanderson, and I've re-read it a few times now. The story of the fall of the godlike Elantrians and the chaos that shakes the world when their powers fail and their existence becomes a curse is told from the perspective of three very strong, well developed characters. Elantris, along with Warbreaker, are the two standalone books that aren't part of any larger fantasy series. Mistborn is a complete trilogy with a sequel set long after the main three books releasing this year, he has also published a series of Young Adult fantasy called “Alcatraz”, about a young man who comes from a family with special talents which all seem useless or inconvenient until used creatively.

I also highly recommend his newest work, the first book in his Stormlight Archive series, called The Way of Kings. It is a massive tome, clocking in at a little over 1000 pages, but the depth of the world and incredibly well-written characters make it clear why this series features the world he's put the most work into over the last decade. We're introduced to the son of a doctor who goes from healer to soldier, to wartime slave in a brutal and pointless conflict, a traveling scholar desperate to secure her family's salvation through an apprenticeship to the world's most controversial and brilliant woman, an aging warlord who is trying to protect his king (who is his nephew) and fulfill his brother's last request while dealing with the fact that many think he is going mad in his old age, and he's not sure they are wrong.

The audiobook on this one is great, too. At least, it is when the male reader is reading/performing, the female reader kind of sucks.

Quite a few fantasy authors only get published later in life, so their body of work is relatively small, one of the reasons I think that Sanderson is an author to watch is that with over 10 projects to press in 5 years at 35 years old, I think we'll have a whole lot of time to see further incredible things from this young man. Any other fans out there? If not, I hope I've made at least one convert.

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.