Ohmygodohmygod

[Culhwch]

Originally Posted by Werthead

Then it may interest you to know that since The Fellowship of the Ring was released at the end of 2001, The Lord of the Rings has sold more than fifty million new copies worldwide

Sure, but how many of those copies got read? It's not like it is in the films, after all. It's hard work.

[Aegon the Unworthy]

Regardless Im gonna stay happy that there's 49,999,958 book shelves being adequetely anchored in case the owners home jumps or something....

The other 42 are just bonus.

[Commonmind]

Originally Posted by Culhwch

Sure, but how many of those copies got read? It's not like it is in the films, after all. It's hard work.

All too true. I can actually vouch for this, as I've got several friends that were motivated to pick up the books because of the movies, and my fervor for the series. Every one of them had the same response, "I read the first couple of pages, but I couldn't really get into it." I'd take a guess that at least some of those books were read, and even go as far to say that they were enjoyed and founded a new batch of fantasy fans, but it goes without saying that there's probably a large majority that were rife with 'good intentions.' There's a measure of whimsicalness inherent in the books that rarely came across on-screen, and for some people that light-hearted banter is difficult to digest.

[AryaUnderfoot]

Originally Posted by TK-421

Holy, s&%#!!!!

Arya shows up out of nowhere and pops everyone's big HBO balloons.

Haha, why are you shocked?

I'm sticking to my guns on this one. I'm the same way about my favorite songs: the second they hit the radio I'm disgusted.

Regarding the potential to attract new readers- I could go either way on this one. Once something becomes really big, there are too many people turn it into a status symbol.
I'm sure people who tore through "The DaVinci Code" ( you won't believe how many people I saw reading it on the beach here in San Diego) will also purchase ASOIAF, but won't complete the read.
Returning to hermitage now...

[Aegon the Unworthy]

You know what? I changed my mind completely. I want this to totally flop. Yes, yes I do. If its wildly successful, the books get snapped up, Im sure theres royalties for the series, and Martin gets asked to write more scripts in the future. Meanwhile, drunk on his own success and now stupid rich beyond his ability to comprehend, Georges writing deteriorates to an unreadable state. Then depressed, he ends up snorting an 8-ball off of a hookers belly and drowns in a puddle of his own vomit. So if you read this George, I hope this series flops for your own good.

[Commonmind]

Your entire theory is unfeasible on the basis that George too much like Santa Claus.

[pyan]

Errr.......like this, you mean?

[AandKsavetheDAY]

My opinion is, if it is better than the Eragon movie, I'll be happy (well, it can't really be much worse...). However, Eragon is not on the level of asoiaf, so that could be the difference.
The thing that always makes me mad when books are adapted is that no one seems to look or act like they're supposed to. Maybe I have a wierd type of ocd- it just really bothers me when the book is misrepresented.
Oh, and if the show is a flop, won't people assume that the books are crap too? I can't decide, cuz I'm kinda like you AU- I don't like it when things I envision as my own 'discovery' become something that everyone knows about.

[Werthead]

On George's recent appearance on Second Life, GRRM and the HBO scriptwriters talk about the TV adaption. The highlights:

It was supposed to be a movie featuring just Daenerys and Jon with events in Westeros as a vaguely-defined backdrop, but the scriptwriters dropped that idea very quickly as it just felt lame. They took the idea to HBO and HBO were very impressed with it, feeling it fit in with their style very well. Hence they picked it up.

GRRM will be very embarrassed if the TV series catches up with the books. He doesn't think this will happen though

Season 1 will be 12 60-minute episodes long.

They're expecting the very first, earliest teaser promos to start appearing over a year from now on HBO. "WINTER IS COMING" will be the tagline.

From previous info, the series itself may not debut until some months after that, maybe two years from now.

[TK-421]

Well, if all goes well, ADWD is out early 2008 followed by the Winds of Winter say in 2010/11 and A Dream of Spring in 2012/13.

If the HBO series indeed debuts in 2009, it will not be finished until 2015.