Moon, Stars and Beyond   A Chronicle of Fact, Fiction and Fantasy

Ah, once again it’s time for Game of Thrones!  Now, who out there isn’t a big fan, eh?  Oh, come on, of core you are!

Despite the casts of millions, a mind-numbing mixture of destinations, arrivals and journeys, including the slowest military march on record, I kind of manage to keep abreast of where the people are located at a particular point.

Just don’t ask me to name anybody, their kingdom/allegiance or who’s loyal to whom.

You see, to me GOT is like the ocean.  One sits on the beach and enjoys the complexities that the moving tides offer, what the water casts upon the shore, how the curls of the waves vary with each undulation and the changing colors of the sea, depending on the time of day and weather.  It’s all great to watch, and you never know what the sea’s going to toss in your direction.

I sit there on Sunday night, watching HBO at 9:00 pm (EDT) on the beach that is my couch.  The ever-shifting fortunes of the characters never quite know what’s going to bring, even though they all speculate and plot what they believe to be their destinies/goals/outcome.  Sometimes, their plans go splendidly, and other times, there’s that red herring no one expected to turn from celebratory to devastation.

I didn’t read any of the books the series is based on, “A Song of Ice and Fire” by George RR Martin.  Not that big, huge books frighten me, I’ve been a fan of loads of 500+ paged books and the authors who wrote them (James Michener is one – not sci-fi, but a wonderful storyteller all the same).  I have consulted a wiki of Ice and Fire occasionally to help keep me kind-of straight with who’s who.  That’s about as far as I’ll commit to the novels.  Truth be told, there’s so much out there to pay attention to and I only have so much time to spare.  Dedicating one’s self to both a multi-part miniseries AND an ongoing series of books strains my free time.  Although this is horrible to admit, I do have to set my priorities.  That’s not to say one day I’ll find myself on a beach reading them, I just can’t right now.

Anyway, the HBO series is too well-produced to pass up, and from what I understand, they do a fine job of translating the novels to the mini-screen.  Best of all, I only have to devote one hour a week.  Fantasy for the fast track, I’d like to admit.

Thank God there’s FINALLY something good to watch on Sunday night!