Author George R.R. Martin glad 'Game of Thrones' is over

George R.R. Martin is glad 'Game of Thrones' is over -- because now he can focus on finishing the book series.

The hit HBO fantasy drama series -- which concluded with its eighth and final season earlier this year -- was based on Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" novels, but eventually, the TV show overtook the material written by Martin, and so the show's writers were forced to deviate from the author's work.

Martin is currently working on the sixth and penultimate book in the series, "The Winds of Winter," and is yet to start work on the seventh, "A Dream of Spring," but says that now the TV show is over, he feels less pressure to get the work finished, which in turn has actually made him more productive.

He said: "There were a couple of years where, if I could have finished the book, I could have stayed ahead of the show for another couple of years, and the stress was enormous. I don't think it was very good for me, because the very thing that should have speeded me up actually slowed me down.

"Every day I sat down to write and even if I had a good day - and a good day for me is three or four pages - I'd feel terrible because I'd be thinking: 'My God, I have to finish the book. I've only written four pages when I should have written 40.' But having the show finish is freeing, because I'm at my own pace now. I have good days and I have bad days and the stress is far less, although it's still there ... I'm sure that when I finish 'A Dream of Spring' you'll have to tether me to the Earth."

The 70-year-old novelist insists the ending of the HBO show -- which has received mixed reviews from fans and critics -- has no bearing on his own plan for his books, and says although the show is based on his novels, the two bodies of work are "not the same thing."

He added: "They're not the same thing, although they are very closely related to each other. It doesn't change anything at all ... As Rick Nelson says in Garden Party, one of my favourite songs, you can't please everybody, so you've got to please yourself."

And although he admits the TV show hindered his writing progress, he's pleased his work could bring out so many "emotional reactions" in people.

Speaking to The Observer newspaper, he said: "I'm glad of the emotional reactions, whether to the books or the television show, because that's what fiction is all about -- emotion. If you want to make an intellectual argument or persuade someone, then write an essay or a piece of journalism, write nonfiction. Fiction ... should feel as if you're living these things when you read or watch them. If you're so distanced by it that a character dies and you don't care, then to an extent the author has failed."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

'Blame of Thrones': Fans lament rushed final GoT season

NEW YORK, United States – As "Game of Thrones" suits up for one last swordfight, a phalanx of enraged viewers large enough to flatten the massed armies of Westeros is voicing its displeasure over what they consider a botched ending to the beloved show -- with some even clamoring for a do-over.

Since its first episode eight years ago the HBO show about noble families vying for the Iron Throne has picked up just about every award going on the way to becoming a global ratings smash and a cultural phenomenon.

But its legacy is under threat from an increasingly vocal section of fans furious over what they consider poor writing in the shortened final two seasons, after the script had moved beyond the source novels by American writer George R.R. Martin.

A Change.org petition called "Remake Game of Thrones Season 8 with competent writers" was approaching 850,000 signatures early Friday, ahead of Sunday's finale.

"There's been a lot of negativity about the windup, but I think it's just because people don't want ANY ending," tweeted horror author Stephen King, one of the show's most high-profile fans.

"But you know what they say: All good things..."

One source of discontent is a dramatically sped-up narrative arc that has seen central character Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) descend suddenly and incongruously into atrocity-committing madness.

"Turning one of the top two heroes in the game into a villain is something that you have to really set up straight... to have the fan base just go along with it," said entertainment host A. Ron Hubbard on his top-rated "Game of Thrones: The Podcast."

"It's just that I don't think they did the job particularly well."

Other fans are equally bewildered by the moral regression of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau's Jaime Lannister -- an unambiguous bad guy back in 2011 whose redemptive arc over seven seasons was one of the most interesting aspects of the show's scrupulous, patient plotting.

"It feels like some of the characters' arcs are false because they're not given enough time to play out," said University of Northern Illinois medieval history professor Valerie Garver, who accused showrunners David Benioff and D.B Weiss of "rushing" the truncated, 6-episode final season.

MILLIONS OF SICK DAYS

The effect has been to lower expectations to such an extent that many fans are complaining about a denouement they have yet to even see.

"I'm really disappointed in Next Sunday night's finale of 'Game of Thrones,'" joked Brent Spiner, who played android Data in "Star Trek: The Next Generation."

More than 100,000 people voted on the Internet Movie Database to give Season 8's penultimate episode 6.1 out of 10, a harsh rating for a show that had never rated lower than 8.1 in previous seasons.

"This show is just so good and has been so important that even if most people are upset with the ending I think still it will be held up as a show that was pretty extraordinary," said Garver.

And if the social media backlash looks harsh, it is worth remembering that the vast majority of any show's viewers do not immediately take to Twitter with their comments if they liked what they saw.

The proof of this can be found in the "Game of Thrones" audience figures, which hit a record 12.5 million live US viewers for the most recent episode -- with a further 6 million watching later.

For perspective, one of the show's nearest premium cable rivals, Showtime's "Homeland," managed 1.2 million viewers per episode in 2018 and "The Sopranos," regarded as HBO's greatest show, would pull in 11 million a week at its 2002 peak.

There's little reason to expect anything but phenomenal figures for the feature-length "GoT" finale, with an estimated 10.7 million Americans expected to skip work the following morning to catch up, according to a survey by The Workforce Institute at Kronos.

'ASH AND BRICK'

Back in the fictional continent of Westeros, the biggest mystery of "Game of Thrones" remains: who will be sitting on the Iron Throne as ruler of the Seven Kingdoms when the curtain comes down?

British bookmaker William Hill has 20-year-old Isaac Hempstead Wright's Bran Stark as favorite, closely followed by his fictional sister Sansa, played by Sophie Turner.

That assumes, of course, that the Iron Throne still exists after Mother of Dragons Daenerys went full "Mad Queen" last week -- torching most of Dubrovnik, the real-life Croatian double for the Westerosi royal seat of King's Landing.

"The Iron Throne is very much gone, as is most of the population in the capital of the Seven Kingdoms," the bookmaker said on its website.

"Is it actually possible for anyone to inherit a mountain of ash and brick?"

source: news.abs-cbn.com

5 financial lessons from 'Game of Thrones'

(The writer is a Reuters contributor. The opinions expressed are his own.)

NEW YORK - If you ever find yourself at a fan convention for the popular HBO series "Game of Thrones," look at the person next to you.

He or she just might control billions.

With nearly 20 million total viewers for the series, whose fifth season debuts on April 12, and 25 million copies in print of the George R.R. Martin books, the "Game of Thrones" franchise does not just appeal to comic-book geeks.

Powerful money managers get drawn in too, like Gavin Baker, head of Fidelity's $13 billion OTC Portfolio fund. Since Baker is conquering 98 percent of his peers over the last five years, investors should be curious about the financial lessons he and others are drawing from "Game of Thrones."

Here are a few of the key takeaways, other than the ultimate lesson of the bloody series: valar morghulis ("All men must die").

Lesson One: Listen for weak signals
"Be open to evidence that suggests that your view of the world is wrong," advises Baker. In the seven kingdoms of Westeros, the powers-that-be tend to dismiss the dangers gathering around them, such as the mysterious and vicious White Walkers to the north, and the fire-breathing dragons that are growing across the seas.

In the next book - which Martin is toiling on right now - one can only assume that these adversaries will come back to haunt those in power.

Lesson Two: Make dispassionate decisions

As behavioral economists always tell us, mixing emotion and investing is a bad idea.

So it is in Westeros. When the Stark family goes to war with the Lannisters, Robb Stark falls in love and breaks his previous engagement to the daughter of a powerful ally. "Meanwhile, his rival, Tywin Lannister, makes very few emotional decisions," says Baker.

Guess who comes out ahead?

Stark falls after being stabbed in the heart.

"He makes an emotional decision; that is the reason he dies," Baker says.

Lesson Three: Leverage what you have

Near the beginning of the series, Daenerys Targaryen - the so-called Mother of Dragons - has "no money at all," says Michael Anderson, a financial planner with True North Advisors in Dallas. She is widowed and wandering foreign deserts.

What she does have, though, is a fast-growing trio of dragons, the likes of which have not been seen in the kingdom for many years. She also boasts a powerful family name, being descended from a line of previous rulers.

As a result she "leverages those assets into huge gains," says Anderson. Specifically, a fierce army that takes over several cities and threatens to return and take over Westeros itself.

Lesson Four: Too much debt is a killer
You might think that power in Westeros resides with the crown, and its gilded capital of King's Landing. Or perhaps with the Lannister family, thanks to their land holdings and famous taste for gold (Hence the popular saying, "rich as a Lannister.")

But according to some experts, real power lies somewhere else entirely: with the Iron Bank of Braavos, in a city across the seas.

"It is absolutely the power behind the throne," says Lisa Woolfork, an associate professor at the University of Virginia who teaches a course on "Game of Thrones."

"Its bankers are not sentimental, and just want to back who is going to win.

"When you are in deep debt to the Iron Bank, it can weaken your hold on the throne. And when you can't get any more loans from them, that becomes a problem."

Lesson Five: Hard assets matter

Being a favorite of the Iron Bank of Braavos is one path to wealth. Another path: real estate.

To wit, the Tyrell family controls much of southern Westeros, and their land is essentially the breadbasket for the seven kingdoms. They, in turn, help prop up the Lannister regime, even funding a wedding between the two families.

"Real estate is a key to real power," says Woolfork. "It's the basis for most wealth, and converts into military power."

Indeed, without land in the world of "Game of Thrones," you are of little consequence.

"Everyone thinks 'Game of Thrones' is about revenge, but it's really about property," says Anderson. "You don't win anything without gaining ground, and controlling it."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com