[Bambi]

Originally Posted by NewChief

Yes. The source material is THE problem, imo. I feel like a broken record, but GRRM is, ultimately, an author who writes "books with imaginary maps." Fantasy authors are so freaking obsessed with world/culture creation and all the cool stuff they think up that they forget to write a story. They'd rather spin off some excuse of a side plot that will allows them to get some crap like the Sand Snakes (and if you've read the book, it's even worse with the number of stupid, meaningless spinoffs he creates) because they're "cool."

When the story was character driven, it was interesting. It's become culture/world driven now, imo. It's just about him fleshing out the world in tedious detail. Robert Jordan did the same crap with the Wheel of Time.

I actually think the show writers have done an excellent job of winnowing down some of the freaking plotlines and condensing/combining others so that it makes a tighter, more coherent story.

rep