A Song of Ice and Fire is objectively superior(as books) to the Malazon books.
Fewer ideas obviously stolen from Robert Jordan
Fewer ridiculous names(this also fits into filmability)
Vastly more interesting characters
No puppets
As far as filmability, ASoIaF’s lack of magic and creatures is a pretty big edge. There are a handful of big battles but everything else is pretty talky. Malazon is full of people destroying demon dogs with waves of magical force while a floating castle launches fireballs into an army. Also there is a puppet.
Of the post-Jordan epic fantasy guys, Bakker is the one whose work would translate most easily to film. Unless you count Hobb, but her work is of the pre-Jordan era of pathetic sub-400 page books with a reasonable amount of characters and no ridiculously complex fictional history.
Song of Ice and Fire is objectively superior(as books) to the Malazon books.
What a silly thing to say. I don’t even categorize Malazan and Song of Ice and Fire as being the same kind of books. I think both books have strong points, both books have weak points, and it’s hard to say objectively anything when it comes down to works of arts. Your opinion may be that song of ice and fire is a better book, but that would be subjective not objective. Unless of course you mean for purposes of filming. Malazan books would be very difficult to film without being completely incoherent.
That was exactly my reaction to my friend’s suggestion. But where are we going to get someone who’s a prettyboy and a credible master warrior, dripping arrogance and casually violent menace?
Actually I missed that part of the post you were responding to, I haven’t even read the Malazan books. I basically responded to “unenamored by ASoIaF”.
I didn’t buy Orlando as a warrior in Troy or Heaven and I certainly wouldn’t buy him even as Robert’s bi little brother. We’re talking medieval tanks here, not scrawny little boy bitches who look their best with hair extensions and pointy ears.
I still think Bale with some aging makeup would make a good Ned.
The other beautiful part about that is if they get a major actor for that role, people who haven’t read the books will be expecting him to survive. Bwhahaahahhaahah.
Maybe I was prepped for it because people always say that major characters die in Martin’s books, but I thought Ned was doomed from the outset. Duke Leto Atreides from Dune, basically.
Please no spoilers about who dies later on, though - only up to the second book.
I think this is the first thing I’ve ever heard that would get me to consider subscribing to HBO. Although, I could probably just buy the season on DVD instead.
I was reading the new issue of SFX and Hugh Jackman was talking about his upcoming Wolverine movie. I bring this up because the script was tackled by David Benioff, who is one of the of the two main guys involved in the Ice and Fire project. Jackman confirmed something that I’ve heard: Benioff is one of the hottest, most in-demand writers in Hollywood right now. (The other thing I learned about Benioff is that he’s one of the highest paid screenwriters in Hollywood). So that’s encouraging. These guys have some clout. This isn’t just being tossed to a couple of minor leaguers.
