As 2011 winds down

As we get closer and closer to the New Year, I can't help but hope that 2012 will be a year for relaxing. We bought a house, which came with a whole slew of minor issues (added up = lots of unwanted stress), and I'm trying to get the place set up in spite of the fact that I have plenty of time to get things where I want them. I'm not comfortable in clutter nor am I too pleased when a project takes me longer than I think it should.

I am happy to announce that all of the books are on shelves (yay!). But no one room is complete.

We did take some much needed chill time this weekend. We started watching Breaking Bad and we watched all of the first season of Game of Thrones, which I have to say is totally freaking awesome (gratuitous and plentiful raunchy sex aside). Shame on me for having started the first book ages ago and never getting beyond the prelude!

So I hear that each season of the show should follow one book. This means that season one should, in theory, be the actual book A Game of Thrones. I'm thinking at least a skim of the book may be in order so that I can move on to book two immediately -- I'm not sure when season two will actually start (April, I hear) and the show definitely ended with things up in the air for everyone in the story.

Political intrigue set in a middle ages world with talk of dragons, white walkers, and a coming winter that everyone fears. Are you intrigued?

There are a lot of players, first there are the Starks -- Ned (played by Sean Bean), his wife, Catelyn, their four children, and Jon Snow, Ned's child from another woman. They seem to be the only stand up family in the show! Then you have the Lannisters, the villains (uber villains, 'cause there are others), Cersei Lannister (played by Lena Headey) who is also the King's wife, her slimy brother Jamie and their younger brother, Tyrion, the imp (I love his character). Ned is the King's hand, his best friend, and his protector. So when Ned discovers some complicated secrets about the King and the Lannisters, he puts himself, his family, and the crown at risk.

Meanwhile, the two remaining Targaryen children are planning their return, which would involve overthrowing the current king and taking back the throne that once belonged to their father. Confused? Only because there are so many intricate strings of plot going on.

I predict lots of back stabbing, unexpected alliances, more raunchy sex, and hopefully some creepy winter stuff in season two!

I've actually got the first three books on hand and this week would be a perfect time to begin them (or continue with a couple of other epic fantasy series I've started). If you're interested in reading them, there are currently five titles in George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series (and it looks like two additional titles forthcoming):

A Game of Thrones

A Clash of Kings

A Storm of Swords

A Feast For Crows

A Dance With Dragons

For more on the author and the books, visit George R. R. Martin's website here. Note, Martin is a producer on the show and seems to have quite a bit of creative input. From what I hear, he's pleased with the outcome so far and given that the show has been wildly popular, I hope we'll get to see all seven books on screen eventually.

Sadly, if you don't have HBO or one of the OnDemand/Watch Instantly features, and you have to wait for the dvd, which looks to be slated for release in May. But the first four books are all in paperback!