Bless me, Shepherd, for I have sinned: I have absolutely no idea what distinguishes A Song of Ice and Fire from any other generic epic story of political machination set in a slightly magic tinged fantasy world. Or, at least, I didn’t, until I watched this video.
Now I know that A Song of Ice and Fire has its own HBO series.
I kid, I kid.
I do have a soft spot for well written fantastical political intrigue, I just don’t usually have the time to wade through a series more than three books long unless a very trusted friend tells me without equivocating that it is worth my time …and sometimes not even then.
HBO’s 25 minute primer on the characters, settings, and relationships of The Game of Thrones lays out every thing the discerning fantasy fan would want to know: relevant current and past monarchal conflicts, the status of the illegitimate child in society, the standard threats against the throne, whether or not there are elves, and which four or five familiar fantasy geographical settings we’re going to be treated to (: the capitol, the cold place, the colder place, and the hot place where the barbarians live).
