The Fireside

There's been quite a bit of buzz going around lately about the recently announced Game of Thrones  spinoffs. George R.R. Martin himself sets the record straight via a blog post: So while I was on the road out California way, the story broke about the four GAME OF THRONES spinoffs that HBO is developing. And of course the news has since spread everywhere, all over the web and all over the world. Yes, it's true. More or less. Though, as is all too common these days, various distortions and misapprehensions have crept into some of the reports along the way. And television being the fast-moving business that it is, there have already been some further developments. For what it's worth, I don't especially like the term "spinoff," and I don't think it really applies to these new projects. What we're talking about are new stories set in the "secondary universe" (to borrow Tolkien's term) of Westeros and the world beyond, the world I created fo...

First of all, since the show has now passed the books, I am keeping this post spoiler-free. I have a few friends who will not watch the show until the corresponding book is published. Those wishing to avoid spoilers, merely avoid any potential comments. Well. Wow. WOW. That was quite the season. The best since Season 1, or potentially, the best season of the show so far. Season 5 was VERY weak to watch week-by-week,but benefitted greatly from 'marathon' (screw the term 'binge') viewing. I've yet to re-watch Season 6 now that it's done though. I follow a website from time to time known as 'The Werztone'. He has used some phrases and wording and phrasing that mirror my thoughts on the season, which I will copy + paste here, followed by more of my own thoughts. Tis whole article is spoiler free:  " The fifth season of Game of Thrones was its worst, saved from mediocrity by the penultimate episode Hardhome which completely raised the bar for the sho...