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Quote from Deadwing : Has anyone who read them seen the HBO series, and is it any good?

Some others have already said it, but yes, the series is remarkably accurate. I'm not sure it could be done much better.

They obviously have to make some compromises. Some detail is lost, but the important events are almost always present. There are a few scenes with conversations that didn't take place in the book, but you find those are almost always present to introduce a detail that doesn't have the benefit of a narrative to explain.

There is one relationship in particular (not giving any spoilers) where they detail some things that didn't occur in (and I didn't really pick up from) the books. I guess, in hindsight, Martin must have intended it. A few other parts of the story make a little more sense once you see how this relationship is portrayed. This is probably not making sense when I'm speaking of it in abstract terms...

In any event, as long as you're willing to concede the limitations of trying to translate thousands of pages of written text to around 10 hours on a screen, it's hard to expect more from the series.

The actor/actress portraying Tyrion Lannister and Arya Stark are my personal favorites. Perhaps it's a bias because they are two of my favorite characters in the books, but I think they nailed the parts, too.