Fine. I give up. I have written four drafts now of this blog, and for the life of me I can't think of an introduction. Usually I start things out by discussing my life and then tying it into the blog topic, but it's not flowing for whatever reason. *** you, writer's block.

I've been trying to come up with a good intro for discussing one of my favorite new TV shows, Game of Thrones, but it's stuck. The problem is that the show is so different from anything seen before by TV viewer-kind that there's not much to compare it to. Honestly, the whole show is so massive and sprawling that I have no idea where to start.

Maybe the books. We'll start there. George R. R. Martin, an American fantasy author, was working on another project where they repeatedly told him that he was writing too much. Eventually he got sick of the constraints and set out to write his own story that would be completely unrestricted in length, a story that would unfold exactly as he envisioned it. Thus, the series A Song of Fire and Ice was born.

From the very beginning, this series was like no other. Although technically considered fantasy, Martin's writing broke so many genre conventions that it barely resembled the genre at all. In fantasy, there's a basic story format that is often repeated. It goes something like: Ordinary kid finds he/she has magical powers, is trained by a mentor who dies, and embarks on a journey to defeat the evil emperor where no one dies and the protagonist lives happily ever after. The general format is used by everybody from Star Wars to Eragon, and for good reason- it works. Why mess with a successful formula?

A Song of Fire and Ice is the answer to that question. Martin didn't just disregard the fantasy rulebook, he set it on fire and threw it out the f*cking window. The differences are endless. There's barely any magic. There are zero archetypes or true heroes, just flawed men trying to survive in a flawed world. Even the bad guys aren't really evil. Martin's world doesn't give the reader any easy black and white morality. Everything exists in a moral gray zone where truth is uncertain and certainty a myth.

The saga features no evil ruler, but instead focuses on several competing families as they struggle for power in the game of thrones (title makes sense now, yes?). The war between the Starks and Lannisters is brutal, and absolutely no character is safe from death. In most stories you can kind of tell who's going to die and who's too important to the plot to die. Martin, on the other hand, regularly kills of whole groups of hugely important characters just when you think “Oh, they can't die.” At one point, I remember thinking “There's about eight main characters in that castle. There's no way they can all get killed.” Three pages later, every one of that eight was dead.

That's probably why I like the story so much. It's so *** unpredictable. I can usually guess the endings to most stories (really, I predicted the twist in The Usual Suspects), but Martin's writing is like my kryptonite. I honestly haven't predicted any of the major twists, which is scary and fascinating at the same time.

That's the basic story. However, some people apparently don't like to read thousand-page books (each book in A Song of Fire and Ice is about the size of the Bible). Enter HBO.

Around this time last year, HBO announced their intentions to make A Song of Fire and Ice into Game of Thrones, a new HBO exclusive show. Fast-forward to today and the first season is already over. Speaking as a fan of the books and good television, they did a *** good job. The show does a great job of presenting the fantastic story in a way that's easily understandable and entertaining as hell. HBO has basically given us the gritty reboot of the fantasy genre.

Watching Game of Thrones is a bit of an experience in and of itself. With the exception of the guy who plays Ned Stark (aka Boromir, see above picture), the entire cast is completely unknown. The producers picked obscure actors from local English theaters and stuck them into the show. I can see why they picked the people they did- the acting is excellent, even from the kids. Perhaps my only qualm about showing Game of Thrones to people though is the maturity level. This is an HBO show, so be prepared for excessive nudity and violence. Under no circumstances whatsoever should this be viewed by kids.

I highly, highly recommend this show. If you're a fan of reading, pick up the books. Everybody else needs to find a copy of the show. You can either subscribe to HBO or buy the first season of Game of Thrones when it comes out on DVD. Or you could watch the whole first season for free online at Project Free TV at this page, which is technically legal. I think. Regardless, go watch it. Game of Thrones is worth it, promise.

Believe it or not, this kid is actually a total ninja.