Hi! Here's one more new member brought by the HBO series - although not in the strict sense. I first read A Song of Ice and Fire some five years ago and I remember I liked it a lot, but it didn't become a favourite. Being a major fan of epic fantasy, the news of HBO's series made me really excited, especially when I heard it would be starring Sean Bean (and Jennifer Ehle who later dropped out though). After only the first episode I was ready to proclaim it the best TV series ever and better than the book. Fortunately, I got obsessed enough to reread the books and now I have to say I was wrong - they are even better than the awesome HBO series. Martin's writing seriously blew my mind on the second time and I now consider him among my favouritest (fantasy) writers alongside with Tolkien, Le Guin, Hobb and Kay. Anyway, I'm here to discuss the books and the series, mostly because all my RL friends who are into Martin at all have either read the books ages ago and don't remember anything, or have only started reading after being inspired by the HBO series. Having stalked a bit, I have to say I now have my greedy eyes on the Blood of Dragons mush too...
