There's another thread about Game of Thrones here but eh.... It was strangely worded, grammatically incorrect, and didn't have much of a focus.
I'm a huge Song of Ice and Fire fan. A good friend of mine got me into the book series, and they're among the best novels I've ever had the pleasure of reading. The writing is fantastic, and the way the plot is crafted and executed reaches a level of complexity that I've never experienced in a book before. Although the quality seemed to drop off after Storm of Swords, I believe that's just because Martin is setting the foundation and rising action for the next big confrontations that are going to happen.
As for the Game of Thrones HBO series, I adore that as well, maybe more than the books. Almost all of the actors are absolutely perfect for their roles; Sean Bean as Ned Stark, Emilia Clarke as Dany, Jack Gleeson as Joffery, and Richard Madden as Robb Stark are among my favorites. I do share your concerns with Stannis though, mainly just because they're making him so one-dimensional. I always thought he was very much in the same vein as Ned in the way that he's driven by duty and honor, but lacks the compassion and mercy that Ned had. He's been portrayed as just a straight up power-hungry jerk who has no compassion AT ALL. That's the one big issue I have with the series though.
