So I just started rewatching Game of Thrones from Season 1 Episode 1.

[MohRokTah]

I have determined that I shall boycott all broadcast and cable media news in favor of watching entire runs of shows like Game of Thrones.

My reasoning is simple. Game of Thrones and other television shows similar to it are far more realistic and informative than anything the cable news channels and broadcast news have to say.

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Does wonders for your blood pressure, for sure.

And no commercials.
You can watch on your own schedule.

Lots of advantages.

[LonePirate]

2. I needed a few episodes for the show to gel but once it did, it was sensational.

Happy viewing!

[Stryst]

3. That's one of the reasons I like Hulu and netflix better than regular cable

Last month I wanted to rewatch all of Stargate:SG1, and boom, there is was. It sucks that I don't have HBO, but I pay for the HBO GO service a couple of times a year and catch up on stuff. I don't think I could ever go back to cable.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

4. I started re-watching GOT as well this past weekend. I want to get all the books, but I also

wanted to understand what I didn't catch the first time. I'm learning so much and I see so many parallels with what's going on now in our political system.

[MohRokTah]

6. I've got all the books.

Including the prequel, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, and the history of Westoros, The World of Ice and Fire.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

7. There are 7 books, right?

[MohRokTah]

8. Yep, but only 5 in the series on television

The other two is a story from before that time period and a history.

There is a sixth one George R. R. Martin is working on, but he made sure the writers on the television show knew how the story was going during the last season when it overtook the books. He wanted to be sure they could finish the series should he pass away.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

9. O.K., these are the books I want. Amazon has them for a pretty penny.

Martin is a very interesting guy.

[MohRokTah]

10. I was first introduced to Martin in 1987 with a series called "Wild Cards"

It's an alternate Earth based series that is a shared universe and the novels are all mosaic novels. They do series of three books with the first two being a collection of short stories with an overarching plotline and the third in each series being a true mosaic novel written by about a dozen authors. George R. R. Martin is the editor (with help from Melinda Snodgrass of Star Trek fame). There are a few stand alone novels in the series, too, each written by a single author.

It's the oldest shared universe series in the world and it is still going with the 23rd book in the series slated to be released this fall. A total of thirty authors have participated in the Wild Cards consortium over the years, including the late great Roger Zelazny.

It is based upon a superhero RPG game called Superworld (game mastered by none other than George R. R. Martin himself).

The premise is in the alternate earth in 1946, an alien virus called the Wild Card virus (or Xenovirus Takis-A) is released over New York. 90% of all people who contract the virus draw the "black queen" and die. Of those who survive, 90% draw a "joker" and end up with deformities. Of the remaining survivors, most end up with some form of psychic power. The majority are simple powers like levitating two feet off the bed whenever they sleep. These are called "Deuces". A very lucky few obtain incredible psychic powers and are considered "Aces".

It's a great series and it introduced me to a collection of authors I have enjoyed reading ever since, regardless of what they write. I've even become Facebook friends with the many of them!

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

11. WOW!! I have a lot of reading to do. The Wild Cards series is right up my alley.

I love stuff like this!

[MohRokTah]

12. They restarted the series a few years back.

The books had been out of print for a few years when they restarted, but they've re-printed the first five and made them available in eBook formats, too. They are doing a new book each year AND are reprinting an old book shortly after the new book comes out, so book six gets a reprint this fall.

So when book 23, High Stakes, comes out Book 6 will also be released.

They started publishing with Bantam with the first twelve books, moved to Baen for the next three, then did two with ibooks. Unfortunately, just prior to released the 15th book in the series the owner of ibooks was killed in a car crash, the company went bankrupt, and that's where the series ended for several years. There was a very short 5000 copy publication of the 15th novel, Death Draws Five in 2006 (yes, I have one of those copies).

Books 16 and 17 have also been reprinted, just before they restarted the series in 2008. So books 1-5 (and later this year 6) and books 16-22 (and later this year 23) are all in print currently with the rest to join them in the coming years. You can usually find old copies of 7-12 in used book stores, especially on Amazon, for fairly low cost. Books 13-15 are the rarest to find a copy of these days. I've seen book 15 go for over $100 before, but you can occasionally find it in a used book store where they don't know what they have.

Their current publisher is Tor.

I obviously purchased each book upon its release starting in 1987.

Can you tell I'm a big fan?

[Exilednight]

5. GoT is used in many poli-sci classes. it's an excellent teaching tool to help

Explain history and the Machiavellian conundrum.