Let's start by saying I haven't read the books. This TV series is a shocker. The premise of the story is good, the script is awful. I'm in my sixties and I watched this with my 18 year old daughter. After two episodes we both agreed that it was dreadful, but we decided to watch to see how bad it was. There are laugh out load moments from the actors delivering the dialogue. I felt sorry for the actors. The characters are one dimension and some of the storyline is so obvious you can see it coming a mile away. I'm a fan of game of thrones, but this is poorly made and the characters in this show are all stereotypes. Don't waste 8 hours of your life watching this rubbish.