[sevenwarlocks]

This was great news for the series. HBO wouldn't have cast Bean if they didn't think they were going to pick this up.

I'm a mega-fan of the series, by the way - I've read the books countless times - until the books literally fell to pieces in my hands. So if any of you should be reading the series, get confused, and need to know, for example, who the heir of House Manwoody is, or why the Damphair doesn't like the sound of creaky hinges, I'd be the one to ask.

Someone mentioned the length of the series, and I can tell you that it is a very legitimate concern at this point. The producers plan to do one book per year (or at least one book per 12-13 show "season" with no guarantee that seasons will come once per year - they never came that fast for the Sopranos, and come faster than that for Entourage and Trueblood).

When HBO optioned AGOT, they thought that they were safe, as filming would not start for years, and book 5 of 7 was soon to be published.

Unfortunately, Martin has been stricken by a very serious writer's block. Book 5 is still un-published, and though Martin is currently sounding optimistic about his prospects for finishing it, he has been optimistic before, only to later dismiss much of what he has written as crap.

In the last 9 years, Martin has produced only "A Feast for Crows" which, in story terms, was only half a book. At the current rate, HBO is likely to run out of material to film before Martin finishes writing the series.

While I don't see how they could ever bring this in for less than the cost of Rome, I'm still looking forward to the project.