Having not read the books (waiting for entire series to be published) the premier left me feeling fairly lost. It was good, but I think it may require a second watch if I'm to follow the series.

Honestly this is why I am waiting for a few episodes to lapse before I check it out on Demand.

For new viewer help, the character cheat sheet: http://cdn.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/Game-of-Thrones-Houses-infographic-Westeros-101-f.jpg and the episode recap for anything you might have missed: http://tvrecaps.ew.com/recap/game-of-thrones-season-1-episode-1/

Just how closely are they going to actually follow the books though?

Spoilers be damned... some of those actors must have signed short contracts...

I don't think it's confusing at all, it seems very straight forward and I haven't read the books.

If the series can keep the quality as high as the 1st and 2nd episode, this has the potential to be the best fantasy tv series of all time. Of all time.

Yeah, good news is that critics got preview copies of the first 6 episodes and many of them felt #2 was the weakest, with #5 and 6 being the best, which bodes well considering I enjoyed #2.

Here is the episode 2 recap for those interested:http://tvrecaps.ew.com/recap/game-of-thrones-second-episode/

The 5th book, A Dance with Dragons is officially finished: http://winter-is-coming.net/2011/04/is-the-dance-done/  release date is July 12th

One thing I'm not getting. They don't have the same seasons we have in real life? Their winter can last longer than a "year"? And the series is currently in a summer that has lasted "years"?

Great show, hooked on it, only upset first day had 3 episodes back to back & last sunday only 1 show, sorta upset me.

The seasons are basically random in length.  They last X number of years.  So the current summer lasted 8 years but the previous winter lasted 4 years or something like that.  

Oh ok, thanks. That puts a lot more depth behind the "winter is coming" motto.

Why is this topic so empty while this awesome show is being shown?

Especially after the last episode it needs to be talked about

Someone working on a 3d rts game apparently, http://www.agot-genesis.com/ 

All the info released found at http://www.agot-genesis.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=27 

The same company is working on a RPG as well.

There is a lot of chat on the HBO site.

Another excellent episode, this series really is like nothing I've seen before on TV. The pace is very high, the story nothing like the run-of-the-mill "hero out to save the world" script that has been forced down our throats for so long.

I haven't read the books, but are you sure that "winter" isn't simply a metaphor for generally hard times/war?  Because if you're correct, that's an awfully strange coincidence that the last war was around the same time of the last 'winter' IIRC.  Times of peace, seem synonymous with 'the warm season'.

And whenever Ned says "winter is coming", it's most often whenever they're discussing feuding houses and the likelihood of a war on the horizon (and not so much the weather).

Just watched the first three episodes, and I must say that this is easily the best show on the box right now.  Sean Bean just eats it up like a fucking boss.  I haven't read any of the books - probably to my shame - however I'm finding this easy to follow and enjoyable to boot, though a few names seem to slip past.

As for the "winter is coming" thing, I think it's their motto because they spend their time in the north getting prepared for the cold, heartless winters that can last years at a time.  It doubles for them as a saying because they're always preparing for the bad times.  Ned was talking to his little girl about being nice to her older sister because she was going to be married off to the price; "winter is coming" is a way of saying "be nice, because when the shit hits the fan you'll need friends."

"Winter is coming" most definitely is about the weather, although I can totally see a double meaning in there.  In their world the winters last for years on end thus making every moment of the summer days important for preparation purposes.  With all the political intrigue and the upheaval of fighting and the changing of the thrown all their prep time is used in those endeavors instead.  Not to mention the blue eyed monsters run wild during the winter months/years so the Winter is a very dire time for the people, more-so for those in the north.

The longer you watch it, the funnier it gets.

I can´t believe it.  The postman brought me "A Dance with a Dragon" one minute ago. 5 1/2 year waiting time. I´m shocked and excited.     

EDIT/

From G. R. R. Martins Blog...

wheeee....:D

I never read the books, but decided give it a try 2 weeks ago, during easter, watched the entire first season with my bro....

TBF i am not much into fantasy genre, although i quite enjoyed reading/watching LoTR, i prefer sci-fi and things like Diablo III currently, WoW, Witcher, etc... leave me uninterested. So i approached this with bit of a scepticism, but need to say, was very pleasantly surprised. Its really, really great, i love the story, the characters (Peter Dinklage FTW! :-)),  basically everything....its very well done, does not feel cheap, like it happens sometimes with this kind of stuff... i even started thinking about getting those books, once i finish reading Lovecrafts anthology...

Only one thing, i keep saying to myself, how utterly brilliant would it be, if the setting was sci-fi instead of fantasy, it would have probably babylon 5-esque potential....  

It's funny the horrible stuff people can digest. Battlestar Galactica and this... Scary mindless stuff. No plot. No acting. No characterization. Nothing except the same cheap story told over and over again.

Give it a chance!

Oh but I did. That's why I say so. I forgot, in between the characteristics, that the show introduces some public scenes of sex (like Spartacus and others before it) to give an atmosphere of "fantasy" debauchery. What sadness.