Although I've read all the Game of Thrones novels published so far, I cannot watch the HBO series. (Since we don't have HBO, this isn't much of a problem!). Although extremely well conceived, Martin's world is a moral void -- ethics only makes you more vulnerable to scheming characters with no principles at all in the universal quest for power. The reader takes interest in a number of characters with a vision of a possibly better world -- but they are inevitably betrayed and killed in graphic detail.
The Red Wedding episode is probably the most gut wrenching one I've read in the series so far. My sympathy goes to sensitive viewers who couldn't see in advance how the story line was going to play out. From what I've read, even some TV critics are still stunned by it, at least one calling it the most violent TV episode that has yet to be aired on television.
The novels are compelling but extraordinarily painful to read. I have no interest in watching the HBO version and don't think I ever will.
