This show, on the other hand, does a number of things so very right that I can't help but love it much more than I did the books.
First and foremost, the transition to a visual medium did WONDERS for the pacing. Gone are the tedious and and unnecessary descriptions of trivial objects (I swear if I had a dollar for each use of "lobstered", I'd have enough to pay rent) or people, they are shown and that's done. Tolkein himself would have cried for mercy at the original, but that complaint becomes an absolute non-issue. The scenes they've chosen to cut and to create are expertly chosen and do the best job possible of advancing the story in a timely manner. The scene between just Robert and Cersei (in 5?) was really the best example of this.
Second, aging the characters by several years solves one of my gripes with the original story: children acting much older than they should, even in a time/place when they're expected to grow up faster. I understand that part of the overall point was that children become adults quicker when they are forced and expected to, even more so when the world is as rough as it is there. However, aging all the children by 2-3 years solves much of the unbelievability, while keeping most of the message intact. I think the biggest beneficiary has been Daenerys, though moving her to a less of a jail-bait age was clearly on their minds.
Third, since one of my big gripes was about how easy it was to see what was coming in the books, I'm surprised at how much less that's the case here. They're doing a much better job of leading me to believe things can go more than one way. This is almost about to be covered by the show, but still:
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To me, I read Ned and Robert as doomed characters from the very beginning. From their first scenes I knew both of them were going to die before the book was through. Ned surprisingly made it as far as about the 3/4 mark. This was particularly unfortunate, since Ned turned out to be a more interesting character than I first thought. Either way, in both cases, I knew early on not to become really invested in either one of them since they were so very clearly not going to make it.
But that's not an issue in the series, since they did a much better job of not broadcasting "This person is doomed" messages on all channels.
Finally, I can't rave about their casting choices enough. Almost each and every member of the cast are picture perfect for their roles. Particular standouts are Ned (after accounting for the universal aging), Robert, and TYRION. Now when I think of those characters, there's no one else I can put in those roles. Someone said on Twitter recently that they should just save time and give Peter Dinklage the Emmy, and I agree. He's that good. Even characters with few lines and secondary characters are well-chosen: Khal Drogo (who makes me excited for Conan), Tywin Lannister (his previous Lord Vetinari experience can't hurt), and Bronn (the rogue was instantly likable, just from the first few moments he was shown/talked). The people making this show really get what it takes to make a show work, but nowhere is it more apparent than here.