A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire

I just finished reading this, by George R.R. Martin.
Obviously I read this because I enjoyed the TV series so much. I don't usually read Fantasy anymore, although I used to read quite a lot of the genre, and at the time this book was released, but I never picked up on this author. I knew all the authors who wrote one liners for the book, just not Martin. Ah well, I'll be catching up with his work now, although not however before watching the TV series that corresponds to each book. I don't want to spoil the awesomeness.
I enjoyed reading the book as much as watching the TV series, and I really didn't think I would. It was really great to get a deeper feel for the politics and relationships of those involved as well as some of the history and greater events and happenings. It's really well written too; the language is quite beautiful in parts, and there are the classic one-liners and dialog that we know and love from the TV.
The characters and events closely followed the TV series, and I now have even more respect for the screen version given how close it is to the novel.
Thoroughly recommended.

Does the ABC actually get it? *gasp*

Wow. The ABC are going to make Dr. Who episodes available as digital downloads immediately after they have originally aired in the UK. Part of the reason is apparently an attempt to reduce piracy by providing supply where there is obvious demand. This is a big step in the right direction for television stations making themselves relevant again in terms of rebroadcasting material from foreign networks.
OK, the episodes will appear on iView, which is a pretty low quality streaming broadcast, but this is a good step and shows they are trying to make progress. I find iView excellent for catching recently missed ABC programs, however it still doesn't really compete with downloading 720p content from the intertubes, either torrents or news servers.
Good stuff ABC, I hope the Dr. Who fans go for it.
(Thanks to The Register)