The series premiere feels exactly like a GRRM blog journal entry. There are certainly a lot of ideas, but nothing particularly clear or interesting unless you are 100% entrenched in and knowledgeable of his work.

I had to watch an hour long video on YouTube that explained the politics and the bloodlines to figure out what what going on in the premiere.

There is a lot of debauchery, violence and gore; however, all of it was unnecessary and failed to drive the plot. If these aspects are what show runners think fans loved about GOT, they are woefully mistaken.

After reading HOTD, I can't say that I'd be willing to invest any time into WATCHING this series. There are many who love the storyline of HOTD. I'm not one of them.

I feel that the show runners know that the series premiere is distractedly terrible, which is why they gave the series sneak peek that they did. Perhaps, this show can turn around, but for now, I cannot say that I would recommend this show to anyone.