The first season of House is nowhere near as good as GOT. It seems to follow the same formula as other "royal dramas", very soapy with similar power struggles, angst about being rich and powerful as well as tedious, long stretches of one-on-one, boring chatter.

There are flashes of the GOT brilliance but they are few and far between. I've read all of Martin's books and this series (from what I can remember) doesn't match the action, imagination or thoughtful narration of his books.

I'm hoping that season 2 will seek to rise up to at least some of the brilliance of Game of Thrones.

There are also not a lot of likeable characters in this series. My memory of the last book is that there are at least one or two protagonists who one could root for at least a little bit.