HBO's A Song of Ice and Fire?

Wow! I woke up this morning to some seriously exciting news... George R.R. Martin's amazing fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire--which has been previously mentioned on this blog as my favourite fantasy series of all time--has been optioned for an HBO television series.

HBO turns 'Fire' into fantasy series
Cabler acquires rights to Martin's 'Ice'

The idea both intrigues me and scares me. They are definitely doing the series right; each season will cover one of the huge novels. So, on that note, I'm intrigued. But will it survive in the ratings and make it to the end? Who will they cast? How much will the writers be forced to change? Will this actually happen?

Stay tuned.