a song of ice and fire - What plot differences are there between the Game of Thrones TV series and the books?

It has been a while since I've read the books and I recall the show being fairly accurate. What plot differences are there between them?

Are any substantial, or are they all particularly minor?

Answer

It is, so far, a fairly good distillation of the plot, though there were a few differences that stood out to me. From memory (and from the small portion that has currently been aired):

Dialogue is, understandably, truncated drastically. I'm sure this was a necessity

In the previews it appears Cat objects to Eddard becoming the Hand of the King, whereas in the book she encourages it

In the HBO series, there was no red sap faces in the Weirwood trees, rather they appeared to be created from knot holes

Most of the kids are aged a few years in the HBO series. For example, in the TV series Bran is 10 when Robert visits Winterfell, in the book he is 7

Daenerys wedding night consummation on the HBO series was alot less consensual than it eventually became in the book

Tyrion is less ugly and twisted in the HBO series, instead portrayed as a relatively attractive dwarf

Tyrion appears more debauched in HBO series, with an apparent obsession with whoring, well beyond what is described in the books.

Arya is not the least bit horsey looking in the HBO series

I yelled at the television (a habit my wife finds fairly annoying) a few more times than this through-out the first episode, but most of them were fairly petty grievances, brought on largely by the fact I had just finished reading Game Of Thrones so it was fairly fresh.

Most of the differences were, I am sure, to impart the most amount of plot information as possible in the limited time (and attention span of the average viewer) that the medium of a television series offers.

EDIT

I have spotted many more, subtle and blatant, in the ongoing series, but have decided not to update the list here, primarily as it just sounds bitchy.

Also, I believe, I have already made my point, that HBO have kept true to the spirit of the book, although they have culled a lot (and changed a little bit) to make it a worthy television adaptation. I am enjoying it, but not as much as I did the books, but I think that was to be expected.

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