To elaborate on the title, I was wondering if this book series was worth reading now, or would it be better to just wait for the next season of the TV show (Game of Thrones)? I really want to know, because I do not know if I can last another year or so for the next season. I love the show and I would prefer not to ruin anything for myself, but if these books are really good, I feel as if I'm doing a disservice to both myself and the books. So is it worth reading or the books, or would I be better off waiting?
The show doesn't fully elaborate on various themes and other topics the books do.
With the books you get:
1. Introspective looks into the thoughts, emotions, and feelings of characters from present and past events.
2. Historical information about each location, as well as legends, folklore, and myths from past generations that clarify or offer hints as to what might happen in the future.
3. More knowledge about the characters from their interactions with other characters. (This is a big one)
4. It will make the show ACTUALLY make sense. They leave out so much I wonder how they can even dare to pull off "the legendary hero" BS when his name is actually "Azor Ahai". What? Too Middle Eastern sounding for the average viewer?
Also, you know the part where they found the wolves in the first episode? It was mentioned in the book that Jon thought the gods gave them to the children to protect them. MAJOR importance which was left out. Made them just seem like regular dogs.
Not to mention the foreshadowing that is never shown.
Incoming spoiler for the first season, possibly the third if you think about it hard enough:
The wolf mother was found impaled with a stag's horn. Starks - Wolves, Baratheons - Stag... sort of symbolic of how Robert/Cersei led to their doom through their actions.
Not to mention all the other areas of foreshadowing.
The books are amazing so yes you should read them. I've read them once and it's really cool to see it all happen on screen, although there's a few things missing. However the show is done so well that nothing truely important is missing, so it's not like when you see a movie based on a book and so much stuff was cut out. I guess that's the benefit of having a mini-series, many more hours worth of footage.
I would just say YES. but that would be a low-content post.
So, YES. Especially now since we all get to go into withdrawl for 10 months and hope True Blood is even worth halfway watching this season until Walking Dead comes back in October.
Also, some characters who were unquestionably immoral cunts (Tywin, Joffrey, Viserys, etc) are portrayed in a more empathetic light in the series. In Joffrey and Viserys defenses however, they were inbred. Not to mention Viserys had a horrible life...which combined with the aforementioned probably contributed to his behavior.
And why is Theon's actor potrayed as this...idiotic, dorky pussy? Theon was meant to be ravishingly handsome, not "look" the part of a guy who was a questionable leader because he was unconfident. What he does in "A Clash of Kings" is undeniably badass.
Not to mention:
Catelyn and Cersei not being the hot bombshells they were meant to be portrayed as.
Lysa Arryn isn't hefty.
Walder Frey looks like a messed up, ancient gerbil of a man. They also portray him in this sympathetic light that makes it seem as if he's not... of questionable loyalty speaking to his own bannermen.
Stannis is a good choice of an actor, but he was meant to look like a man who was serious business. Not some random dude who people didn't follow because he acted like a nerd. It was his lack of popularity that made others dislike him overall, plus the fact he was sent to Dragonstone and had no major army to begin with. Which was his downfall. He wasn't "popular", yet he was one of the better choices for a king.
And the wolves play a bigger part than one realizes or is shown.
To elaborate on the title, I was wondering if this book series was worth reading now, or would it be better to just wait for the next season of the TV show (Game of Thrones)? I really want to know, because I do not know if I can last another year or so for the next season. I love the show and I would prefer not to ruin anything for myself, but if these books are really good, I feel as if I'm doing a disservice to both myself and the books. So is it worth reading or the books, or would I be better off waiting?
The first one a great work of fantasy. A grounded world with elements of the supernatural that never seem to get out of hand or over shadow everything else. Tightly plotted but with a wide scope.
Then they drift off in to meandering waffle land with each book.
To elaborate on the title, I was wondering if this book series was worth reading now, or would it be better to just wait for the next season of the TV show (Game of Thrones)? I really want to know, because I do not know if I can last another year or so for the next season. I love the show and I would prefer not to ruin anything for myself, but if these books are really good, I feel as if I'm doing a disservice to both myself and the books. So is it worth reading or the books, or would I be better off waiting?
The first one a great work of fantasy. A grounded world with elements of the supernatural that never seem to get out of hand or over shadow everything else. Tightly plotted but with a wide scope.
Then they drift off in to meandering waffle land with each book.
I don't know man. They are like 700-1000 pages long. Jesus fucking Christ, it takes me weeks just to read a 300 page book. I'd love to read them myself, but that is just... I'd never survive it.
If you like the show and you like to read alot (extensive and detailed descriptions of clothing and food in particular) it's definitely worth it. The world feels much larger and much more like a real, living place. In the series they only show what's necessary to move the story along. Also, there's alot more Tyrion-awesomeness in the books and especially Arya's storyline in the book is way better than it is in the series right now. (though those conversations between Arya and Tywin were pretty great)
Arsen said:
I would have to disagree. The first and second novels had their moments, but were unquestionably boring in some regards.
It isn't until A Storm of Swords that the series hits that defining moment. It seems as if the first two books are a buildup for the later ones.
I wouldn't say they were boring just sort of calm and uneventful. The fourth book (AFFC) was the only one that had a noticable amount of chapters that I found boring. Busy reading ADOD at the moment but SoS is still my favorite part of the series so far.
Do you like books like Lord of the Rings? If so then yes.
Do you not like books like Lord of the Rings? If so then... i do not how to put this without coming off as a fanboy. So i will just not comment
yes they are reading the books are just plain better than the tv show, although they may be hard to get initially get into they have more detail and are just generally better. (in my opinion)
In my opinion they're definitely worth a read, especially the first few books at least. The latter books seem to be taking a while to get anywhere, but thats because theres loads of new characters introduced into each book, making progress a lot slower.
YES DO IT!!! There are enough differences between the books and the show for the show to be just as entertaining knowing what happens. In fact there are a number of characters that are alive in the book, that are not in the show. Some characters are dead in the show, and are alive in the book. I really have no idea what they are going to do in the show with some of the plot lines, and I have read all of the books.
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