Game of Thrones

I am very behind and aware of it, but I have decided to jump into Game of Thrones. It sounds like something I would like, but I'm debating something. I've heard different things from different people, but I want your opinion:

Do I read the books first? Or just go ahead and watch the show? I would read the books either way, but should I read them first? Some of my friends tell me yes and some tell me no. Some say the storyline in the book is not the same as the show and the show turns things around. I've had them tell me the show enhances the storyline. What are your thoughts?

I would say it just depends on what you are looking for. if you just want something else to watch then the show is amazing by itself. if you want to know how it was supposed to be then read the books first. I haven't read the books but Gina and I are really enjoying the show.

I would advice you to watch the show first, I read the books first and it's hard to keep track of all the characters. If you have definite faces to put to names that you know it's alot easier to keep track of everyone. But you should definitely read the books at some point as they have a lot more storey than the books. I hope this helps.

Thanks both of you! Den20397, that makes total sense. I'm going to do that. Thanks again!

I haven't watched Game of Thrones... but I guess i could treat this like Harry Potter.... I never read the books.. In fact I didn't get involved with Harry Potter until Goblet of Fire. Once I watched that one, I went back and watched the first three. I know people that read the books say this is missing, and that is missing, but the movies are overall good. I guess its similar. If you don't read the books, the show can still be good.

IMO. Read the book first. Iv read all the books. But, you can just watch the series and pick up on it easily.

No problem, always happy to help.

So here is the problem with reading the books first. HBO is known for taking a whole series and picking and choosing parts to put into the series. For this reason I have waited to read the books till after season 4 of GoT. It also helps since Martin only puts a new book out once every like DECADE.

I will read the books - but I read the books before Trueblood and I grew to hate the tendency HBO has to cherry pick. Unless you have the extreme ability to keep the 2 story lines separate I would watch a season then read the book.

Besides its awesome to watch red wedding and not know what was gonna happen

Den20397 wrote:I would advice you to watch the show first, I read the books first and it's hard to keep track of all the characters. If you have definite faces to put to names that you know it's alot easier to keep track of everyone. But you should definitely read the books at some point as they have a lot more storey than the books. I hope this helps.

This is why I jumped into the show before the books. However, I highly suggest doing both. The books fill in the gaps nicely and gave me a much better perspective on Ned. Still need to get through book two however.

Can anyone tell me how much of the show the first book in the series covers?

book1 = season 1
its beyond that gets shaky and a little mismatched... IMO they represented book one very well:)

I read the Sookie Stackhouse books before True Blood and don't hate the series. Last season and this season don't even have any aspect of the books in them and I kind of like it and kind of don't. They decided to go in a completely different direction than the books and introduce completely new storylines. There were lots of things from the books I would love to see them do, like Quinn the weretiger and her witch roommate, but they of course have to Hollywood-ize things and then there are the movies/tv shows that completely bastardize the books as well. I was afraid that this would be one of those series. My friends who told me to read the books first also noted that they took some things to an unnecessary extreme. I will definitely read the books, but I will watch the first couple seasons first.

Just for the record, I actually ended up reading the books first. I am now almost done with the second book. There are definitely tons of characters and it took me a while to be able to keep up with them all, but I am definitely glad I decided to go that route. I don't know if I will finish the books before starting to watch the series though. I am still debating that. I don't want to get the story-line's mixed up though.