Lady Arianne Martell Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 No question the books.You just cannot get the full grasp of the backstory, the complexity of the POV's, or the general beauty of the minor characters in the show. Honestly, the show does it's best, but the raw amount of depth in the books is something the show can't get to. The main point being the POVs;SO much of the beauty of certain characters comes not from their words but their thoughts. The show cannot get that and will never be able to . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Man Has Said Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 i've never seen adaptation better than books. maybe The Shawshank Redemption is the only one. so i definitely prefer agot books over show. Same. The reader's imagination is always the best 'screen' upon which to project the action of a book. Plus, there are no deviations from the text. At least not for me. I never read a book with an eye to 'which scenes and plotlines do I take out?' So I never have to figure out how to make up for those scenes having been taken out, and still preserve the plot. I never think about what it might cost in special FX or set design or number of extras hired to portray a scene. And I never, ever, ever put a gratuitous tits and ass scene in that does nothing for the narrative just to get better ratings. (nor one involving torture - I hate that!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Crannogman Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 The books hands down but I still love the show, the show got me into the books. What you've got to accept though is the show has limitations. The show can't show everything due to finances and the book doesn't have this problem. The show can't show peoples thought and the book doesn't have this problem and the Show has to keep people interested throughout the series and can't have quiet periods and the show doesn't really have this problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNinjaDC Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 The books, but I do like how the show improves certain characters. For instance, I love show Bran, he seems like the wise Stark kid, but book Bran is an annoying brat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Blizzardborn Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 Books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Ravens Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 I'm a long time book reader and re-reader. The books are far more fully realized than the show. Having said that, I'm super impressed with how good the shows are, especially Season 1 when it was such a novelty to see the characters brought to life on screen. But as the show continues I grow less interested, partly because of all the plot changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fightbringer Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 books definitely for me, although i still love the series and its my favourite tv show, but the show has made changes which mean it isnt as good, a lot of those changes i'd say would work better in the medium of television, as if it was a direct adaption it might not translate well, as their is simply just too much information and too many characters for the show to do that without destroying itself. Although their has also been some good changes in the shows storylines when compared to the books, and also a few bad ones, and i feel sometimes that when the show deviates from the books in terms of events, the plots have faults in them, either through plot holes, or writing events which would be too obvious (dany's dragon getting stolen and xaro crowning himself king of qarth come to mind) and not doing those things are amongst the reasons why GRRM is such a great writer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady of the Falls Posted May 12, 2014 Author Share Posted May 12, 2014 The books hands down but I still love the show, the show got me into the books. What you've got to accept though is the show has limitations. The show can't show everything due to finances and the book doesn't have this problem. The show can't show peoples thought and the book doesn't have this problem and the Show has to keep people interested throughout the series and can't have quiet periods and the show doesn't really have this problem. I totally get the limitations of what they can do and the time restraints they have, it's the big changes they've made and scenes that aren't even needed or doesn't add to the story like Asha not getting Theon, Bran getting capture,or not going to Jon or Loche going to the wall. Cold hands not helping Bran get to the hill, The other taking the baby to its lair. Lots of things the wasted time on when they could have been showing relevant details, back story. I got the books because I saw show first and I thought seasons 1-3 were done well in comparison w/the books and what they were able to achieve. I just haven't felt that way this season. That's only my opinion, which only matters to me. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerl Targaryen Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 For a TV show, Game of Thrones is an incredible series. The production values, acting, direction, and writing (most of the time) are all top notch. There are few shows on TV that can compete with it as far as all of those things go. For an adaptation, I think it's also quite good. It's held back a lot by time and budget constraints that make it difficult to realistically adapt the books exactly as written. And I'm not sure that adapting the books as written would necessarily work anyway. An author has some very specific tools at their disposal that just don't work on TV (e.g., character thoughts, unreliable narrators, etc.). So translating some of that to TV can make certain things less subtle and more direct. The book series, on the other hand, is only limited by GRRM's imagination and his ability to write it down. It's difficult to compete with the level of detail, character development, world building, and storytelling in the books. There's just no comparison. The show does a very good job hinting at the detail found in GRRM's world but it doesn't even scratch the surface when it comes to the complexities and detail of the books. For me, I'll always prefer the books to the show simply because they're so much more detailed. I also greatly enjoy the show for what it is and it's fun to see things visualized. I especially love the dragons, direwolves, and the Wall. And the opening credits are easily the coolest opening credits ever created for TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reek Havoc Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 The books. The show is good, but it's like a Cliffnotes version and can't compare to the actual story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wmarshal Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 Books everyday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dany4eva Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 The TV show but only because it is actually moving along and god knows when/if the books will ever be finished. :bang: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady of the Falls Posted May 12, 2014 Author Share Posted May 12, 2014 The point of my question,which I should have expressed better, was to see how everyone likes the story/show the directors have created based on ASOIaF that's all. I know they can't be as detailed as books, and they can't cover every aspect. My thing is do you like the series and their version & changes they've made. Do you like how they are telling their story, based on GRRM books and knowing what they got to work with. I love the books and there's so much creativity and story they can pull from, how do you like their vision and what they have done w/it so far. I liked seasons 123 i'm just not feeling the 4th one to much, that's all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyrion Lannister Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 Game of Thrones is great, and a far better adaptation than I expected when it was first announced. It can't touch the books, though. It's pretty rare for a movie/show to be better than the book its based on, for many reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Crannogman Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 I totally get the limitations of what they can do and the time restraints they have, it's the big changes they've made and scenes that aren't even needed or doesn't add to the story like Asha not getting Theon, Bran getting capture,or not going to Jon or Loche going to the wall. Cold hands not helping Bran get to the hill, The other taking the baby to its lair. Lots of things the wasted time on when they could have been showing relevant details, back story. I got the books because I saw show first and I thought seasons 1-3 were done well in comparison w/the books and what they were able to achieve. I just haven't felt that way this season. That's only my opinion, which only matters to me. :) Yeah I totally agree with you on the matter of the big changes not being needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lifefullofwords Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 Definitely the books but the TV series is very good too. Honestly it is a close call but overall the books are just better. It really depends on the season/book though. The books hands down but I still love the show, the show got me into the books. What you've got to accept though is the show has limitations. The show can't show everything due to finances and the book doesn't have this problem. The show can't show peoples thought and the book doesn't have this problem and the Show has to keep people interested throughout the series and can't have quiet periods and the show doesn't really have this problem. I don't disagree but I think filming a story offers a lot of advantages too, some of which GoT hasn't taken advantage of. It's gorgeous but stylistically it can't rival the best series from the last 15 years. Then again GRRM's style is not brilliant either. BTW the issues you listed are why I respect a good adaptation as much as I do well-written original work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Greg of House House Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 The books are way, way better. D&D are making some questionable decisions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LyrnaSnowBunnyAvenger Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 No question about it - absolutely the books. The show, while good, has so many (understandable) limitations. If there were no books, just show (perish the thought), I don't think it would have such a huge fan base to the point that so many of us come here every single day to discuss every minute detail to death. I know that there is a huge show-only fan base but I don't know any of them, so I can't put this theory to test. I just don't see them being quite as obsessed as to anlayze every single line or word spoken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sj4iy Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 It's not often I say this, but I give the edge to the show, tbh. I love the detail of the books, but I really love the world in the show. And honestly, I probably only like about 2/3rds of the books...I get bored with the other 1/3rd. I love nearly 100% of the show, even the changes they make. I can't think of any change that I disliked. I get more and more excited about each episode, and it only gets better. I want to read the next two books, but I can't wait to see it even more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasta11 Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 De gustibus non disputandum est. I like both. I like the show because of its great scenes. And I like the books because of their details. Yeah, that sums it up quite nicely. The shows does big moments very well (Red Wedding, Nedless Stark, the Blackwater), sometimes even better than in the books, and is also great at conversations between two characters. But it slips up when it comes to details (stupid stuff like the Karstarks being half of Robb's forces) and sometimes the made-for-TV scenes just don't work very well. In the end, both complement each other just fine I think. I still have a preference for the books, but it doesn't make me hate the show; by and large it's an excellent adaptation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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