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What age should you be to begin reading ASoIaF?


Visenya's Sword

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If she is mature for her age and a good reader, then why not? You do need to be both of them to read these books.

If she understands the context of the books and the themes, and can be mature about it, yes. allow her to read the first book, or parts of it and see how she gets on. if she seems fine reading the first book, let her read more.

Edit: went slightly off topic :-/

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The only risk is that she doesn't fully appreciate the books. If so, she will probably stop reading and maybe return to it when she's older. And she can always re-read it in the future.



I can't see how ASoIaF could be bad to her in any way. There's violence and (weird) sex, but a 13 year old knows violence and sex exist in the world. Bad stuff usually have consequences. It's not like it idealizes stuff that could hurt teenagers (like irresponsibly using drugs etc).


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Agree so far with what the other posters said, but I'll add a caveat...how comfortable are you with discussing some of the more disturbing elements of the books if she asks you about them?



Another thing...you may recommend she wait until she is a little bit older, but if you do explain clearly why you think so. The last thing you want to tell a 13 y/o is an outright no, but if you explain that even some adults aren't really ready, she may understand.



ETA: Great suggestions above, and sometimes we don't give kids enough credit for how smart they are. She may also start on them and decide to come back later on her own. I guess bottom line is, let her trust her own judgement on them. I remember first reading Toni Morrison's Beloved when I was her age and found it very disturbing at the time. I finally picked it up again in college and glad I did.


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I agree that 13 is fine if she is an advanced reader. I was reading very adult material at that age. Mephisto Waltz comes to mind. I was reading James A Michener at 10 and 11 and graduated to Herbert and Heinlein shortly after (no one is a dirtier old man than RAH)...incidentally, I'm female, so I can relate. Also, I agree...if you forbid it, it will just make it more desireable.


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I would think so, but it's ultimately a decision you must come to for your own reasons. I don't want to step on your own judgment, as you know your sister and how she might handle the books better than any of us. Trust your gut.



One really big advantage, I would say, if you do let her start reading them, is that you would be able to discuss some of the more mature concepts with her and help her understand them in a mature, unproblematic way, since you will know what she is getting into and what material is included in the books. In that way, at least she would be getting exposed to these mature concepts in a (relatively) controlled manner, which is more than can be said of how some people get exposed to concepts and material included in the books during the course of normal development. But there are obviously other ways of achieving this, too, outside of letting her read ASOIAF. The books would really just become a tool specific to you and her, in this context. If that makes sense!


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IMO it's fine. Not only that, it's great.



I"m speaking from experience, I was always super advanced reader. At 13 you will not get a lot of things, something flies above your head, things happen. So if you read it at 13 you will have different and fuller experience when you read it again at say 16 or 25. And this is the series you read multiple times and always get something new.


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Frankly, I'd be more concerned about whether she is up for reading 5000+ pages than the maturity level.



[Later Edit] If she is the kind of voracious reader who can plow through 5000 pages at age 13 . . . then she has already read a lot, been exposed to a lot, and it's unlikely she will be shocked by anything she find in ASOIAF. All you have to do is open up your internet browser to find stuff that is both extremely shocking and real. Anything in a novel is tame by comparison to seeing, e.g., a real-life husband sawing his wife's head off on video because she had an affair.



That said, obviously there is a lot of stuff that is very intense for a number of reasons, so an older friend/sibling to discuss things with will definitely be a plus.


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It al depends on what kind of person your sister is. If she's mature enough, then let her. I was 13-14 when I started this series and I wasn't disturbed by it. If you still have doubts, than just tell her that whenever she has questions about things in the books, you are there to answer them.


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Just having a live person to talk to about the books will be great for both of you...I have to get my satisfaction from boards like these...the only actual folks I know who have heard of the asoiaf are 'show watchers' and that's no fun at all. (I'm still pissed about no ravens in the show) Being able to bounce ideas and theories off of each other could be a great learning experience.


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As others have said: Let her give it a go - if it's not her thing she'll probably loose interest soon :)


But Oh I envy you :) I wish my sister (age 14) would have even the smallest of interests in these books! But she still prefers the sparkling world of edward and bella *sighs* ..


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As others have said: Let her give it a go - if it's not her thing she'll probably loose interest soon :)

But Oh I envy you :) I wish my sister (age 14) would have even the smallest of interests in these books! But she still prefers the sparkling world of edward and bella *sighs* ..

If it helps... My little sister once suckerpunched me in the eye (she should be about 14) for making fun of Twilight. I actually got a black eye lol (actually she threw her purse at me and her cellphone hit me). Had to visit family during xmas and explain to everyone I met that I got beat up by my little sister.

Now she reads better stuff. She doesn't really care for ASoIaF, but she reads other good stuff now.

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