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Will you go back to the book series?


Sargon

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As someone who read the existing books in the ASOIaF series prior to watching the TV show on HBO, I enjoyed the books more than the TV series and always planned to finish the book series whenever (if) George R.R. Martin gets around to completing it.

After the past few seasons of the TV series, I'm not sure anymore.  So many plot points have diverted from the books that I can no longer separate the two.  I have lost track of where the books and movies differ and I feel like I no longer have the required background knowledge to continue reading the series.  Re-reading all the books would be one option, but I don't think I'm motivated enough to dedicate that amount of time to catching up.

Does anyone else feel this same way?  If so, are you planning to return to the book series, or has that ship already sailed?

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18 minutes ago, Sargon said:

As someone who read the existing books in the ASOIaF series prior to watching the TV show on HBO, I enjoyed the books more than the TV series and always planned to finish the book series whenever (if) George R.R. Martin gets around to completing it.

After the past few seasons of the TV series, I'm not sure anymore.  So many plot points have diverted from the books that I can no longer separate the two.  I have lost track of where the books and movies differ and I feel like I no longer have the required background knowledge to continue reading the series.  Re-reading all the books would be one option, but I don't think I'm motivated enough to dedicate that amount of time to catching up.

Does anyone else feel this same way?  If so, are you planning to return to the book series, or has that ship already sailed?

Well gee.  I saw the first episode before ever having read the book(s).  Will I go back to the books?!  

Dude, they're separate mediums.  The show is the show, the books are the books.  You talk about the deviations from the books by the show, but then say you don't know if you have the dedication to reread?!  Well, sounds like a personal problem.  

I myself am anxious for the books and even the final season of the show.  I will reread as needed, as a matter of fact, rereading now is even more enjoyable than reading them the first time because I know more about the subtelty in the text, as a result of this forum as well as others.  

I think it boils down to how interested are you?!  Do you want a synopsis at the end or do you want a broad and detailed insight as to who, what, when, where and why?!  You don't need to read the book for the former, but you will for the latter.  

 

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2 hours ago, Sargon said:

As someone who read the existing books in the ASOIaF series prior to watching the TV show on HBO, I enjoyed the books more than the TV series and always planned to finish the book series whenever (if) George R.R. Martin gets around to completing it.

After the past few seasons of the TV series, I'm not sure anymore.  So many plot points have diverted from the books that I can no longer separate the two.  I have lost track of where the books and movies differ and I feel like I no longer have the required background knowledge to continue reading the series.  Re-reading all the books would be one option, but I don't think I'm motivated enough to dedicate that amount of time to catching up.

Does anyone else feel this same way?  If so, are you planning to return to the book series, or has that ship already sailed?

I think if you're really struggling with the divergences and don't want to re-read all the books, you could just re-read Books 4 and 5.  That's really where all the divergences start.  If you're not motivated enough to do that, then I'd recommend just kind of trying to forget or at least compartmentalize everything that happened on the show the past 2 seasons as 95% of it is beyond the books and probably not based specifically on any future events in the books.  

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1 hour ago, The Fattest Leech said:

There is a show out there based on A Song of Ice and Fire???? Why hasn't anyone told me? Where is it? I have never seen it.

This is amazing news!!!

You know, I kind of hope this show is animated...I'd hate to see the CGI and production values needed to adapt this type of a story become a distraction, and take away from the brilliant writing found in the novels.

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I totally get where you're coming from @Sargon, I went through this right after I began watching the show 2 years ago.  I read the books first and really enjoyed seeing some of the characters come to life in the show.  Then they killed characters and I wondered why?   That's not part of the story.  Then the show stunned me in bringing Cersei's drinking water from the cell floor and Oberyn's head popping to glorious life.  When I began to quit trying to guess what should happen and just tried to enjoy what was happening, the whole experience got so much better.  I think a lot of book readers, that is folks who read the books before seeing the show, feel a little cheated on the surface.  Some of these people posting have been with ASOIAF since 1996, that's 22 years, my friend.   They've waited the long wait between books and read and analyzed and founded forums.  I agree they (we) deserve a better ending than what the show will offer.  But I want to see the spectacle that HBO will offer.   How will I know if this really is the end if I don't read (or listen to) the remaining books?  How will I know what I missed if I'm not here to discuss it with people?  I'm not going to bash the long wait or the show.   They are different mediums.   I honestly wish I hadn't watched the show because I mix things up in my head, like the Casterly Rock mines running dry and Arya's time with Tywin.   But I'm honest about it and most posters understand it's an easy thing to do.   @Tagganarosuggested a reread of AFFC & ADWD and I think that is the best advice you could get.  

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5 hours ago, Sargon said:

As someone who read the existing books in the ASOIaF series prior to watching the TV show on HBO, I enjoyed the books more than the TV series and always planned to finish the book series whenever (if) George R.R. Martin gets around to completing it.

After the past few seasons of the TV series, I'm not sure anymore.  So many plot points have diverted from the books that I can no longer separate the two.  I have lost track of where the books and movies differ and I feel like I no longer have the required background knowledge to continue reading the series.  Re-reading all the books would be one option, but I don't think I'm motivated enough to dedicate that amount of time to catching up.

Does anyone else feel this same way?  If so, are you planning to return to the book series, or has that ship already sailed?

The books are the real story.  From the man himself.  What you see on TV is fanfiction, what the creators think will get them the most viewers.  Don't get me wrong, I do watch.  But, I think of a show as something to hold me over until the books arrives.  Sort of like the funco pop, the T-shirts, and the merchandise of SoIaF.  It's just something for the aSoIaF hungry fans to consume while they wait for the next book.  It's not the real story and I'm not going to use what happens on the show to build a theory on.  It's an accessory, a pale knock-off of the real deal.  Absolutely, I will continue to read the books and everything else that Martin writes. 

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If WoW is released this year i will read it, if the tv show finishes before winds is released i wont, main reason being it proves (in ny mind at least) that grrm did not release winds on purpose so the tv show would finish first, been 7 years since the last book, no one writes that slow, and if it wasnt for fans of the books there would be bo tv show, grrm would not be a successful author etc and i think giving the show viewers preference is disrepectful to the fans of the books and a slap in the face really, this will likely be an unpopular stance on this site but its my opinion, 

 

 

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