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Should I read the book?


leahpea

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I loved this show so much that I want more. I want to read Game of Thrones but I'm worried it will spoil the story of the show. With True Blood, they put things in the show in a different order from the books so I knew things already and the plot twists were ruined. I don't want that to happen with GoT. Does anyone know enough about the book to help with this? Thanks.

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if you do not want plot twists to be ruined for the TV show -- if this is your primary motivation for asking this question -- then don't read the entire book series. The show follows the books pretty faithfully, and at least with the major narrative points, will likely continue to do so. Thus, reading past AGOT will most definitely ruin your experience of later seasons of the TV show.

All of that said, you could probably read the book A Game of Thrones to compare it to the TV show (and how each handles characters, conflicts, etc), and not have any major plot points for next season be spoiled.**

**I'm happy to be corrected by those who remember the books more clearly if I've forgotten something crucial that happens in AGOT that was moved to S2. :)

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I loved this show so much that I want more. I want to read Game of Thrones but I'm worried it will spoil the story of the show. With True Blood, they put things in the show in a different order from the books so I knew things already and the plot twists were ruined. I don't want that to happen with GoT. Does anyone know enough about the book to help with this? Thanks.

The people on this forum know the books back to front. :)

In general they've stuck very closely to the events and the order of the book. The main difference I suppose is that there's a lot more room in the book to reveal information, that they just don't have time to put into the TV show. So if you read the book you'll learn a lot more about the backstory, some of which they'll probably reveal in future seasons of the show as and when it becomes important. There are also a few characters that appear in the first book but have been pushed back to the second season of the show; mainly the rest of the Tullys, and several of the Northern lords.

On the other hand, you already know more about some of the characters from watching the show than you would learn from reading the book. Since Martin uses a strict point of view structure, the impressions you get of most characters are based on how the current POV character feels about them, and the show runners had to use information from later books to show us what those characters are actually like.

Plot twists won't be ruined for you, but if you're a perceptive reader you might pick up on some of the hints. Most of Martin's twists have some form of foreshadowing in the text if you look closely. Of course the main 'danger' is that you can't stop reading, and pick up the second book too. Not really a danger if you ask me, I think it's far more powerful to first experience the story from the novels than it is from the show.

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If you can't get enough of westeros you can try seeking the "Dunk & Egg" stories, there are 3 of these, The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword and the Mystery Knight, these are set about 90 years before the main book series and the TV Show and are more lighthearted but are as good a read as any in the fantasy genre they have small connections with the main series but nothing that would spoil your fun watching the tv show. The first two stories are also available in graphic novel format and have some independent fandom for being rare examples of quality American Comic Books not related to superheroes, although those I understand have gotten expensive after being out of print for some time, maybe there'll be a new print now that the TV show has gained them some notoriety.

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I loved this show so much that I want more. I want to read Game of Thrones but I'm worried it will spoil the story of the show. With True Blood, they put things in the show in a different order from the books so I knew things already and the plot twists were ruined. I don't want that to happen with GoT. Does anyone know enough about the book to help with this? Thanks.

Yes, you can read A Game of Thrones without being spoiled, just don't touch the rest of the series.

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Can't wait a whole year to find out what happens so I've already started reading the first book, and the second book arrived in the post today so I'll be starting that some time this week

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The books are much better than the series, that althrough good, isnt a masterpiece, unlike the books which are.

They are quite interesting also because they are very subtle. As said GRRM will give you very important information but it wont look so because the character´s POV which you´re reading doesnt regard the information as important. Your perception of the characters in part will depend on the POV perceptions. Once you start to read other POV and the other books you realize many things you considered to be true were just biased perceptions.

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I don't think you'd be spoiled by anything in the first book after seeing the first season. You might be a little surprised by the different take the series has on some of the book's characters, but there really weren't any radical changes from the book to series.

The main thing you'd be picking up are all the little details they simply didn't have time to talk about in the series.

As a very minor example, which shouldn't spoil anything for anyone, but which I'll put spoiler tags around anyway, just in case...

Jory (Ned's late captain of the guard) and Ser Rodrik (Cat's traveling companion to King's Landing and the Eyrie) are related. Rodrik is Jory's uncle. Jory's father, Martyn, was Rodrick's older brother. Martyn died serving Ned during the war against the Mad King.

Also, I'd second tracking down the three Dunk and Egg stories. No spoilers but full on Westeros, especially for giving you some nice details on the Targaryens in the years prior to the Mad King.

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I just don't see how someone could read the first book and then wait a year to find out what happens next. So if you're going to read the first book you'll probably read them all.

The next two books in my opinion are the best of the series so you're in for a treat. We don't know for sure if HBO will continue into Season 3, 4 and so on. We also don't know if their adaptation of future novels will be as well done as this season's.

Lastly it seems as though HBO may not include battles in the series and I think GRRM's description of battles is quite well done. In the TV series for example it wasn't obvious at first what had happened in that battle.

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The show is extremely faithful to the books - practically scene-for-scene - so read the first book at least. It won't spoil anything.

I'd also recommend reading the rest, to inoculate yourself against spoilers. If you hang out on sites like this where people discuss the books you will inevitably click the wrong thing and get spoiled. If you read all the books, it will make the twists in the TV series less surprising, but at least you will have experienced them in the story rather than revealed by some careless blogger or poster.

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I just don't see how someone could read the first book and then wait a year to find out what happens next.

We have been waiting for five and a half years for the fifth book, which is really the second half of the fourth book, which we waited, something like four or five years for.

Welcome to the heart-ache, leahpea.

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Reading even halfway through the second book will cause major spoilers...so if you're determined not to be spoiled just read GOT & the Dunk & Egg stories, as others have suggested.

That said, the books themselves are spectacular. They are, in my opinion, vastly superior to the (very well done) show. You're going to find out the plot one day anyway, why not find out reading the books? It won't spoil the show for you. I read all of the books long before the show was even announced but I still enjoy watching the TV show. It shows a different perspective of how things look, how lines are delivered, etc.

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Take my advice, if you want the full emotional roller coaster (especially for the *SPOILER*), READ THE BOOKS!!

Um, you might want to edit that spoiler out. Not that it spoils much on its own, fortunately.

But this my entire point really. Spoilers are inevitably dropped in a place like this, so best read the books before every twist is ruined by online chitchat.

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We have been waiting for five and a half years for the fifth book, which is really the second half of the fourth book, which we waited, something like four or five years for.

Welcome to the heart-ache, leahpea.

Yes but if the fifth book was available five years ago would have been able to wait? That is my point if you read the first book and the other books are readily available they might be impossible to resist.

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Honestly if you're going to read both the books and watch the show then I think the worst way to do it is to watch one season, read the corresponding book, then watch the next season, read the corresponding book, etc. That will be very disconnected and probably hard to keep straight (minor details, etc.). Also, it will work through season 2 but after that it looks like they will split book three into two seasons. What would you do then - read half the book? And then after that, things get even further muddled as books 4 and 5 occur CONCURRENTLY, but in different locations, and they've already said that the show won't be split like that. So it will just be a huge mess if anyone tries to read the "corresponding" book that goes with the season.

For those that don't know, Larry Williams said at the end of his last review that he'll be reading book 1 and then doing a video comparing it to the show. The implication is that he'll be waiting for season 2 before he starts A Clash of Kings. Here's to hoping that he can't wait.

Anyway, regardless of which you do first, you're going to be spoiled for the other medium, since the tv show is overall very faithful to the books. If you read the books first and then watch the show, you'll be spoiled for the show, and if you watch the show first you'll be spoiled for the books. Obviously a strong part of fiction (perhaps the strongest part) is not knowing what will happen next. So whichever medium you do second will of necessity be a lesser experience than if you did it first. The difference is, however, that books require a significantly longer investment of time, so reading them second will most likely feel more "boring" and more like a "duty" then watching the show second. It's for this reason that I never re-read books, though at times I go back and re-read certain scenes or sections. But I don't have a problem watching movies again, since it's only two/three hours of my life anyway. And watching the show second wasn't boring because of that either; in fact I've watched each episode several times. So IMO if you're going to read the books at all, they should be done first.

So, if you're a new viewer who has only watched season 1 and wants more I'd say you have two valid choices:

1) Exercise willpower and just stay away from the books entirely, only watching the show (assuming it has its full run and doesn't get cancelled).

OR

2) Grab book 1 right now and read them ALL before you watch season 2, perhaps watching season 1 again when it comes out on DVD/Bluray. Book one may feel boring but after that things should heat up considerably.

That's my two cents, hope it's helped some of you make a decision.

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In the very least you'll get a better understanding of the causes behind King Bob's rebellion.

I'm actually an advocate of reading the whole series. I'd personally rather have the TV show twists and surprises known ahead of time because I'd read the books, than have the book twists and surprises spoiled because I'd watched the TV show.

Books >>>>>>> TV show, so why diminish the impact of the superior by first being exposed to the inferior? TV show is great, but books are the awesome.

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I loved this show so much that I want more. I want to read Game of Thrones but I'm worried it will spoil the story of the show.

I would be more worried about the show spoiling the story of the books, but I enjoy reading books more than watching shows, and I think the ASoIaF books are much better than the show.

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The books are indeed superior to the show, if only because they are the original story (and because GRRM is a helluva writer).

The show is also gloriously well-done, and I think you'll have a better appreciation of just how well-done the show is if you read the books and familiarize yourself with the story in its entirety before you see the adaptation thereof.

By itself, the show is great. As an adaptation of the most phenomenally addictive literature I have ever read in my life, it's even better. Don't short yourself the experience. Allow yourself the double-joy of loving the books, and loving the series even moreso because of what it does with them.

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