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How have you started reading the aSoIaF books?


Lady-Nymeria

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I know that this series of books are now well known by a lot of people, maybe because of the TV show, but I would like to know the way you came across them.



I, for example, hadn't even heard about them until this year. It was a teacher at school (he teaches "ethics" to students in our last year in high school), who had watched Game of Thrones and readed the first 2 books, who first recommended them to me. I then decided to buy them (because I love reading books), and really liked them. I started watching the show with my parents. A few weeks ago, my teacher found out that hardly any of his students had read "The Prince" by Machiavelo, as he had told us to do. He decided then: "If youdon't want to read "The Prince", don't read it. I have a better plan for this semester: we're going to watch Game of Thrones, and then you'll write and essay about it". So I watched the first season again in class, no matter how unfit for a classroom the show is.



So, how did you find about the series? Do you have a funny story to tell about it?


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I knew the series existed a few years ago and even had the first book but since my bookshelves are filled to the brim with books I haven't read it got lost pretty quick. After seeing the first couple of eps of the show the book series catapulted into my must-read list. Am in the middle of ASOS right now.


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It was so long ago that I first read AGOT that I don't even remember how I found it. Maybe around 2002? Probably just a random purchase at a book store.



I admit that I'm something of an embittered hipster in regards to the huge popularity that the series now enjoys. Kind of like having a favorite underground band suddenly go famous- I like them before they were cool!



For a decade the series was always my book suggestion to people that was sure to invoke pleasant surprise...but now literally everyone and their mother knows all about it.


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Interesting story, OP.


I didn't know of the books until GoT came out. A friend almost forced me to watch it, she was very excited and thrilled about it. Now my friend begs me not to spoil something for her :P



I don't mind if people watch only the series or just read the books or both. I always prompt them to do either or both, in this way I have more people to talk with for one of my.. addictions.


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I was also introduced to ASoIaF after watching the TV series. The only reason why the books are being translated to my native language is only because of the huge popularity of the show. I haven't seen any of the books in bookstores before the TV series aired.


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About 10 years ago, on a visit home, I asked my youngest brother for something to read on the train ride back. He thrust AGoT into my hands and said, "You've GOT to read this!!" On my way home, I read the Prologue and thought, "Ice zombies? Umm, yeah, but no." :dunno: Looking back, I think I just wasn't ready for the detailed description of Every. Single. Thing. To be fair, we were going through a major death in the family and little bro thought it would help cheer me. The whole zombie thing might have just too soon at that point.



The book sat on my shelf a couple of years until I returned it to him with the excuse that it hadn't caught my interest.



Fast forward to this past spring, when the Interwebs exploded over the Red Wedding. I don't have cable and rarely watch TV. When I do, it's what's available on Netfix. I didn't know exactly what the big deal was, but something told me that I might want to see what the noise was about. I was going to wait for the 1st season to show up on Netflix. I finally decided to go ahead and read the books while I waited.



I read all five books in less than a month. Then I nagged my son into reading. He just finished AGoT and is a quarter way through a ACoK and we've just started the DVDs of Season 1.



I am impatiently waiting for him to get to the RW!!! What kind of evil mother am I??? :devil:


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watched 1st 2 seasons of the TV series, then got the books and did them. season 3 was the 1st i watched while already mostly knowing what wd happen. i don't think i'd heard of the books before watching the show; but found out about them through searching web in desperate attempt to follow what was happening in the show.


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^ The best "how did I start reading" story I have seen yet!

Thanks, Sword in Flames! Part of me wishes I had read the book back then - but the way it happened, I ended up with 5 books to plow through and 3 seasons of shows to boot. I just read THK as well. Hopefully there's enough to hold me until TWoW comes out. I don't know how well I would have done waiting for years and years.

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I kept hearing things about the show from a few of my friends over the last year, but nothing too specific; just about how great they thought the show was. So once my Facebook news feed blew up after the Red Wedding episode this summer, and after I kept hearing about the large amount of decapitation and boobs contained within the show, I became curious. Right before I made the decision to start watching the show, though, I mentioned it to my roommate at the time, who is a big sci-fi/fantasy nerd. She was happy that I was interested in it, but made me promise to read the books before I began the show. I agreed, and I am so glad I did. Not only are they fantastic reads, but they reinvigorated my interest in reading in general, which had become rather dormant over the last few years.

I have begun the show recently, though. After I finished aSoS, I figured I'd be able to watch the show and avoid any major spoilers from aFfC (which I'm about halfway through now) and aDwD.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

My cousin had read the books, and recommended them to me. I'm not a big fantasy person aside from "Harry Potter", so I wasn't sure I would like ASoI&F, but I knew I loved it just a few chapters into the first book. I'm re-reading the series right now; my first time around was last year. It's amazing how much you get out of a re-read.


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Lots of people where talking about the TV series and this year I had a math teacher who was pushing me and another girl (we have the most easiest form of math in the Netherlands, so we're in a class with 3 people) to watch the series because he thought we'd enjoy it. Well we began watching and we really did, so all our classes we talked about the series. Also I have a really small history class (9 people) in which 5 people were watching or reading the series. So we talked about it very much in class and our teacher became interested and bought the boxset of the books, and because she's is reading it, it's the only thing we talk about in class. How bad is that...



I knew there were books before I started the series, but I knew they were big and because of school, I didn't have much time to read. However I began watching the series because of the recommendation of my math teather and my dad who had also watched the series. Two season in the series, I found the story so beautiful, that I asked the boxset for my birthday. I got them at the end of december and currently reading ADWD.



So basically I came to read them because of my math teacher, who currently asks me every lesson not to spoil anything (which is quite funny because I can blackmail him... Everytime he takes quite a long time on finishing checking our test I say something like: "If you haven't finished it tomorrow, I will tell you a huge spoiler from season 4.")


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