roninmedia Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 While I am working, I am allowed to listened to audio on a portable device. As I'm not particularly the biggest fan of music, I decided to go with audiobooks. I ended up picking a few long audiobooks for series I had not yet read. One of the series I listened to in it's entirety was A Song of Ice and Fire include the Tales of Dunk and Egg, It is >200 hours worth of material and I only listened to during my work shift so it was over several months. I finished the audiobooks before Season 4 of the TV show and did a re-listen early this year. Should I finally read the books? Has anyone found the reading experience a little dulled since you spent so much time with the audiobooks? Contemplating getting some of the books, but the redundancy in time/spending are some concerns to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddy of the Godswood Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 You can pick up a lot more through visual focused concentration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparrow spoiler Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 I would read them. Audiobooks are great. But, you can daydream or get distracted while listening especially if you were working while listening. Read them, you wont regret it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James of the Blackwater Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 Having read the series and listened to the audiobooks, and read the books and listened to the audiobooks at the same time, I enjoyed just reading it the best, nothing against Roy Dotrice, but some of his pronunciations just bugged me, like Pee-tire for Petyr, Bry-eene for Brienne and his Missandei voice and Varys voice were just weird. The Audiobooks however are great in some chapters, I loved Roy Dotrice in Tyrions trial by combat between the Mountain and the Viper was awesome, "ELLLLLLLLLLLLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" You may pick things up more in a pure re-read, and do recommend it, plus you can read at a faster pace than the audiobooks which were pretty slow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
40 Thousand Skeletons Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 I would say: 1. Rereading the books is a thoroughly enjoyable experience every time, especially if you take some time to read up on some of the major theories on this forum first. 2. I have read the series a few times and listened all the way through once at work over the course of a few months. Reading is definitely better than listening, and you notice way more things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Lannister Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 Do what you want. The medium in which you get the material seems secondary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaIsAWheel Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 Having read the series and listened to the audiobooks, and read the books and listened to the audiobooks at the same time, I enjoyed just reading it the best, nothing against Roy Dotrice, but some of his pronunciations just bugged me, like Pee-tire for Petyr, Bry-eene for Brienne and his Missandei voice and Varys voice were just weird. The Audiobooks however are great in some chapters, I loved Roy Dotrice in Tyrions trial by combat between the Mountain and the Viper was awesome, "ELLLLLLLLLLLLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" You may pick things up more in a pure re-read, and do recommend it, plus you can read at a faster pace than the audiobooks which were pretty slow. I hate when he does Tyrion. He sounds like a freaking leprechaun. But yea, read the books. You won't regret it. Audiobooks are cool but think of how much more into the story you will be when actually reading the books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James of the Blackwater Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 I hate when he does Tyrion. He sounds like a freaking leprechaun. But yea, read the books. You won't regret it. Audiobooks are cool but think of how much more into the story you will be when actually reading the books. For some reason his Missandei sounds like an old Chinese guy, his Varys sounds like he has peanut butter stuck in his mouth, oh and can't forget his Melisandre, she has the deepest voice of all of his characters for some reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walda Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I would read them. Audiobooks are great. But, you can daydream or get distracted while listening especially if you were working while listening. Read them, you wont regret it!! This. Especially if some aspect of season 4 took you completely by surprise. If season 5 surprised, you can probably blame the showrunners. Whether you read or listen, with a continuous narrative, you miss out on things you would pick up on if you were following a single character's arc, or searching for green/blue/black references, or things that happened in the false spring, or tunnel layouts or whatever. Reading and writing to the topics in this forum, having a pet theory to prove, or a strong desire to disprove someone else's pet theory, can be really helpful that way. At the moment, I am doing a very slow read through the books, taking notes. On average, I'm making between seventy and a hundred and twenty observations per chapter, and I'm pretty sure I'm only picking up about half of what George is putting down. He is always working at least two things at once, always. For eg. the prologue of DwD: Explaining how wargs work, and what happened to the Wildlings after the battle on the wall, and Varamyr's life story, the trade between Wildlings and Night's watch at Eastwatch, confirmation that Melisandre's fire magic killed Orell's eagle, a bit about Jon Snow, a glimpse of the Reeds (but not Coldhands). the layout of the village that they later go to, and a bit about the wolf-pack Bran inherits... Maybe a quarter of it, I could pick up from listening to audio, but there is a lot of cross-referencing, and a fair bit is blink-and-you'll-miss-it stuff that you really have to be actively searching for. You'd have to be a better listener than me to pick up even half that from the audio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desire Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Yes. The voices are good but when you read you make your own connection to the characters how they look how they sound etc. Though the Dunk and Egg stories I find better on audio because of the length If I read just the books I find I finish quickly and its like aw.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cladinator Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I read them first then listened. Both will reveal parts of the story that you didn't catch the first time around. I say go for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grail King Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I read the books first, then listen to the cd's and lastly listen as I read, I say go with what you feel is best for you; as for me I like seeing the words in front of me, with some voices in my ears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LC Dolorous Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Yes, you simply get more from reading - a general rule, but especially true with asoiaf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackMaria Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I started as a show watcher, then listened to the audio books, and now I'm reading the books. This has been nice because you get more detail with each medium. As someone mentioned before your mind can wander as you listen (especially if you are doing other things, like working) so sitting down and focusing on the reading helps pick up little pieces you may have missed while listening. I would suggest an e-book version so you can do things like hi-lite and make notes. This has helped tremendously with keeping things straight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byfort of Corfe Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I enjoy reading so I'm biased towards books but really it all depends on you. I would ask though if the audio books are abridged? If so you may have missed things that you would have enjoyed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daendrew Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I listened to it 3x. Amazed evey time. But only picked up the subtlest clues by reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wavey Sauce Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Hate the audio books. The guy makes me cringe. Does not know how to pronounce anything right. Like how he calls Brienne....... "BrEEEn" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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