Books v TV series

[riffwraith]

Hi

For those, like me, who have never read any of the books....

1. How close to the book(s) is the TV series? Not talking about dialogue, but the story in general. Really close, or did the series deviate a bit? Is it like LOTR, where there is just so much material, a lot had to be left out, or is the series light by only a minimal amount?

2. Were all the books written before the series began? Or was GRRM writing books while the show was on the air?

3. As we haven't seen the ending of the series yet, this might be premature, but does anyone know if it will follow the book? If it does, then some of you know how everything ends, I would imagine?

[BlackLightning]

1. The TV series is pretty close (in some cases, it's better) than the books in the first four seasons. The series deviates quite a bit in the fifth season. After the fifth season, there are no more books to adapt (more on that later) so season six and seven are pretty much show-exclusive creations that are probably inspired by the notes they got from GRRM. Honestly, the showrunners could have created their own original stories AND included more material from the books if they wanted to. Unlike LOTR, GoT is a TV show that is adored by both the network execs, cast and crew and audiences. They literally had HBO wrapped around their finger. They could've demanded to make ten seasons and HBO would've said "Yes please! How much money will you need?!"
2. No. The last book that came out (book 5) came out the same year the show debuted. Ordinarily, that wouldn't have been a problem. JK Rowling was still writing the Harry Potter books when the first movie came out (she just finished book 4). But GRRM writes so slowly and likes to do a bunch of other barely-relevant things that the show ended up bypassing him. By a lot.
3. No, I think that the books and the show will have many things in common...but, in the end, the endings for both will be completely different. I can tell you this because books 4 and 5 of the series have introduced and developed some pretty big plotpoints and themes that the show has either ignored or side-stepped. Those things will end up having major impacts on how the series ends.

[T and A]

On 4/10/2019 at 1:38 AM, riffwraith said:

Hi

For those, like me, who have never read any of the books....

1. How close to the book(s) is the TV series? Not talking about dialogue, but the story in general. Really close, or did the series deviate a bit? Is it like LOTR, where there is just so much material, a lot had to be left out, or is the series light by only a minimal amount?

2. Were all the books written before the series began? Or was GRRM writing books while the show was on the air?

3. As we haven't seen the ending of the series yet, this might be premature, but does anyone know if it will follow the book? If it does, then some of you know how everything ends, I would imagine?

1. Season one was page by page the same as the book. Even most of the dialogues were straight from the books. Later until the end of season 3 some minor storylines were dropped, but in general it was the nearest adaption of its source material that I have ever watched. Season 4 begun diverging from the books. Season 5 had a lot of stuff that aren't in the books (yet) since it surpassed the books in some plotpoints. Season 6 and 7 are completely off-the-book territory. 

2. The book series is not finished yet. There are only five books out there. The last book ends up where Jon is killed by his brothers of the Nights Watch and Daenerys flees on the back of Drogon from Mereen. GRRM is a very slow writer to put it mildly. The last book came out just after Season 1 finished. He begun writing this story in 1991. 28 years later, still no end in sight. The upcomming book is meant to be called "The Winds of Winter". Alas, it is not very likely that any of us will ever see that book in a book store. 

3. As I mentioned before the books are not finished yet. We, who have read the books, are now just as smart as you are regarding the story. 

[Euron III Greyjoy]

On 4/10/2019 at 12:38 AM, riffwraith said:

Hi

For those, like me, who have never read any of the books....

1. How close to the book(s) is the TV series? Not talking about dialogue, but the story in general. Really close, or did the series deviate a bit? Is it like LOTR, where there is just so much material, a lot had to be left out, or is the series light by only a minimal amount?

2. Were all the books written before the series began? Or was GRRM writing books while the show was on the air?

3. As we haven't seen the ending of the series yet, this might be premature, but does anyone know if it will follow the book? If it does, then some of you know how everything ends, I would imagine?

1. Seasons 1-4 where pretty close to the books. There where still quite a few things different, but overall it wasn't anything too bad. Season 5 is where we start to see some major divergence, and then Seasons 6-7 just went completely their own way.
2. Book 1 came out 1996, Book 2 came out 1998, Book 3 came out 2000, Book 4 came out 2005, and Book 5 came out 2011. Books 1-4 came out before the show started, and Book 5 came out a month after the first Season ended. 
3. There might be some things that are at least similar, but I think there will probably be a significant difference between the book ending and the show ending. 

[riffwraith]

Thanks guys!