A Song of Ice and Fire - Read book VS Watch Series

In my opinion, wait a few years and maybe (just maybe) RR Martin will finally finish the damn books. The last couple [television] seasons are pretty godawful and you can tell the HBO writers were given full responsibility over wrapping things up, no matter how hamfisted their attempts at doing so.

For example, in earlier seasons following the books, they used multiple episodes to show a character travelling over land from one city to the next. In the process, a great deal of character exposition and 'adventure' was had. In the last season, however, this travelling was done multiple times per episode in the blink of an eye simply to rush the story ahead and wrap things up for HBO bean counters.

Originally Posted by you
I don't have high hopes either but i do hope

Btw he is slow but not as slow as Rothfus (name of the wind author).

I would be very surprised if Rothfuss finishes the 3rd book in the Name of the Wind series within the next 5-7 years.

Honestly, I'm fine with an author taking their sweet time to get the tale just the way it should be. An excellent case in point would be the Passage novels, the first was excellent, some of the best fiction I've ever read. The second was weaker, and the third…..well, terrible would be an understatement. Take the time, get it right and accurate, don't let some bean counter/agent/publisher rush you and wreck your world.

I can recommend the ASOIAF audio books. The narrator for the first few novels is pretty awesome.

However, don't bother reading Name of the Wind. The protagonist is a huge Mary Sue, and the author is super pretentious.

Read the books first but do not read the last few. They are truly woeful. The television episodes are vastly better than those piles of turd. Literally 1,000 pages of Tyrion and co meandering down a river. A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords are amazing though. It is almost inconceivable just how bad the rest of the books are. It's like he is partially senile now and can't muster a coherent story together.

I think splitting up "A Feast for Crows" and "A Dance with Dragons" based on character chapters rather than time line was a most idiotic decision. I later re-read both books chapter by chapter in the proper chronological order and they were much more enjoyable.

Having said that, I would probably first watch the show and then read the books. The series merely scratches the surface of the entire story and is also quite different in certain aspects. As for the books, if you wait for George R R Martin to finish (if ever) the series before you read the rest, you will either a) have long forgotten what has happened in the show or b) be dead due to old age.

I've come to believe that his influence on the Fantasy Genre will be immense … No more will people expect the Fantasy Genre to behave like Tolkien's … But rather in an Heavy Metal fashion.

I bet he's so successful because he hits so well the current fashion, which I indeed call "the heavymetalization" of everything. In this case just of Fantasy.

When he's finished, the Fantasy genre of past will be a smoking wreck, and all people will consider more lightly Elves as "weak sissy basterds".

But there are no Elves in ASOIAF. And not many dwarfs.

Personally I think the HBO series exceeds the books one you get to Feast for Crows. Martin isn’t slow he is distracted. I highly doubt he will ever finish the series. That falls on HBO.

I remember reading Wheel of Time ages ago.
It started off good. In the first two books the protagonist accomplishes 3/4 of all the 'tasks' to save the world.

Then it devolves into everliving boredom. Every plot device imaginable to extend the story was used. I swear if someone important got 'kidnapped' by 'super awesome secret forces' one more time I would have burned the book. Especially Elayne (I think, its been a long time). Every time you turned around this character was in need of rescuing.

Long story short…. first couple books good… then bleh.

I'd have to agree with another poster to just read the first three books, they were fantastic. The third book has the most satisfying conclusion. I couldn't get into the 4th book, and by then I was taken by the series, which has now gone beyond the current books, and plus I read bad reviews of books 4 and 5. Didn't seem like a good use of my time.

Reading the (first three) books gives a strong advantage of knowing who all the characters are more easily. The show is considerably less confusing as a result.

I didn't find the last two books that bad; infact I found them quite good. I didn't love the split based on character but it was ok. I think he said it was not his best idea and he wouldn't do it again. Then again the character develeopment in the last two books was quite rich.

Originally Posted by abharsair
I think splitting up "A Feast for Crows" and "A Dance with Dragons" based on character chapters rather than time line was a most idiotic decision. I later re-read both books chapter by chapter in the proper chronological order and they were much more enjoyable.

Is there somewhere I can download this?

Originally Posted by Dilvish
Is there somewhere I can download this?

There's quite a few guides on how to alternate between both books (for example here). Some of those guides are more chronological, whereas others shuffle the chapters a bit to preserve mysteries.

I wouldn't bother alternating between the books just read them straight.

Originally Posted by abharsair
There's quite a few guides on how to alternate between both books (for example here). Some of those guides are more chronological, whereas others shuffle the chapters a bit to preserve mysteries.

Oh Wheel of Time… so much promise. I couldn’t even get through book 4. Yes very much like what Martin was pulling in the last few books.

Books 1-3 are ace of ASoIaF are ace (Clash of Kings is definitely in my top 5), books 4-5 are less so, and have somewhat superfluous plot lines that go absolutely nowhere.
Season 1 of the show followed the books pretty well actually, after that less so with each subsequent season.

Originally Posted by ToddMcF2002
Oh Wheel of Time… so much promise. I couldn’t even get through book 4. Yes very much like what Martin was pulling in the last few books.

My advice would be to pull-through, it is some tough parts, but when you've read through all the books, you'll be happy you did. Still unsurpassed in my opinion. I especially love how there are some very unexpected twists and turns.

Originally Posted by GothicGothicness
My advice would be to pull-through, it is some tough parts, but when you've read through all the books, you'll be happy you did. Still unsurpassed in my opinion. I especially love how there are some very unexpected twists and turns.

I'm currently listening to them on Audio Book, I'm on book 11. The series has been my "current" audio book for the last two years or so (I mostly listen when running or doing chores). I think they're pretty great, don't quite understand it when people bash the later books.

Originally Posted by TomRon
I'm currently listening to them on Audio Book, I'm on book 11. The series has been my "current" audio book for the last two years or so (I mostly listen when running or doing chores). I think they're pretty great, don't quite understand it when people bash the later books.

Did you change your username ?

There are some parts of the later books which are really slow, even me admit that even if I am a huge fan of the series. I guess those parts are a couple of 100 pages, and many people give up when they come to those, and doesn't get back to the good stuff. Another reason some people give up is that they don't understand the importance of some events which appear trivial at first.