A Song of Ice & Fire series

[zorua9]

bumping.... mwahaha.....

 

I just got the first book in the series... game of thrones, how different is the book to tv series?

[hesitantalien]

bumping.... mwahaha.....

 

I just got the first book in the series... game of thrones, how different is the book to tv series?

the first book and the first season of the show are pretty much the same, but there are really big plot differences coming later

[gamingbooknerd]

I have loved this series for many many years! It is one of my favorites of all time! Great characters and descriptions, no fear of killing off characters or putting very shady characters in, a very vibrant world, etc.

I would also recommend Bernard Cornwell. He will not be in the same section, but his books are amazing.

[gamingbooknerd]

bumping.... mwahaha.....

 

I just got the first book in the series... game of thrones, how different is the book to tv series?

As said previously, the first book and series are pretty much the same. The 2nd book and series is where they start to differ from each other. The gap between the two of them is so wide right now it is insane. I would recommend starting with book two unless you are ok with reading everything you watched.

[gamingbooknerd]

BAHAHAHAHAHA, you're talking to a person who /hates/ happy and predictable endings. It's got me more intrigued than wanting to drop the series. He can do whatever he wants to the Starks and more, and I'll keep reading. As long as he doesn't go through and murder every single one of my favorite characters he'll still have me.

I like the fact that he is not afraid to kill off major characters. It makes his series that much better and less predictable.

[m_overdone]

I like the fact that he is not afraid to kill off major characters. It makes his series that much better and less predictable.

I'm the same way - while I do enjoy the occasional "good guys get a happy ending" story, I usually prefer to not be able to predict what's going to happen based on whether I can see a cliche building up. I have started to get pretty good at predicting which of George R.R. Martin's "death cliffhangers" in Song of Ice and Fire are going to be actual deaths and which ones are fakeouts, though. (He has a particular style of writing that has certain "tells" when he writes a passage that's meant to make you think that somebody's dead when they actually just got injured or knocked out or something.) Though in this case, I actually kind of find it fun to try to figure it out based on the little things in Martin's writing. For the most part, it's not like the eyeroll-worthy, "I have seen a million sappy movies/books do this before" cliche stuff.

[m_overdone]

That said, there are two things that bug me a bit about the Song of Ice and Fire books. One is kinda nitpick-y - I'm a grammar geek, so Martin's love affair with commas drives me crazy. So many overly long run-on sentences from him using commas where he should have used periods. The other thing that bugs me is that, while Martin does a great job of including interesting women who are strong not just in the physical sense, he doesn't seem to understand how to write from a female perspective. There's often something that just feels a little... off, almost stilted at times. And like... it ain't that hard. Women authors write from a male perspective all the time and make it feel natural (the Harry Potter series - while it may have other flaws - comes to mind as a good example in this instance). But Martin can't seem to quite fully grasp how to write from a woman's perspective.

 

Don't get me wrong, though - I absolutely love the series, and I love how complicated all the characters are. (I especially love how Martin will show a sympathetic side for even the most awful-seeming characters in the books. e.g. Despite his difficulty with writing women, I loved what he did with Cersei in that respect.)

[purplenewt]

One of the things I love most about this series is how REAL it is, in terms of medieval war and such. I know a bunch of people who would otherwise never pick up a fantasy novel but they will read GRRM. I mean, this is war, a lot of people are going to die, and a lot of time for no good reason; they just happened to have been at the wrong place at the wrong time. But I respectfully disagree about the women in the series. I thought he did a well enough job of it. There are a good deal of strong female characters, and we must not forget this story is medieval fantasy...in real life many women would have been treated the way they do in his books. So I don't take offense, as a woman, when I read about the rape and sexist comments said (with the exception of when Cersei--cough--engages in nightly activity with one of her female subjects...that was a little too weird, and, since it's in the book it must be cannon, it did not help make me like her at all). Now, I might have been put off if he wrote these scenes and never had any strong female leads, because we see in our own world history some women who stood out, defied their womanly roles. In particular, Joan of Arc comes to mind. My only problem are the POV characters with only one chapter and then dies. Like, really? Once in a blue moon, and only when it is really necessary, would I be okay with that. But it just seems like FFC and DWD especially are chock full of those chapters. Honestly I would have to go on another reread to pick out any examples. There are so many characters to keep track of, lol.

 

Also, the way he writes is so incredibly detailed...I just love it. I know some people were put off by the excess in detail, but I rather enjoyed the scenery. It helps me to really feel like I'm there. I also love how "real" he makes the dragons seem, like they actually do exist alongside lions, wolves, and bears. All fearsome creatures, but the beast that blows fire most definitely would be king.

 

What annoys me most is how much longer we have to wait for Winds of Winter to come out. I am so glad I only just discovered this series a year ago. I could have been a fan since Game of Thrones in the 90's. Imagine having to wait so long in between books. Granted, they are huge thick books. And he wants to make sure he has everything right; that's the perfectionist side of authors. I know you can't rush a work of art...but...take your time, hurry up.

[andromedae]

I just read the first book and it was great! Unfortunately, I can't find the second book at the library, and I ended up finding out it's been checked out for a while 

[OutlawQueen]

I've been wanting to read this series for a while but the earliest book I've been able to get my hands on is the 2nd. For all middle grade and most ya I have no problems starting on the second in a series because I find it's not to hard to get the story since it's not usually developed too much. I was wondering if it's a good idea for this series. Can anyone let me know what they think?And also if it's like Symphony of Ages series, since that one is very nice to readers who read it our of order even though it's high fantasy.

[rubina96]

I read the books and I'm desperately waiting for the next ones because the last two seasons disappointed me a bit.

So I want to read about flashbacks of Eddard Stark, my beloved character, the most beautiful character ever! Unfortunately the series is going to be too different from the books, so my question is: how could they end in the same way?

[zorua9]

@rubina96 I think the author (GRRM) said that the ending is going to be "bitter sweet" and since he has shared his planned ending just in case he passes away I don't doubt that the show and the books will have similar endings (with some major and minor differences), this why instead of jenne pool at winterfell you have sansa instead (shhhh, I haven't gotten that fair in the books yet).

[rubina96]

yes I heard what Martin said but I'm a bit worried because I don't like so much how the series is going on  while the books are wonderful, expecially when they talk about  EDDARD 

[StormWizard212]

I abandoned the series a few years ago and haven't managed to get around to finishing it off yet. I got about a third of the way through 'A Feast for Crows' but got sick of waiting for the characters I wanted to read about to surface. I eventually got distracted and started reading other things. I can't remember now what had been happening so it's difficult to start again.

 

Does anyone know if there's a good chapter-by-chapter summary on the internet that could refresh my memory with specific details from the chapters I've read, without spoiling the rest?

[St0rmbringer]

Re-reading for the first time in years and honestly? The show diverged so far as to be blatantly insulting.  I understand why the rights gave them well, the rights, to continue past the books but they really shouldn’t have.  You can tell when they stopped having GRRM’s political wit to lean on and everyone starting making nonsensical decisions as a result.

 

Pretty much every main character got character-assassinated.  I’m pretty sure he intends several things to be different than the show based on things he’s said about certain main characters in the past and that he mentioned “watching the show to find out what happened like everyone else” towards the end.  I took an important note from that mess: never sell your rights for adaptation until you’ve finished writing it, lol.