Should I watch the Game of Thrones show first or read the books

Do you read a lot of books? Are you a book reader type of person? If so maybe start with the books? If not the show?
You could always read the book first, then watch the first season (or the other way around) and depending on what you liked better then you could continue on that way.

I've always been a fan of watching the movie/show of a thing first and then reading the book. I feel like (with a good movie) I get my maximum emotional appeal out of the film experience and the book is a great "but also THIS was happening too." But that's just how my brain works.

I also hear tell the later season of the show diverged enough from the books they aren't exactly the same anymore.

There are much, much better books to spend your time with. A Game of Thrones is pretty good but each book gets progressively worse. Just watch the show.

I watched the first two seasons first (had never heard of the books) then read them all immediately and finished up to book 5 before season 3 aired. I really liked reading first and seeing how the show differs - still like the show too. I was trying to wait to read Winds before watching this past season but I couldn't wait. Because the show is diverging I'm still super pumped for the book.

I suggest doing both if you have the time/interest.

If you do both, probably books first. In the show, there are SO MANY CHARACTERS. If I didn't have my book friends to help me through, I would've been so lost. I honestly had my messenger open as I watched episodes until maybe season 3 (and even then, I had questions).

At the very least, might be worth reading the first one to learn the main players and the world.

I'd definitely read through the books first.

For me reading first is always better. I'm way too far into the show now to start reading the books though, and considering that the storylines are diverging anyway it's moot point by now.

I say the books, at least up to 3. After the third book the quality dips a lot.

Nailed it

@hunkulese: The show gets really bad in the later seasons too. The OC characters are straight out of Xena the Warrior Princess and the CGI likewise. That and the books' problem of going from character actions dictating the plot to plot dictating character actions still exists. The show also suffers much more strongly from important characters dying than the books.

I'd much rather recommend reading the books and entirely skipping the show than vice versa.

I'd say be honest with yourself about if you actually intend to read the books, it's a huge time commitment. If you enjoy reading absolutely go with the books first. If you have a job/activity that permits it I also highly recommend the audio-books as well, they're very well narrated.

If you know in your heart of hearts that you're going to have a hard time sitting around and dedicating that many hours to reading the books then just hop into the show.

I don't think it matters really, but it can be a little harder to commit to the books if you already know what's going on

Matter of opinion. The show has never reached the nuance of character or depth that the books have; granted it is a different beast. But they've changed so much in the show and hardly ever for the better, or even to make it more interesting. Also the thrid book is generally considered the high point of the series so far so don't know what you mean about progressively worse (and for the record i quite enjoyed the last book, but i do agree when/if GRRM ever gets around to releasing a new one he needs to start getting things moving a bit faster).

All things said first season was a really well done adaptation; sad things kinda fell apart after that.

But the show also progressively gets worse, and there are MANY other great shows out there to invest your time in.

I'd say read the books, maybe dont even bother with the show? It's quality dipped much quicker than the books imo, and in terms of book quality the only low point was Feast for Crows and that's down to the piss poor decision of putting all the fan favourite characters pov chapters into book 5.

I've watched the shows first then I started reading the books. I find that when I do this I get to appreciate the lore more, as it feels like the book expands on things that the shows can't, it makes the experience a whole lot richer.

The problem with the books is that George R Martin is a pretty slow writer. It has taken him longer each time to write the next book than the previous one. All in all about 15 years have passed since he started this series. Think he was supposed to finish the series with 7 books but i think he has said that it will take 3 more books after his latest one to finish the series. If this is correct it would mean that it will take at least 6 more years for him to finish the series. There might also be a chance that Martin might not be able to finish the series as he is 67 years old at the moment.

The tv series on the other hand will probably finish in about 3 more years or so. HBO has kinda implied the they would like to have more seasons but hopefully the creators of the tv series wont stretch it out. So I would recommend watching the tv series if you want to finish the story in a reasonable amount of time. You can also read the books but in that case be prepared for the long haul. There is another long fantasy series called wheel of time. All in all it took about 20 years to finish and the original writer (Robert Jordan) passed away after which another writer finished the series.

That is probably the reason why I havent read the books and have only watchted the tv series. The benefit of that is that my impressions of the tv series arent coloured by the books so I am not nearly as disappointed with the plotlines as some people have been (for example the books have far more characters than the tv series has but due to budget constrictions you cant have that many cast members in a tv series). I might read the books myself after the tv series has ended so i can get a bit more depth into the characters and the history of the world.

You people picking show first have obviously never read the book something was based on after watching its adaptation. Would you really want to read the Game of Thrones books with the actors who played those characters constantly popping up in your head instead of starting from scratch and imagining what they look like, imaging the world based on the descriptions, enjoying the world in your imagination rather than remembering scenes you watched?

If you want to read the books, do not watch the show first.

The show is great, but the books are better.

Always read the books first in this kind of situation. Always.

Just watch the show, they trim the fat of the books nicely. GRRM tells a great story but isn't such a great writer, I actually find his writing style annoying and dull at the same time.

I would say the three first books are better than the respective seasons, but that ain't true of the latter ones (the latest 2 books are rather mediocre, while the seasons are pretty good at summarizing stuff).

I read each book before each season, and it didn't work out. My advice would be to stick to one (perhaps the series), since they don't match one to one, and it is easy to get one spoiled by the other...

The show is amazing. Never read the books. What do you enjoy more, reading or watching? When you choose one, your enjoyment of the other will likely suffer. Both are considered great, so choose your preferred medium.

I've read the first book, watched the first season and then read the whole series before watching the rest of the show. I don't think doing it this way hurt my enjoyment in any way but I'm in the "the show is great but the books are better" camp.

I'm going to be weird here and recommend you listen to the audio books. They are fantastic.

Check them out from your local library on the Overdrive app.

If you want to read the books, even a little bit, I'd say read them first. If you have no desire to, then watch the show.

I think you can safely watch the first season and read the first book without there being a big issue about which to continue later. I'd finish those and then make a choice about where to go from there. Neither is done at this point but the show is likely to finish up before the book series so that's something to consider.

I read the first four books before the show came out and thought the first season of the show was great. I did end up dropping out after season 2. I think overall they're making a good show but it starts to deviate more and more from the books in a way that aren't necessary compelling to me personally and I felt like some elements of the show were indulgent in ways that were tipping over the edge to being gratuitous (the HBO sin tax). I'll probably binge watch it all at some point but for now I've decided to wait for the books series to be finished (assuming it ever is) or for one of my friends who enjoys the books as much as me to give me their thumbs up that it's worth it.

The build from book 1 through book 3 is amazing. Book 4 (Feast for Crows) and 5 (Dance with Dragons) are good but drag a bit compared to what came before. They weren't originally supposed to be separate books but Martin ended up separating them because he was getting bogged down on certain storylines and it was getting long. I feel like those books suffer for that choice but I think ultimately they're interesting and given various fan theories about certain plot points I think they'll look better as time goes on.

Any of you saying show are monsters. If you are at all curious about the books ready them! They are excellent and the show will color your interpretation of the story in a bad way.

Read the first two books. Then if you actually liked the second book, keep going, but I warn you that they progressively get worse. If you didn't like the second book more than the first, then just watch the show. It eventually starts diverging from the books, dropping characters, that reading bad books won't affect your enjoyment of the show.

There is a very reasonable fourth option.

There's a lot of progressively going on in this thread.

I've read all the books and watched the show. The books start OK and have serious low points culminating in "meh". Largely this is due to terrible pacing and story threads that go nowhere.

The show starts great and descends to prettt good. It trims the chaff of the books and has amazing production value.

I have no intention of reading further, but will probably continue to watch the show.

@sergio: I would disagree. The second book is probably the weakest in the series for me and the ones after I enjoyed even more than the first.

I enjoyed the show a lot more before I read the books, which sucks because the show is really good.

Watch the show, then read.

No desire to touch the books but let me say as someone who pretty much just avoids TV altogether, I think the show is not only one of the best shows on TV but one of the best pieces of on screen fantasy I have ever seen and I couldn't recommend it enough. The production values are insane anyone complaining about the quality of the visuals is daft every episode is like a movie with only a few things you could point to as not being on the level of a motion picture but stepping back and realizing this is a TV show on a budget and even those things look fantastic, 50 hours of dark twisted fantasy is something you don't get to often.

I watched the first season and then devoured the books before Season 2 started. I feel like that's the ideal way to do it (since the book might take longer to hook you than the show) but having the insight of the sheer density of the story in the books will serve you well in watching the show. Also there's a character whose story in ADWD is told throughout the last three seasons which ruins an otherwise great surprise.

Go with the audio books. I assume you have a public library in your area. Most modern public libraries have downloadable audio books.

The narrator for the GoT audio books is Roy Dotrice, who is excellent and does different accents. In wide ranging books with tons of characters having a good narrator is IMPORTANT for keep names straight in my mind. The books seem much more alive when spoken, and I think you will follow the narrative better if you hear it first.

After you get three audio books in, you can start watching the HBO show. Knowing the real story well made watching the show FAR more enjoyable.

The books. They are far superior to the show.

I would go with the books and then watch the show.

I like reading the books. If you're at all interested in this series, I'd say the books are the way to go. The show has this weird thing where a lot of conversations feel like they happen because the audience needs to know something. There were a few occasions where I felt like the show wasn't at all clear on why one character might be antagonizing another, but the conversation would reveal some detail that the audience needs to know. Granted, I didn't watch much of the show - I finished six or so episodes of the first season. I'm not opposed to watching more of it, but I'd honestly rather just keep reading the books.

The problem with that is that George RR Martin operates on Valve time, only unlike Valve, Martin's stuff tends to be chock full of superfluous notes and details. And not interesting ones, either, I mean he'll have entire paragraphs devoted to mundane things. A Feast For Crows, while not really a terrible book, mostly tells the stories of the least interesting characters, does an excellent job of reminding the audience why those characters are the least interesting, and could have been half as long without losing the details it needed to carry the story. The first and third books, and arguably the second, don't suffer from this too much, but A Feast for Crows really does. A Dance With Dragons is supposed to be better and, from what I've read of it, it is. But when I started reading that book, I really wanted to just give the whole series a break.

That's not the series's biggest problem, though. The biggest problem is that there's no resolution in sight and it's entirely possible that we won't get any sort of resolution. And whatever that resolution is, I'd bet good money that most people won't find it as satisfying as they'd hope to.

The Books are really good even though it is as they say in this thread they get progressivly worse. The show i tired of mid season 3 at which point the show started to drift very far from the sourcematerial aswell, not that its a bad thing per se but the stuff they put there instead was basicly just boobs and Hollywood oneliners. It turned into your typical shit series and i was mostly burned out on GoT by then.

Who is that?

I first started watching the show with the first season after it had aired, and before the second season, I had read past the 3rd book, A Storm of Swords. I have been done with the books for awhile now, and I am not enjoying the show as much, as I have not liked the changes as much as I though I would. I love the amount of detail that the books have, and feel like the pacing is really well.

@believer258 I really liked Feast for Crows, it might actually be my favorite in the series. You have Cersei falling slowly into madness, the development of Jamie as a more well rounded character, Sansa's arc and the changing of her character, and we get a look into Dorne, along with Sam and Brienne. I was more bummed out about A Dance With Dragons, while still enjoying it, there were some parts that could be a slog to get through.

I started out watching the show but eventually wanted to read the books. Best decision.

While the show is really good the books were what I was looking for. They go far more in-depth about the world and its history. You learn more about characters and their motivations. The world is more alive and realized in the books than in the show.

Season one and book one are almost identical. So if you want a low time/money investment I'd say try both out and see which you're more into.

I only read a hundred pages or so of A Dance with Dragons, I have no idea how I'll feel about it when I wind up finishing it.

I didn't like Sam or Brienne at all. Brienne's just a very dull person all around. Sam's development is more interesting than Brienne's, but he's still not a character that I really care to read about. Still, my main problem with A Feast for Crows isn't the lack of character development, it's that what's in the book is just spread way too thin. Martin could have done what he did with those characters in half the length and showed us more about some of the other characters.

The books are massive. Unless you are a habitual reader, I think you may find it hard to get through them. I've tried recommending them to my non-reader friends, and they didn't get very far.

Also, like you said, there's no telling when the book series will finally come to an end.

The show's fine. It starts to diverge more and more as the seasons go on, but it's a minor thing. What I find annoying is that whenever I read the books now, I can't help but picture the actors. It's not the biggest thing in the world, but some of the descriptions don't quite match up.

All I know is that I read the first book and sort of enjoyed it. I think watched the first episode of the show and sort of enjoyed it. But immediately afterwards my interest in either died so quickly that I haven't returned to the franchise again. I hope this helps...

I'm in for just watch the show. I binge watched the first four seasons a summer or two ago and then tried to read one of the books, but I couldn't get past GRRM's writing style (though that might be a complaint about novels in general, not just his). I don't need you to spend 3/4 of a page describing the color and texture of the mast of the ship, the type of tree it's made out of, the land in the world in which those trees are found, and the history of the old people that once occupied those lands.

This is my feeling. The writers for the show are the best editors GRRM never had. I enjoyed the first three books, but the reason some are saying they get progressively worse is because GRRM seems to have lost his way. He often professes that he has known what will happen in his story since he started the books in 1991. While I believe he may know how the major storylines will ultimately tie up, I don't believe he has any idea how to get us there. This is why GRRM keeps adding new characters and story threads when he should be bending toward resolution. This is why we wait several years between books (Feast for Crows was 2005, and we were told Dance with Dragons would be out shortly after. DoD was supposedly the second half of already completed material, so much material that it had to be separated into two volumes. Yet it was another six years before Dance with Dragons was published).

The books are an enormous time commitment. That's not a terrible thing by itself, but unfortunately you're going to be wasting much of that time slogging through tedium. Killing off main characters is a great technique; it adds real suspense and drama that you don't find in other stories. But it also requires you to either narrow your focus to the remaining characters or introduce new characters to the narrative. GRRM chose the latter, but he introduces new characters in a way that is often only tangentially related to the major story arcs. He never gives you a reason to care about these late character additions, so you feel no emotional investment, not the way you did with many of the departed. Getting through their chapters feels like a chore.

I agree the show is trending down after a disappointing fifth season, but I think it's just following the same downward arc of the books. Too many of the characters we loved and/or hated are missing (the show's much discussed "villain problem"), and no one yet has come along to fill that emotional gap. The next season of the show will be very interesting, as they're basically out of source material. My hope is the writer's strike out on their own, rather than relying on previously excised material from the book. Either way, I'm far more interested in seeing how the show progresses, rather than the books.

I've lost any faith I had in GRRM to bring his sprawling and unwieldy narrative to any sort of a satisfactory conclusion.