Well worth reading, but they are very long. And certain things that happen might upset you to the point where you need to put them down for awhile.
I guess it depends on the readability. I average about 500 wpm so it should be about ten hours. Guess I’ll see how it goes.
Word count:
A Game of Thrones: 298k
A Clash of kings: 326k
A Storm of Swords: 424k
A Feast for Crows: 300k
A Dance with Dragons: 422k
There is that. I remember having to put down Misery at one point and actually leave the room.
Read the first book then watch the first season.
Then make an informed decision.
I think reading then watching is better, but ymmv.
Doing otherwise is a sign of illiteracy.
I watched the first season than read the books between seasons 1 & 2. I think you might be better off watching then reading.
I read all the available books and then watched the first and second seasons in one hit. I love watching series over a weekend rather than week by week. As such read them and then by the time you have finished them series 4 may be out.
D’oh! Don’t know how I missed that. I propose a merger!
Yes, Sampiro has it right:
Read the first book then watch the first season.
Then make an informed decision.
I think reading then watching is better, but ymmv.
Not slow so much as easily distracted and hard to keep on course. While his fans were eagerly awaiting this last book, he wrote a lot of other stuff. This ticked a lot of fans off.
Done. May everybody [clever Game of Thrones reference].
I’d actually say watch the show. The man badly needs an editor, he stalled for two whole books just to age characters a little and move them around in the world, he spends too much time describing pointless things, and he’s overly-taken with his “clever” arc words and phrases. I suspect that if you ran a find-and-replace on phrases like “You know nothing, Jon Snow” and “words are wind” and “wherever whores go” you’d cut the books down by about a third.
I watched Season 1, then read the first two books, then watched Season 2. I haven’t yet read or watched more, but I decided to watch the show before reading future books. My reasons:
- The emotional impact of finding out the story as I’m watching it is greater than as I’m reading it. My enjoyment of the show is lessened by knowing what will happen more than my enjoyment of the book is.
- My girlfriend won’t stop bugging me about what’s going to happen next.
Neither reason may apply to you.
I would say, however, even if this is true for you, the possibility of being spoiled is much easier if you watch the show then the books rather than the other way around, unless you religiously watch the show when its on on HBO.
I imagine that a lot of the folks that DVR the show and figured they’d watch it on Tuesday or something were likely spoiled of the major happening that occurred this week since it was absolutely everywhere.
If you read all 5 books between, say the end of Season 3 (which is half of Book 3, btw) and the beginning of Season 4, then you’ll be able to not worry about too many inadvertent spoilers (most people aren’t randomly going to blurt out spoilers when the show isn’t on).
I recommend S1, then book 1, then go with what feels right.
I watched the first season of the show prior to reading the books. While a lot of the background details either weren’t presented or went over my head, I followed along really well. When I read it a few weeks later, it filled in the gaps. Since there are a million characters, it was easier for me to keep all the book characters straight because I had their tv faces in mind. Some people don’t like actors’ images in place of their own, but I think I would have been overwhelmed otherwise.
In my unhumble opinion, just watch the show. I tried to read book 1 and failed. I think the show’s writers are far superior to GRRM. The first book was just an unpleasant reading experience - it lingered over the violence, overdid the misogyny, had annoying grammatical conceits (e.g., Ser for Sir! Gargh!) and was very badly paced in general. The same story, told televisually, I found more engaging and appealing. Yes, it’s graphically violent and overtly sexual (especially season 1) but in a more nuanced and timely way.
That’s a good point. But I watch it a year behind (on DVD), and I’ve so far avoided spoilers, so it can’t be that hard. I know that something happened recently, but not what it was. And since I don’t even know what episode the series is on right now (please don’t tell me), it shouldn’t affect my enjoyment of season 3 starting in about 10 months.
I personally prefer reading books after I’ve seen the movie/show because films always leave things out or change the story substantially and it irritates me. If something I’ve seen intrigues me enough, I’ll pick up the book knowing I’ll get the “whole” story. If I hadn’t already read these books, I’m sure that’s how I would have done things.
I have been telling and telling and telling a friend to watch these. He finally did… starting with the most recent episode. It made me want to thump him, having warned him to start at the beginning. But he said he was so intrigued by this episode he was going to do the rest. He did season one yesterday and is working his way through season 2 and 3, trying to get caught up for Sunday night. It think I did basically the same thing with the books - the first 3 were out when I started and I read for three or four days straight. I am an obsessive reader; once I start a book, nothing else matters until I’ve read it through.