Quiver Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 So, in case you guys haven't heard, the season five trailer of Game of Thrones was released.That's not what this thread is about. No, what this is about is asking other readers of the books: are you going to watch season five? The show has, more or less, caught up to the books at this point. While there are still some plots it needs to get to- mostly finishing the Feast for Crows/Dance of Dragons split- season four started introducing certain elements which weren't revealed in the novels, and would certainly seem to be spoilers for the future. If season five doesn't include more of those, then season six most certainly will. So... are fellow book readers going to give up on the show, and wait for Winds of Winter? Personally... I never watch the show. I started in season one, got half way through it, then decided to read the source material first. I tend to dive in and out of the series when it reaches storylines or events I enjoyed in the novels and want to see on screen, like Blackwater or Theon in general. Now though... I'm conflicted. I feel like I'm going to have to start watching the show, if only to avoid the spoilers that will, invariably, seep in through pop culture osmosis. But... I wanted to read the books. I find the books to be better in many respects to the show (or at l;east, what I've seen and heard about the show), and I don't want my future reading of the world to be "ruined" by knowing what happens. At least part of the appeal of the novels is the unpredictability of what is going to happen, at least the first time through them. What about you guys? Does anyone here plan on boycotting the show, or have you resigned yourselves to just getting the bare bones of the story, and enjoying the meat that Martin will surround it with in his novels when they are released? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ynax Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 You're right that the books are better than the series, a thousand times better according to me. Though I don't know if I will boycott season five. But depending on when he will get out WoW I may or may not watch season six (for then the TV-series would undoubtedly spoil large parts of the books, because David Benioff and D. B. Weiss pretty much knows how to end). I only watch the series to see some of my favourite characters come to screen, however disgracing of the books they've been. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the winter system Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 Haven't even watched the series but in the middle of Book 4. Good. Great. Fantastic books. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmurfAquamarineBodies Posted February 1, 2015 Report Share Posted February 1, 2015 I'm going to watch it. I can read a book knowing how it all ends and it doesn't really bother me. I get the same amount of enjoyment out of it as I would have by reading it without knowing anything. I feel like I am in the minority because I like the tv show as much as i like the books, well at least the first 3 books, 4 and 5 sorta fell flat with me. So I enjoyed the tv show more than those books. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Briar King Posted February 1, 2015 Report Share Posted February 1, 2015 S5 will be the last mostly safe season for bk readers unless by some miracle Martin gets 6 out before March or April of next yr. I personally plan to ditch the show because I want to read first. It inevitable that the show will get ahead. The crappy thing for readers is in today's world those that quit will still get spoiled and there's just no way around that anymore. Remember bk 6 of Harry Potter? It's gonna be even worse with todays Net. Impossible to stay spoiler free. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mestiv Posted February 12, 2015 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 I'll watch it without any problem. I'm tired of waiting for WoW, and I'm not even waiting for that long, I read the books 2 year ago or something like that. Martin takes to long to write WoW, and I'm not going to wait for him to finish to have fun in his world. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamma Fiend Posted February 12, 2015 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 I don't really think the show will "catch up" and pass the books all the much. I mean, there's still a lot of middle ground to cover, even with the few character arc cuts that we know of already.But there's still quite a bit to resolve from Season 4, that ties up the ending of Book 3. And with Books 4 and 5 happening at the same time, there is a lot more material to cover between there and now than it seems.Season 5 will have to introduce the entire new Dorne cast, with the Sand Snakes and Prince Doran, resolve everything at The Wall and get it ready to go into that next arc (Book 5). Arya has to reach her destination and begin with all of that, and Sansa in the Vale. Bran will not be in this season, because they've already sped up his arc and he's where he needs to be for now. Now they just have to catch everything else up to the points they need to be.I think we've got a little bit more time before we have to worry just yet about the show surpassing the books. Now, as for possible Spoilerific content and key scenes? Very possible. (Land of Wight Walkers, anybody?) ((Or proving/disproving theories by skipping or including things that were vague or important in the books))I'll be watching. And I'll be waiting to read. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titan Arum Posted February 12, 2015 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 As someone who has read the books multiple times and has plenty of espoused theories, I still love the show. It's obvious that the show is starting to do things differently than the books because, well, it can and it should. Things happen in books 4 and 5 that it appears the show will not include. (For spoiler reasons to those who haven't read that far yet, I won't even allude to what these things are.) Whether this says anything about how important they actually are in the books or if the showrunners want to go their own direction, is still up in the air. Nonetheless, I enjoy both and now that the show has caught up to the books, I'm allowing myself to view both as similar but distinct works. This is because I think HBO will continue with the show, even if GRRM doesn't release WoW next year. They can't afford to stop the show for Martin to catch up because even if he releases the next book, it'll be another decade before we get the 7th book. With the amount of revenue they make from the show, it'd be stupid for them to stop and wait. The question is, how do they proceed with the show after season 5? They haven't, as of season 4, included any potential side arcs for any characters, so maybe they'll do this for season 5? Do the showrunners take the anime route, and create a show full of side arcs as the source material continues to grow? Or do the showrunners finish the story the way Martin wants to write it (especially since they know how it'll end already). I really hope they go the side arc route because I believe Martin deserves to tell his story in full first. Granted, side arc anime story lines always suffer in quality compared to the main storyline. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Briar King Posted February 13, 2015 Report Share Posted February 13, 2015 I wouldn't count on anything like that. They ll finish it up without him cause of the huge $ HBO is banking and along those lines they won't want to lose the actors to other projects. It would be cool if they did though. I still fear the spoilers that readers will hear/see that stop watching. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver Posted February 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 (edited) So, according to Martin... People are going to die who don’t die in the books, so even the book readers will be unhappy. So everybody better be on their toes. David [benioff] and D.B. [Weiss] are even bloodier than I am. Guess that answers "will they spoil the ending" stuff; even if they do spoil it, it will only be in the broadest strokes. Unless Martin is lying. Which he might be. BOOK SPOILERS. Since season five will match ADwD-more or less- I wonder if the show might just kill Jon for real. It would certainly be a major change from the books, and reassure readers that the story won't be the same as the books... but then, the show also killed side-characters, like Jojen, before their time. If the show wants to make sure book fans don't drop it, and keep some of the shock momentum they got from Ned's death and the Red Wedding.. a main character has to die. Edited February 18, 2015 by Quiver 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bort Posted February 18, 2015 Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 I'll be watching season 5. I'm with the Smurf in that I actually think the series is possibly better than the books, and for me, that is a very rare thing to say. Plus, I'm not actually certain George will finish writing the series as he has spent quite a bit of time working on the TV series. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aleksiel Posted February 20, 2015 Report Share Posted February 20, 2015 I'll watch it, I've given up hope for WoW. If I wait for Martin to finish the series, I'll probably forget most of it and lose interest. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phin Posted February 22, 2015 Report Share Posted February 22, 2015 I will definitely be watching season five. Depending on how it ends six may or may not be up in the air. I don't want the spoilers but I had watched season one before reading GoT. I'm with Bort here... will he be able to finish the books? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaymyth Posted February 22, 2015 Report Share Posted February 22, 2015 When it comes to writing habits, GRRM is like the anti-Brandon. GRRM: "Eh, I wrote a page last week. That's good progress, right?" Brandon: "I had trouble getting into writing this book, so I wrote its sequel to get me warmed up. What, did I do something weird?" 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orlion Blight Posted March 4, 2015 Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 Martin's career is interesting because there is surprisingly very little in his bibliography... not to mention this is his first (and presumably only) sustained novel series. A lot of his other stuff consists of short stories or novels made up of short stories. I think that is, in part, why he takes a while writing these books... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Semi-Retired Gamer Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 I've read all of the books released so far and will continue to read them as they are released. I've watched all of the seasons so far and will continue to watch them as they are released. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkum Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 I'm going to watch it. I can read a book knowing how it all ends and it doesn't really bother me. I get the same amount of enjoyment out of it as I would have by reading it without knowing anything. I feel like I am in the minority because I like the tv show as much as i like the books, well at least the first 3 books, 4 and 5 sorta fell flat with me. So I enjoyed the tv show more than those books. Seconded. the first part anyway. I still thinks the books are better than the show (and book 4 is way underrated, it is just so good. book 5 not so much) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmurfAquamarineBodies Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 Seconded. the first part anyway. I still thinks the books are better than the show (and book 4 is way underrated, it is just so good. book 5 not so much) I recently re-read the books and I just read each character arc before moving onto the next character. Reading it that way i liked book 4 and 5 much better. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Briar King Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 I was pretty disappointed with the S5 start. Timeline wise boy Tyrions beard is way to bushy. It's the Narrow Sea not the Atlantic. That was just bit over the top. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkum Posted April 16, 2015 Report Share Posted April 16, 2015 I recently re-read the books and I just read each character arc before moving onto the next character. Reading it that way i liked book 4 and 5 much better. I could see that helping. Cersei, Jaime, and Arya have great storylines, and just getting them all at once would be fun. likewise for Arianne and the Dorne story (most anticipated part of this season for me). My most recent reread, I did the conjoined version, where you switch between 4 and 5 chronologically. it was a pain to do (I have the physical books, so I was switching between two nearly 1000 page monsters on the regular), but it helped alleviate the problems I had by sticking some of the book 4 character arcs I liked better in between the boring/annoying ones from book 5 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelsier Kenobi Posted April 16, 2015 Report Share Posted April 16, 2015 I was pretty disappointed with the S5 start. Timeline wise boy Tyrions beard is way to bushy. It's the Narrow Sea not the Atlantic. That was just bit over the top. Nitpicking the rate of facial hair growth in a world with Shadow Demons and Dragons? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Briar King Posted April 16, 2015 Report Share Posted April 16, 2015 Har at least that's not as bad as one heard elsewhere about the constisance of his poop. I ll spare the details of the rest but it was funny this person was that into it 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormingTexan Posted April 17, 2015 Report Share Posted April 17, 2015 I really like the show and the books. I think HBO has enough easily for one more season with what is written after that hopefully book six will be out but man after that... Of course I wonder if there will ever really be a book 7. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bort Posted April 20, 2015 Report Share Posted April 20, 2015 It seems I'm not the only one wondering if Martin will actually finish the series. i'm not convinced he will, as I think he is enjoying himself with the TV series too much. He basically had to be kicked off the set to go and finish book six, and it still isn't done, even after 5 seasons of GoT have been created for TV. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaymyth Posted April 20, 2015 Report Share Posted April 20, 2015 It seems I'm not the only one wondering if Martin will actually finish the series. i'm not convinced he will, as I think he is enjoying himself with the TV series too much. He basically had to be kicked off the set to go and finish book six, and it still isn't done, even after 5 seasons of GoT have been created for TV. Well, it took him somewhere around 8 years to write book 5, so it's not like this is out of character for him. Even without the show, I doubt we'd have The Winds of Winter yet. In fact, I'm starting to suspect that the TV series is the only way we're ever going to find out how the story ends. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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