Never read "Game of Thrones" but...

[Stephen T. Harper]

I've never read any of "Game of Thrones," but I'm getting excited by the hype for the HBO series.  Is this a must read before the show starts?  

Update: 3 episodes in and I love the show.  Fantastic character work.  Definitely adding books to my cue.

[Dara England]

I too am very excited about the TV series. I'm hoping it'll be a little like LOTR in that you can understand what's going on even if you haven't yet read the books.

[mom133d (aka Liz)]

Several reviews I've read said that you don't have to be familiar with the books, in fact you might be better off. There are apparently references to events or information that we, the reader didn't learn until later books happening in the show for the sake of plot. 

[Cheryl Bradshaw, Author]

I am pretty excited for it too - already have it set to record and I believe you don't need to read the book first in order to get a good grasp on it, but I have it on my list to read (and hopefully it won't spoil it for me!).

[Ben White]

I'm excited for the show, but I've never read much of the books--I wanted to like them but the writing style and voice never clicked for me.

[nogdog~6op6ou]

I'm excited for the show, but I've never read much of the books--I wanted to like them but the writing style and voice never clicked for me.

Yeah, I gave it a good shot -- probably read at least 200 pages -- but I was neither blown away by the writing nor caring about any of the (many!) characters except maybe one or two of them; so I moved on to other things.

As far as the TV show/series, if it's like 99% of book adaptations, you might like it better if you have not read the books.

[Stephen T. Harper]

I'm excited for the show, but I've never read much of the books--I wanted to like them but the writing style and voice never clicked for me.

Yeah, I gave it a good shot -- probably read at least 200 pages -- but I was neither blown away by the writing nor caring about any of the (many!) characters except maybe one or two of them; so I moved on to other things.

As far as the TV show/series, if it's like 99% of book adaptations, you might like it better if you have not read the books.

Thanks.  That's pretty much what I wanted to know - if these are must read books or not.  Sounds like people at least agree that the show looks good.  Anybody think the books are a must?  I'm sure I'll check them out eventually any way.  Any big fans?

[Tris]

From the scenes provided on YouTube, it seems fairly straight forward from the book.  So I would assume that you wouldn't need to actually read the book.  I believe that is what the producers wanted to make it, and be fairly close to the actual book.  I read it because I always like to read the book version first if I can.  The book definitely gives you a bit more of an insight to the character as it's written in a semi-character POV or situation.  Some of it are internal thoughts and those are always tricky to portray on screen.  Many people told me that it was a difficult book to get into and/or slow.  I didn't find it difficult at all and breezed thru much of the book pretty quickly.  Sure there are a lot of characters, but thus far I haven't had any issues on keeping track of them and I am only 48% or so in.

Tris

[endhalf]

My excitement over this series is high too :-). There is so little good fantasy TV shows (well if you doesn't count anime) and Game of Thrones looks really great. Some reviews said that it is one of the best fantasy book ever. I don't know about that but it might be worth a try. Lets just hope the TV show will be great :-).

[Ann in Arlington]

I plan to read it so that when people talk about the movie I can say, "I read the book."

[Jennybeanses]

I read the first two books before today and started the third in hopes that it would make the series more enjoyable. I am so excited about tonight's premiere.

[Kathelm]

My understanding is that the first season will only cover Book 1, so the whole series isn't a priority just yet. 

The books are very intricately plotted and has tons of characters.  A good adaptation, though, should stand on its own, so I would hope that you won't have to read the books for the show to make sense.

That said, read the books anyway.  They're awesome.

[Julia Kavan]

Haven't read the books either - but looking forward to watching this!

[Ben White]

Hmm.  I just finished watching the first episode, and put my thoughts about it into a bjournal post:

An In-Depth (but spoiler-free) Analysis Of The First Episode of “Game of Thrones”

[Ben Dobson]

Without spoilers, I'm going to say the show is very promising and the cast is excellent, I really enjoyed it.  I don't think there should be a lot of trouble if you haven't read the books--it might take a few episodes to get the big cast straight and figure out the relationships, but no more so than some great shows that aren't based on books.  The Wire, for instance.

My only complaint is that the episode feels too short, I wish they'd done a two hour premiere or something.  I think they simply might not have had time to get deep enough into the world for some newcomers to be really drawn in.  But I'm just guessing, since I've read the books and didn't need any extra drawing in.  Reviews are looking good even from a lot of people who haven't read them, so it can't be too big a problem.

[padowd]

I watched the show last night and loved it. I also wished they had done a 2 hour special on the first week. I now want to read the books. I am anxious to hear from those that have read the books how close the series is going to follow.

[jason10mm]

The show is VERY faithful to the books, probably too faithful. The books dribble out the backstory, I worry that TV viewers will want it up front. The intro gives you an idea of the geography, I wish it had a vioceover that explained the Targaryens, the Baratheon overthrow, and who Daenerys is. We will get that stuff, eventually, but I think it would be better to have an intro description.

The good news is that Martin's writing style is PERFECT for an episodic series. EVERY episode is going to end in a cliffhanger/WTF moment, and not a manufactured one. I can think of 4-5 episode endings right now that will blow minds.

There are a lot of flashbacks, or at least remembrances, in the books. No idea how they are going to do it in the series, as the characters will have to be much younger. Looking forward to it though, some iconic scenes await!

[mooshie78]

Thought it was very good and true to the book.  Only watched the pilot as it was free HBO weekend on DirecTV, so I probably won't watch any more until it comes out on Bluray.

[Fuzzy Dunlop]

thought it was very faithful to the book although i dont know how anyone is really going to be able to follow whats going on without reading the books..all the actors seemed to mumble a lot

[PinkKindle]

Thought it was very good and true to the book.  Only watched the pilot as it was free HBO weekend on DirecTV, so I probably won't watch any more until it comes out on Bluray.

I can't promise this will work for you, but I also have DirecTV and don't have a subscription for the premium movie channels.  However, when I looked before the free HBO weekend started, for some reason I do have HBO Signature (it was called "HBOSeHD" in the on-screen guide and is channel 503), and from what I can tell on the Game of Thrones website, they will be showing each Sunday night's episode on the following Friday night on that channel.  Now I can't tell right now if I still have it, because it's still the free promo time and it still shows all the HBO channels available for me (even when I look days ahead) in the on-screen guide, but I'm really, really, really hoping that when I check tomorrow, it will still show I have HBOS available.  So that's something you might want to check.  Just a thought.

I really enjoyed it also.  Very true to the book, though occasionally some things were a bit out of order or spelled out a bit more or less information, but considering they are adapting for television, I think they did an excellent job.  If I hadn't started a re-read of Game of Thrones the day before watching it, I probably would have felt it was almost identical to the book.  Very much the same feel.  The books are also very adult, and the television adaptation didn't hold anything back in that regard.

[jason10mm]

thought it was very faithful to the book although i dont know how anyone is really going to be able to follow whats going on without reading the books..all the actors seemed to mumble a lot

This is very true. A LOT of significant info is being delivered in off the cuff conversations that are often drowned out by background noise (be it actual noise, scenery, or events). Most of the Targaryen situation was explained while viewers are distracted by whirling dancers or fantastic vistas, and the crucial elements of service in the Night's Watch was delivered during a loud feast. I think HBO is relying on promo clips and web sites to deliver this kind of exposition to viewers unfamiliar with the books. I wish the intro was more explanatory, though I do hear that the intro will change depending on the events/locations shown in the episode.

[EGranfors]

I haven't read it (and didn't know it was even a book) until the promos began.  I may check it out.

[Stephen T. Harper]

The good news is that Martin's writing style is PERFECT for an episodic series. EVERY episode is going to end in a cliffhanger/WTF moment, and not a manufactured one. I can think of 4-5 episode endings right now that will blow minds.

That sounds like my kind of show.  Unfortunately, I completely forgot when it premiered.  It's DVR'd, but now I have to wait until my wife returns from biz trip on Wednesday.

[Mcfergeson]

Been reading the first book for the past week, now. I won't start watching the series until I'm done with the novel. I'm more than halfway through the book, and it's great, btw.

[oliewankanobe]

We DVR'd it so I could watch with the hubby so I have to wait.  He did a charity thing today and was exhausted.

Stoked!