Game of Thrones vs A Song of Ice and Fire
A few years ago, I was introduced to George R. R. Martin’s ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ book series as well as HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’. My group of friends and my girlfriend at the time (now my fiance) were very into it and after being lost in their conversations, I checked out the show and picked up the first book.
I quickly became enamored with the World of Ice and Fire and was given the rest of the books for Christmas. Thanks, babe :) Anyway, by mid-March of the new year, I had finished the entire book series and was completely caught up on the show. I was hooked. I tried to get my hands on everything GoT and ASOIAF related.
After reading the book series, trying to read books of other genres became a bit tough for me. As an avid reader, I’ve always branched out on my book genres, but finishing ‘A Dance With Dragons’ left a hole in me that reading other titles just didn’t fill. I decided that I would give the series a second go-around and delved back into Westeros, Essos, and everywhere else George took me. It’s amazing how much I had missed during my first read-through. My second reading really put me further into that world from all of the things I was now picking up on. I had began reading theory-crafting forums online and talking theories with Crystal, my fiance and other friends. I was obsessed!
In 2014, the ‘World of Ice and Fire’ compendium book came out and was gorgeous. The pictures are beautiful and the information was flooring. I had also picked up comics on ‘The Tales of Dunk and Egg’, a compilation of short stories George had written set 100 years before the currently timeline during the reign of Targaryens over Westeros. A later compilation book, ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ was released, giving me that missing 3rd novella story I couldn’t find.
For the first 3 seasons of ‘Game of Thrones’, despite some changes from book to show, the storylines were pretty close. Characters mainly retained the same traits and plots with minor changes here or there. But season 4 started to change the path of the show story. Characters were absent from their book locations, plots were twisted and characters were killed off unexpectedly. Season 5 further veered off the tracks, as things were now completely different.
I don’t want to come across as a “book snob”, but I had a much greater appreciation for the books compared to the show, and my fiance and I really began to dislike the show and eventually stopped watching. Season 5 was boycotted on our TV and season 6 won’t be thought about. We don’t want to be spoiled on what could happen in the next book ‘The Winds of Winter’ (whenever the hell it gets released). If you still enjoy the show, that’s good for you.
Myself and millions of “Thronies” everywhere anxiously await the release of TWoW, let’s get it done, George!
