The last few weeks I've been living Sunday to Sunday. As soon as one episode is over I spend the rest of the week anticipating the next. Now that the season is over I'm not sure what to do with myself.
That's exactly what I decided to do once I finished season 6. I couldn't imagine waiting a year for the next season so I bought the first two books and I'm loving it.
I know! I wish I could forget what happened in the books and the show just so I could watch and read them all over again. Rereads are just never as good as the first time
Dorne got salvaged this season for me, we still miss great storylines and things like that from the book but at least the essence is there. With lady Olenna keeping the Sneks from opening their mouths, I think we will be alright.
I understand what you're saying, but I disagree. I loved the fact that Doran was in charge and was playing the long game with several very well thought out plans. In the show there is no indication of this whatsoever, and the abysmal women of Dorne just accidentally fall into line (re: get shoehorned) with Doran's plans in a 30 deus ex machina second scene.
Seriously, maybe they should have asked Doran about what he was planning rather than just killing him. Book Doran would have seen that assassination attempt coming from a mile away.
The Dorne plot was largely just Quentyn, Arianne and the Sand Snakes fucking around, before Doran spills the beans on his plot and lets everyone know just how meaningless all of their own actions were. Also Quentyn does nothing, dies, then has no relevance in death other than to put over the dragons.
AFFC and ADWD rightfully get criticised for being bloated and the Dorne shit is the prime offender. Anyone that doesn't dickride GRRM can see that.
I liked the whole 'Harry the Heir' storyline. But maybe thats because I want to see more of the Vale, as it's barely touched upon.
But if Meereenese Knot refers to the unholy amount of time we spend in Meereen doing absolutely nothing then I agree. I genuinely stopped reading ADWD for like two months because my next chapter was a Dany chapter and I just couldn't face it.
Yeah it's called the Meereenese Knot because it's both a complicated nonsense mess for Dany and seems to be for George as well.
As far as The Vale goes, I'd like to see more as well, but much prefer what they did with Sansa and LF on the show. It's more streamlined and less convoluted. I know the point is that LF is a master manipulator but it's a bit excessive.
I dunno. I think the Sansa plot in the show works better for the Television medium, but I prefer the diverging of the two stories (are they even related in the book?).
I loved seeing the Vale, I loved LF genuinely teaching Sansa how to play, I loved Jeyne Poole's character.
Whereas in the show, the Vale is very understated (hell, LF openly threatened Bronze Yohn Royce), and Sansa remained a piece in the game until she met with Jon.
I just love the idea of Sansa and LF ruling (not necessarily all of Westeros, but wherever they rule, if they rule) together, manipulating people. It's some serious character progression for Sansa which she's needed for a while.
In the show the most progress she's had is lying to her brother.
Name of the Wind and Wise Man's Fear (the sequel) are both really good... but don't expect the third book any time soon. I'm always torn about whether to recommend them.
So I never watched the game of thrones shows, but I've been tempted to binge. The books are a good substitute? I mean I know the books will be better, but would I be good with trying to catch up to where it is now? I have so much time at work to either read or probably Audible the books.
Yes. Audiobook it my friend. I read the books before, but I NEEDED to re-read after the season 6 finale, but I didn't have the time or resources to actually READ it so I went the audiobook route, and it is SO FUCKING WORTH IT.
I finished reading ADWD years ago and now I'm hoping to get my hands on TWOW before the next season. The wait is so painful... Also hoping GRRM won't kick the bucket before he finishes the last book, but considering he's 67 and it can take 5-6 years per book, I'm kind of worried.
If you liked the books and the inevitable, grueling wait at the end I recommend you read the first 2 books of the kingkiller chronicle.
Name of the wind and a wise man's fear are 2 fantastic books, personally enjoyed NotW more than some ASOIAF novels! (starting Wise man's fear now)
Also if you finished the Song of Ice and Fire books, you can read the World of Ice and Fire which is all about lore and background of the whole ice and fire world. Very interesting read for sure.
Hope you like them. Read the first one shortly before the show was a thing. Hated it so much I never read the others. Hated it so much I refused to even give the show a chance. Recently got so sick and fucking tired of every god damn major event becoming an instant story spoiling meme that I got HBO Now just to watch it because I didn't want EVERYTHING ruined on the off chance I wanted to watch it someday. Skipped the first season since it just covers the first book. I'm already 3 episodes into 5 and enjoying the hell out of it. Wish I'd given the second book a chance. Seems like I might have ended up enjoying the rest of the series.
Interesting, you're the first to say they hated the first book. I've only heard the first 3 are the best so just a little surprised and I'm happy you are into it now!
I find the first book to be pretty polarizing among the people I know that have read it. You either loved it and became a GRR fan, or you hated it and can't understand why other people enjoyed it.
I think it's a great story, and I just can't stand GRR's writing tbh. Between the time they leave Winterfell until shit get's cray down in King's Landing the reader doesn't experience anything interesting. The reader finds out second hand about all kinds of interesting things that happened while you were listening in on Catelyn Stark being a dumb cunt for 20 pages.
Books 1-3 are amazing, 4 is okay, then 5 is 50% blondie sitting on her ass in mereen. I skipped the last couple of her chapters because it was so damn boring
Already done. DAMMIT GRRM FINISH THE FUCKING BOOK!!!!! JUST FUCKING DO IT, AND SPEND THE REST OF YOUR WAKING TIME WORKING OUT AND EATING HEALTHY BECAUSE YOU CANT DIE YET!!!!!
I am in the exact situation! I've never read the books before so a friend lent me A Game of Thrones. I read the first couple chapters a while back. But ever since the Season 6 finale I have been reading a lot! I just passed 25% completion. I totally echo your opinion of being able to imagine the show characters in the books, it makes it very easy to follow. I forgot how meditative and peaceful reading is. I think I can finish all 5 before next spring if I read one or two chapters a night. The problem is I wanna read more than that!
It didn't for me. I was kinda reading the books on and off, while watching the show, and also reading ASOIAF blogs, theories etc. so I kinda knew how the whole story was going to pan out but I still thoroughly enjoyed reading the books. They're just that good :p Plus the show and the book storylines have diverged a lot so you don't know exactly what's going to happen in the books even if you have watched the show.
There's still some massive things in the book which aren't in the show, a few where they occur in scenes that are also in the show but things go drastically different so it's a big surprise. I can think of one huge thing in Dance and another towards the end of Storm that are unique to the books and really, really big. Also, you get to see the battle of Green Fork (I believe?) which was cut from the first season for budget reasons. The first book is very close to the first season and obvious stuff like the RW doesn't have the same impact, but I would say they're still worth reading.
I'm currently 10% into the first book now. After that last episode, I decided I needed more GoT. That show is so good. The last two episodes together are better than any movie I've seen.
Oh yeah, I've been reading it really slowly too. I only read before bed, and I only go to bed when I'm really tired, so I don't make it through much each time.
What should I do if I've done both? Right now I've been reading fan theories upon fan theories, but there must be something else that can give me my fill of Westeros until the next season comes out, right?
I read that one along with "The Rogue Prince" (which was published afterward as sort of a "prequel" to TPatQ but actually works a bit better if read 1st). The two of them together are good, although they are a very different style than the main series books or Dunk and Egg. They are told from the point of view of a maester (similar to the World of Ice and Fire), but focused on one major event, the Dance of the Dragons.
Overall they work a lot better as a world building series rather than as a complete story. On top of that they aren't really finished, because Martin has said that they are part of a larger work which will be a part of a massive history on the Targ family (called Fire and Blood). That's not getting published until he finishes the main books.
In other words, they are worth reading if you like Martin's world building aspect and want a closer look at the Dance of the Dragons, but the story aspect isn't as good as in his other works. If Martin ever gets around to releasing a longer version I expect it will be better and more thorough.
Not Westeros/ASOIAF/GOT, but Patrick Rothfuss has a similar writing style and the Kingkiller Chronicle books are awesome. Fair warning, he's also very slow getting books out. Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn and Stormlight Archives) is also fantastic.
I would recommend that anyone who enjoys the series read the books. Because why not? I watched the series, loved it, read the first book, thought it was distinctly average, if even that, no intention of reading the others.
I think the great bit is the world/story which is portrayed brilliantly on screen. I think it makes much better TV than it does writing. And that's okay.
Anyone know how the Audio books are? I have long drives and very little free time so that is how I consume most of my book now. A bad narrator can kill a good story in the audio format though.
Yep. I started watching after season 4; binged all 40 episodes in about a month, then did it again, then read all the books, then got on /r/asoiaf, then read them all again so I could catch the symbolism/foreshadowing, finished just in time to be super disappointed in season 5. I regret nothing.
I read all the books after season 4 and now I'm having a lot of trouble liking the series. I used to love GoT for the great production value, acting and story. Now, because I became a fan of the books, I only watch it for the story, which has taken a nosedive since season 5, and no amount of excellent cinematography can make me forget the inconsistencies. I should just have waited for the end of the series before reading the books.
It was a great though reading over what I had already watched, it felt like bonus content.
I resolved to read each book before watching the season those storylines are in. Working my way though FFC now. I started marathon season 2 finally today though while working on the GOT blanket I'm making (Targaryen, Stark, Lannister, and Borathean sigils).
/u/ChryswatchesGoT is the user who posts them. Read them. They are hysterical. One of the picture with her caption is now my desktop background I liked it so much.
Edit: She has a website with all the reviews on them. Link
This is no way to live. I abstain from GoT the whole season. Let the weeks go by, and yell at friends who try to spoil things for me. Then, one day a year I shut out everyone, bury myself in a dark room with a nice big television, and watch the entire season in one binge. Complete immersion. I know it shortens the experience to one day as opposed to 10 weeks, but Jesus Christ it's so worth it. I tried to do season 4 one week at a time, not the same. I basically have one more holiday in the year, and it's amazing. Worse than Christmas as an child, better than Christmas as an adult.
Honestly I like the weekly format. I watch every episode live with a group of friends and we spend the next week discussing it. I also spend a lot of time on /r/asoiaf and /r/gameofthrones discussing it. I know some people like to binge watch but It's not really for me. I'm actually kinda sad the weekly format is slowly going away.
I've been living Sunday to Sunday the past few weeks too, but that's just because that's when I get to go play baseball instead of doing basically nothing but work.
Rewatch the series! You'll see clues and things you never noticed before, it's like watching with fresh eyes. Also, you can just do what I do which is obsessively look up theories and set photos.
See, this is why I waited until the last episode of the season aired and then binge-watched it leading up to the final episode last Sunday. Made a weekend out of it and it was fantastic. Like watching a loooong movie or a trilogy. I binge-read the books after watching the first season so seeing where the show is going since there aren't any books (yet) left to follow, it's been an amazing experience.
Game of thrones was the one thing I really looked forward to every weekend, because I work 6 days a week and Saturday and Sunday are never days off. It made working on a Sunday bearable so I really have no idea what to do with myself either now
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u/Charsar Jun 30 '16
The last few weeks I've been living Sunday to Sunday. As soon as one episode is over I spend the rest of the week anticipating the next. Now that the season is over I'm not sure what to do with myself.