Game of Thrones books

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Gambit37
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Game of Thrones books

Post by Gambit37 »

There's a reasonably priced box set of this series on Amazon. I've not read them yet. Any good?
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by Antman »

They're great! Pretty brutal and nitty gritty compared to other books of similar genre which is different and interesting, great story and characters. Highly recommend this series. The only problem is the rate at which the author writes, you finish the latest book and can't wait to read more, then have to wait years for the next book.... good things take time I guess.
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by Gambit37 »

I know it's all very popular right now what with the tv series, etc. But popular doesn't always mean it's any good, so thanks for the input. And I'm a patient person: still waiting for Half Life episode 3!
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by Zyx »

They're well written, with interesting psychologies and background. Story is cruel.
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by Ameena »

I've been wondering whether I should read the Song of Ice and Fire series myself, but don't want to start in case I like it and manage to get through them all before the last book, whatever it's gonna be, comes out - there are currently technically five books out, but the fourth and fifth are both in two volumes so technically there's seven books. So far.
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by cowsmanaut »

My Wife read them all through, then we watched the shows. She pointed out a number of differences in the show, where characters were not as well developed as they were in the books, and certain events were heavily changed. That said, she enjoyed the show, but enjoyed the books far more. I myself have not read them, but like the show :)
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by oh_brother »

I was planning to read them, but I started watching the shows instead. Not sure if it would be worthwhile reading the books after - I really should have done it the other way around.

That said, they only have filmed two books so far, so if I really liked them I could read those quickly and get stuck into the following 5 afterwards.

Btw if anyone had played Dragon Age, there are some really big similarities between the two worlds.
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by Jan »

I've just bought Books 1 and 2 for my brother for his birthday. This should keep him busy for a while. :roll:
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by oh_brother »

Still have not read the books, but just saw to the end of season 3 of the tv series.
Spoiler
What the hell! I heard the story was brutal, and it never was particularly happy, but episode 9 was just shocking. :shock: I don't know what to make of it. Difficult to watch, not sure if I could stomach the books now.
Though it is important to keep these things in perspective: http://newsthump.com/2013/06/06/grown-a ... -happened/ :)
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by Chaos-Shaman »

cowsmanaut wrote:My Wife read them all through, then we watched the shows. She pointed out a number of differences in the show, where characters were not as well developed as they were in the books, and certain events were heavily changed. That said, she enjoyed the show, but enjoyed the books far more. I myself have not read them, but like the show :)
same here, i am told the books are much better than the series, which is awesome to me but i didn't read the books. of course my daughter has already read them all and same with the spouse, so they tease me quite often, cruel is just the beginning, sick, cruel, disgusting, horrible and insane and much more.....
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by Wizard Zedd »

Books are excellent and am enjoying the show as well. They do change things up in the show a bit which is nice so that I don't always know what is going to happen. They do stay true to the main events - if you die in the book, you die in the show...well at least so far any way. Recorded the season finale last night and can't wait to watch it later on today!
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by Wizard Zedd »

Finally got to watch the season finale....AWESOME!!!
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by beowuuf »

Went from having never watched GoT series to having seen everything up to S4E8 in a 96 hour period. Love the show. and have since seen the last two episodes. Can't wait ntil next April now!

@OB: Yup, that episode is notoriously brutal. What I didn't expect was it to be so fun and even heartwarming right up until that moment. And then there's even more stings to drive it in in episode 10. Evil, evil, evil. The internet has another mini-meltdown at episode 8 of the next series, and I can sort of see why.
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by oh_brother »

It must have been an enjoyable 96 hours! Had you read the books before, or was that your first experience with GoT?

Yeah, I was not even aware that anything was going to happen in that episode. I was actually enjoying the scene before that - as you say it was quite fun. On episode 7 of season 4 now, looking forward to the last three.
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by Wizard Zedd »

WOW...that's a lot to watch in 96 hours. Guess I shouldn't talk, I did the same thing with Lost during my vacation a couple of years ago - completed the whole series within 10 days :)
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by beowuuf »

Not read the books before, but internet is good for spoiling many things :)

And wow OB, episode 8 - 10 are quite the rollercoaster!


Now waiting with baited breath for next April and season five.
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by oh_brother »

Yeah, episodes 8-10 were amazing! :D A few real surprises in there
Spoiler
(Stanis's arrival, Tywin's toilet trouble, the trial by combat...)
.

BTW, did anyone else find
Spoiler
the skeleton attack on Brandon's group
a bit, I don't know...jarring?
Spoiler
Maybe it is from having seen 90 hours where magic was normally understated, and it is more difficult to introduce it gradually. Nothing wrong with it - actually I think it is cool to see the rules change as the series progresses, and I knew that this was the way the series was going. But for some reason it felt more incongruous than other dead rising, or the dragons, or the White Walkers, or the actual magic...maybe it was just that I got a Jason and the Argonauts vibe. :)
Anyway, this was a great season. And now I have to wait until next April for the next episode.
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by Wizard Zedd »

I just read an article the other day about how much pop culture influences the names of babies. Apparently Khaleesi is number 18 from the top 100. Personally wouldn't want my daughter to be named after the Mother of Dragons :) I would go for Arya...but then I'm a Stark fan.
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by beowuuf »

Maybe the spoilered incident seemed jarring because it was also an attack out of nowhere anyway, let alone then being so completely supernatural (plus said vibe). The attack out of nowhere was maybe the more jarring thing, as it was like 'why not before' but then you understand that the area after is whwre they cannot go. So it's understandable they basically all are grouped at the entrance to that place. But it only is logical afterwards, I think.
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by Wizard Zedd »

I found that whole scene to be intense and well done. I read the book so knew what was coming - but it wasn't exactly the same which was nice. I like that they change things up a bit so that if you have read the books you don't necessarily know exactly what is going to happen.
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by beowuuf »

Liek a certain battle between two characters in the last episode where you don't want either to die, but they are going at it so ferociously you know one has to :(
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by Wizard Zedd »

Exactly! Couldn't have said it better :)
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by Nymeriaa »

I like this thread! I want to participate but oh_brother's post is all blocked out (I assume due to spoilers?) and the next couple of responses are so vague that it makes me confused lol I know you can't post it because we wouldn't want to spoil anything for anyone... maybe we could start a "Spoiler Alert" thread so things aren't so ambiguous :D

I personally love the GoT book series and TV show, and all the lore behind it. I've read a couple of additional books on top of the Song of Fire and Ice series that discuss the themes or theories about the series, and it would be great to have someone to discuss it with :) (e.g. lets try to guess who Jon Snow's mother is :O)

Anyway, just an idea, either way I will keep coming back to this thread :)
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by Wizard Zedd »

Nymeriaa - If you click on the blacked out spots it will show you the text. I have not read any of the additional books you speak of...can you share the names of them please.
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by Nymeriaa »

Ahhh I'm a noob, didn't know you could uncover the blacked out stuff, that's a neat trick :)

There are 2 additional books I have. The first is "Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, From A Game of Thrones to A Dance with Dragons". There are many authors for this book, each chapter covers a different theme from the series, such as strong female characters, romanticism, and mysteries such as Jon Snow's mother. It is very interesting!

The second is "Legends: Stories By The Masters of Modern Fantasy". This one covers short stories written by several fantasy authors (Stephen King, Orson Scott Card, Robert Jordan, etc...) The chapter written by George R.R. Martin is set about 100 years in the past from the Game of Thrones series and is called "The Hedge Knight". This helped fill the gap while I wait for the next book :)
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by beowuuf »

Both sound very cool :)
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by Wizard Zedd »

Thanks Nymeriaa, I will check them out while waiting for the next book...which seems to be taking FOREVER to come out :)
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by Nymeriaa »

Yes Wizard Zedd, the books are taking forever! At least I just started reading the series about a year ago so I haven't had to wait too long relatively speaking. The first book came out in 1996, think of how long those poor souls have had to wait... maybe thinking about it with that perspective will help ease your stress lol :)
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by Wizard Zedd »

I also just started reading them 1-2 years ago so haven't waited as long as those who started reading when the first book came out. Maybe if I had I would be used to the long wait and wouldn't feel so impatient :)
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Re: Game of Thrones books

Post by johnnystorm »

Oh man I would really like to try reading the books, but I think it's kinda spoiled since I starting watching the TV show. Glad that I read Lord of the Rings before the movies came out!
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