How far along can I read?

meoklmrk91

I recently started reading the first book after watching the show for years, had been meaning to get into them. Anyways I just want to know how far along I can read without ruining the show for myself, which is something I really do not want to do?

Witcher

The show still has some sections from the end of the third book to do yet.

You could read A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings and the first half of A Storm of Swords.

Son0vagun

Safe to read to the final chapter of ASoS, don't read the final chapter

Witcher

Son0vagun wrote: »

Safe to read to the final chapter of ASoS, don't read the final chapter

You'd want to stop a few chapters before that.

Son0vagun

Blay wrote: »

You'd want to stop a few chapters before that.

Nah he'd be grand. Just don't read the epilogue!

Witcher

Son0vagun wrote: »

Nah he'd be grand. Just don't read the epilogue!

Jon's election is about 3/4 chapters from the end.

Son0vagun

Blay wrote: »

Jon's election is about 3/4 chapters from the end.

Yea he might want to skip that one

Shazbot

It's too hard to predict where to stop. The show doesn't follow the books accurately since season 2. Characters are missing, story lines are added and removed. Some stories from A Dance with Dragons have made it into the show such as Theon and Bran. However, there are still plenty of things that haven't been touched in the 3rd and 4th books.

Why would you bother reading the books up until the show anyway? Just read all the books and enjoy the story.

Burt Macklin

Good luck trying to stop once you've started. I originally planned to read the first two books between season 3 and 4 and ended up reading all five pretty quickly.

The books are their own entity anyway, and in my experience reading them doesn't detract from enjoyment of the show.

meoklmrk91

Burt Macklin wrote: »

Good luck trying to stop once you've started. I originally planned to read the first two books between season 3 and 4 and ended up reading all five pretty quickly.

The books are their own entity anyway, and in my experience reading them doesn't detract from enjoyment of the show.

Thanks lads. I really enjoy the surprises in the show but if their aren't staying as faithful then it might not be as much of an issue, ill keep reading and see how I go. @Burt Macklin good to hear that it doesn't stop you enjoying the show, this was my worry. BTW, ace username!

Liam O

meoklmrk91 wrote: »

Thanks lads. I really enjoy the surprises in the show but if their aren't staying as faithful then it might not be as much of an issue, ill keep reading and see how I go. @Burt Macklin good to hear that it doesn't stop you enjoying the show, this was my worry. BTW, ace username!

There are a lot of people who don't enjoy the show because of the books too. If you read Harry Potter and liked the films it would be kind of like that, a lot of rush jobs on things that you pictured differently and such.

meoklmrk91

Liam O wrote: »

There are a lot of people who don't enjoy the show because of the books too. If you read Harry Potter and liked the films it would be kind of like that, a lot of rush jobs on things that you pictured differently and such.

Okay now that's an entirely different kettle of fish, I have read and re-read the Harry Potter books on many occasions and while I have come to enjoy the films in their own right I was seriously pissed after watching the first few in the cinema(stopped going after that).

Liam O

meoklmrk91 wrote: »

Okay now that's an entirely different kettle of fish, I have read and re-read the Harry Potter books on many occasions and while I have come to enjoy the films in their own right I was seriously pissed after watching the first few in the cinema(stopped going after that).

Yes, imagine the characters that don't appear and overly rushed dialogue from those and multiply it by a fair bit. They have 6, 7, 8 more hours a season than most of the HP films so there's more content but the world is so much deeper it's still nowhere near enough.

That's not to say that I don't recommend the books to a high degree, but if you are enjoying the show maybe wait another 2-3 years until it wraps up before going on. I wouldn't be able to, there were the first 2 seasons of the show that I was recommended but went for the books instead, knowing because of the whole HP thing that they'd probably be far superior.

The show has some good aspects but I can't get over the changes, some can but I'm not one of them and wont be watching again (hopefully) until the next books come out. That said I like the books so much that getting even a masochistic fix may seem like a good idea next year, its getting to the stage now where they are probably going to be spoiling a lot from the last 2 books so it'll be easier for me avert my attention.

SeantheMan

Shazbot wrote: »

It's too hard to predict where to stop. The show doesn't follow the books accurately since season 2. Characters are missing, story lines are added and removed. Some stories from A Dance with Dragons have made it into the show such as Theon and Bran. However, there are still plenty of things that haven't been touched in the 3rd and 4th books.

Why would you bother reading the books up until the show anyway? Just read all the books and enjoy the story.

I agree,
Just read all the books and enjoy them.
The series doesn't start again till April 2015......are you really gonna sit around and wait while you have the answers to all your questions in the palm of your hands ?

hardCopy

If you read the first two books you'll find it hard to stop, there's so much more going on in the books that you'll be tempted over to the dark side and want to continue reading.