Then you likely have more willpower than most.

I think if you have watched the show and think it is deep and interesting, and you want to get a better understanding of both the characters and their interactions, and the larger world in which they live, then I wholeheartedly suggest you read the books. As always, you just get MORE with books. More detail and a deeper understanding.

You will also learn about characters who barely appear in the television series, if at all, who were cut or reduced due to time constraints.

It's a very good series of books, so go for it!

IMHO the goal would be to just get MORE of it. I try to remember that books versus tv/movies have different limitations and don't have to be EXACTLY the same story, so enjoy it for what it is.

If you just want to know more about what/why and get more insight into everything, then why not pick up the books?

I'm wrapping up The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break, so maybe I'll start that next.

I read the first two after last season. I was told book 3 had some of this season in it so I held off. I'll probably read book 3 when I hit a withdraw in a couple weeks.

I've only read the first 3. (and less than half of the 4th) Book 3 is the best, by far IMO. 1,000 plus pages and it's entertaining all the way through.

The books are worth reading for sure. I can't remember ever enjoying a book more than I enjoyed book 3 when I read it. They got almost 20 hours of TV out of that one book, which says a lot.

I will say that book 1 mirrors season 1 very closely, but books 2 and 3 diverge enough from the books that they are interesting as a completely separate story at this point. Same characters, and they end up basically at the same places in the end (mostly), but the stories are very different now and they are clearly separate entities at this point. Nothing drove that point home more than this last episode. Plus there are a lot of cool things in the books that they just have not taken time to develop at all on the show. Backstories, hints about things, aspects of characters that the show has ignored, etc. I won't list examples, though it is tempting to do so.

Anyway, I would advise reading the books and enjoying them as a different version of the story, a more detailed and nuanced version, but very entertaining. Also, if you read books 4 and 5, I would advise reading them together at the same time like one big book. Just google a chapter list to read them together. I think it is a lot more enjoyable that way given the weird structure of those two books.

Book 3 is one of the best novels I've ever read, in any genre.

That was some incredible TV. Holy shit. That episode had me on edge the entire time.

Agreed. Read the books. But don't read to just get spoilers and find out what happens next.

Start from book 1. There are many details in the books that will enrich your understanding of the TV series.

Books 4 and 5 cover a lot of the same material and plots. After the height that book 3 reached I felt that books 4 and 5 meandered down paths that were too laborious and a harder read than books 1-3. Still fantastic writing.

We probably shouldn't say anything about books 4 and 5 in this thread, even in vague terms.

Yep.

http://uproxx.files.wordpress.com/20...weet.jpg?w=650

LMAO

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So what's up with the dragons? Are we meant to believe that she's going to let them die in that dungeon and hunt down and kill the other one? Or is she just keeping them there so they don't eat any more 3 year olds?

Haven't read the books, but I think she is chaining them to reign them in. It broke her heart to do it, but she couldn't risk them killing anyone. No way she was just killing off 2 of the three most compelling plot devices in the show.

This. And the irony is just too much to pass up. My god. The symmetry of the irony is beyond beautiful.

I've been busier than **** and just got around to seeing this. What an episode. Man. I really thought Jamie or Cersi would kill Tywin. That whole scene was spectacular. I didn't catch that Shae was working for Tywin this whole time. Brutal. Awful. And then Tyrian killed her. Awesome.

I was legitimately sad about the hound. What a brutal way to go (what a fight scene btw!). He was mired in Douchery, but I had come to like him. And Arya killing that fat bastard that said he was going to rape her through the heart, but leaving Sandor to bleed out because he wanted to watch over her (no one left to give him gold for her). Wow. That's really something.

Not real sure what Stannis is going to do now, although when that wildling took a run at him and got absolutely mowed down by a knight at full tilt, I laughed hard. My guess is he gets crunched by the white walkers.

That scene between Jon and Mance was spectacular. Really really good. Really added a lot of depth to Mance's character and cause.