Quote:
Originally Posted by keg in kc
I think the only way that reading the books decreases enjoyment is that basically nothing will surprise you. Any changes they made for TV have so far been cosmetic. Filler, for lack of a better word (specifically thinking of Locke and the extra stuff north of the wall early in the last season, as well as Brianne's current arc). It doesn't actually change anything that happens in any real way, just changes a little bit in terms of how.
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The books and the show are different enough at this point that both are entertaining in their own right and fans would do well to experience both in whatever order they prefer. This is especially true starting with book 3 (Storm of Swords) which has been covered over the last two seasons. Seasons 1 and 2 were closer to books 1 and 2, but the show has diverged a lot from book 3 in the last two seasons.
Some things are better on the show. Tyrion's trial, the fight between the Hound and Brienne which I loved, but which was not in the books at all, etc., but some things are better in the books. For example, they changed Jon's story from book 3 in a LOT of ways, and I thought the book version was better.
To all fans of the show, I would say that it would be well worth it to read book 3, it is a great book. I'd recommend reading them all, but if you wanted to start with book 3, you could get away with that. It would be much harder to try to dive into books 4 and 5 just off watching the show to this point. Book 3 is the latest place you could start and have it still make sense to you what is happening (though there are still a few differences that might be confusing at the beginning of book 3 which I'd be happy to explain if requested by anyone who wants to start with reading book 3 without reading books 1 and 2).
I think show fans would enjoy book 3 a great deal, and there would be a few nice payoffs as there are some things with certain characters that the show has skipped over for some reason, and there are two events at the end of book 3 that have not been covered on the show yet (one of which may be written out of the show completely) which I think would provide a nice payoff for reading through it.
Just my two cents.