We're less than three months away from the April 17 HBO premiere of Game of Thrones, the TV adaptation of George R.R. Martin's bloody tale of medieval war, politics, and deceit. You've seen the trailers and interviews; you're excited. But one giant question remains: should you read the book first?
That decision was made for me several years ago when a friend handed me a paperback copy of A Game of Thrones the week of my first college midterms. If you're reading this, Khaled, those test scores are ON YOUR HANDS. Pressing concerns don't seem quite so important while reading the first book in Martin's as-yet-unfinished A Song of Ice and Fire series, but here are a few reasons why you might consider cracking the cover before the HBO show airs.
If you're reading this then I'm assuming that you either haven't read A Game of Thrones yet or else you're looking for ways to persuade somebody else to read it (or not). Either way, rest assured that this article will be spoiler free, just like grandma's delicious pies.
Why You Should Read the Book:
1) It's damn good
Martin is a good writer. Like, really good. He's that rare author who can juggle dozens of plots and plots-within-plots and make the kings, whores, rebels, and warriors who live in his make-believe land sound and act like real and conflicted human beings. You will sympathize with murderers and cry out in shame at the deeds committed by so-called heroes. A Game of Thrones is a sweeping tale of human nature dressed up in medieval garb, and it's just the first of four equally strong titles in a series that will eventually span seven hefty tomes. Sure you could wait until the TV show runs its course before digging in, but the show covers one book each season and it's been five years (and counting) since the last book, so that could take decades. If you enjoy your fantasy raw and beefy you will devour this book. Why torture yourself by waiting?
2) Get more of the story
I don't mean to don my Captain Obvious leotard here, but reading a book and watching the same story play out on TV are two very different experiences. The book gets inside characters' heads, sharing their thoughts and feelings directly, though their strongest beliefs can (and sometimes do) prove to be terribly wrong, often with fatal consequences. The TV show will have the same –– or at least similar –– gloating, tender, frightened conversations as the book, but due to the nature of the medium, the emotional turmoil twisting a character's face on the show won't convey her thoughts and fears with the same depth as the book does. Also, we know that Martin and the show's other producers plan to emphasize certain developments that aren't as obvious in the book. But only after reading the book will you get the whole picture.
Do you like knowing all of a story's unspoken details? Read the book.
3) You don't have to stop
Perhaps your self control has been welded from carbon steel, and all a cliffhanger ending does is bring a smile to your face with no further notions of finding the next chapter literally spelled out for you. Good for you, you rock. For the rest of you, well, you'll run into that cliff eventually at the end of A Feast for Crows (the fourth and most recently published book), but the sequels show events shattered to a degree difficult to fathom even when standing on the already bloody shards of A Game of Thrones. I'd tell you more, but it'd be infinitely more exhilarating, heart breaking, and terrifying if George R.R. Martin did it instead.
Now I'll flip sides and explain why you shouldn't read A Game of Thrones before April 17. It might not be easy, but there are at least a few reasons why it might make sense for you.
Why You Shouldn't Read the Book:
1) Keep the surprises surprising
More than most fantasy authors, Martin knows how to shock readers. Good guys die, bad guys prosper, and nothing ever works out quite the way you expect. It's a testament to Martin's skill that your classification of who is good and who is evil is always changing, and reading the book will clue you in to every scheme, betrayal, and death. If you want to encounter the TV show while fresh as powdered snow, don't read the book.
2) Avoid the competition with your imagination
HBO's rumored budget for Game of Thrones is on par with blockbusters like Torchwood and Lost (at least the first season, anyway). Critics who have previewed exclusive screenings have said that the production values are, at times, amazing. But even an episode budget north of $5 million can't match the unlimited resources of your imagination while under Martin's expert directions. No matter how lavish and resourceful the show's producers are, the coups, tourneys, and sea battles that fill AGoT's pages will always be more completely realized in your noggin'. If you're worried about the HBO show falling short of preconceived expectations, you might want to skip the book.
3) You won't notice what's wrong
This is actually a spinoff of No. 2, though there I was talking about a matter of degree and now I'm referring to differences in interpretation, such as the way characters look and speak. I'm not saying that Martin (who is a co-executive producer of the show) will make a mistake in adapting his opus to the TV screen, but it stands to reason that the way an actor speaks his character's "native" language could sound wrong after spending hundreds of pages imagining that same language in your head with a completely different accent. Or, to use another example, the difference between an actresses's eyebrows and our own reading of a description might mar our complete immersion within the show.
Are two eyebrows enough to ruin the show? Very unlikely. But find enough discrepancies with your interpretations and soon you may find yourself complaining about the way the show is supposed to be rather than sitting back and enjoying the saga unfold on your screen.
When it comes down to it, I hope that there is no wrong answer for anyone debating whether to read A Game of Thrones before watching the HBO show. After having read the books, I find myself looking forward to the show in a way that I doubt will be shared by people who haven't read them. Still, commiting to the show may require a little more faith for those people but my hope is that GoT ultimately proves itself worth watching even to folks who say they hate fantasy fiction. Perhaps my next article on the series will have to be on how to persuade your friends to give A Game of Thrones a chance in any format. What would you say, and getting back to the original question, which will you go with first, the book or the show? Let me know in the comments and tell me any other arguments that I missed.
Click here if you need yet more Game of Thrones news, including a list of scenes that I desperately hope make the show.
Follow me on Twitter @mattmarquez
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