Game of Thrones TV show to go ahead without the books

[Ryme]

I divorced the TV show and the Books towards the end of season three in my head, they've been drifting further apart as time goes on for a while now, I just consider the TV an inspired tale based upon the arc of the books.

[Deleted]

Yeah, we knew this by season 3. Everything has been fast tracked already. Which isn't too bad, I hated the most recent books of the series.

It could go either way, honestly. We will have to see if the showrunners can function and create a good show without all of GRRM countless ideas and stories. I also hope that if they do this they really go their own way. It'd be cool to have two endings just in case one of them sucks.

[Independent voter]

I guess I'm childish and don't want to wait for the books, I want to see the TV show whether or not the written series is finished.

[KrazyK923]

I don't necessarily see this as a problem, however where I do see potential issues arising is whether or not the TV show creators use GRRM's ideas. For those who are unaware, GRRM told the HBO show creators the basic story beats of the entire series, including the last two books not released.

So I could envision a scenario where the show ends up spoiling large portions of the books that aren't even out yet.

Oh well.

[Adam Jensen]

In part I'm glad because the Red Wedding, to me, wasn't as HOLY SHIT as it could have been if I didn't know (by reading the books) it was coming. Don't get me wrong, it was well done and heartwrenching, but the surprise of it all was lost on me.

But I also feel the books covered some areas better than the TV show. Robb's reasons for breaking his oath to Walder Frey in the book, makes more sense than it does in the show. It's still stupid, but it's more Ned Stark kind of stupid rather than just stupid. In the book, he takes an arrow in a battle and has his wounds tended by Jeyne Westerling, who he later sleeps with. In order to maintain her honor, he weds her. In the show, he simply falls in love and breaks his oath. The book showed that he was his father's son, that he had that same rigorous drive to adhere to honor no matter the cost and it kills him. So in the book, it works better.

[Deleted]

I stopped reading at the devastation of fans. Let me just say, the way Tyrion killed Shae in the book was just stupid compared to the series. The series did it in such a more believable and real way. The way I read it, Shae basically committed suicide and was rather stupid. In the show she instantly knew what was happening and fought for her life, lost.. but fought.

That's wrong

In the book Tyrion and Shae are just a man and a prostitute, With her saying all the right things and tyrion knowing she is just lying and not the woman he actually loved. She's not some naive child who thinks someone of tyrions position will love her, Shes the one using him. In the books she was the one getting the best of Tyrion, In the show she acts on stupidity, In the books ambition and self preservation.

[Kathranis]

Only Season 4, Season 5 doesn't start until September or something - plus an entire season is only like 7 hours

April, and a full season of GoT is a little over 10 hours.

[Jackmoves]

Well, one doesn't have to watch the TV show. So book lovers can choose not to.

[Bakis]

Only Season 4, Season 5 doesn't start until September or something - plus an entire season is only like 7 hours

Ah thats doable maybe at easter

[Deleted]

Well, one doesn't have to watch the TV show. So book lovers can choose not to.

Which honestly sounds more and more tempting, or rather... watching the show as an alternate universe fanfic. I mean it's still quite entertaining, even if it does occasionall misinterpret what the characters are supposed to be like.

[Cerilis]

Aw, screw this sugar. Could probably burn my books now right away and don't bother buying the new ones, some scumbag on the Internet will spoil me anyway. Why couldn't they just leave book series alone until they are finished instead of turning them in a popularity-driven porn TV Drama? For the Glory of Money, I guess.

/rant

[Deleted]

CALLED IT, that or that Martin IS going to write the books according to the reaction to the series because the series make him shittons of money and put him in the eye of the public

Came across an IGN interview earlier today which confirmed that the TV show will be going ahead of the books in terms of story and content, effectively divorcing the series from its source material and creating its own unique story (albeit with George RR Martins plot designs in mind).

Obviously, this has a lot of people feeling very different things. Fans of the books are devastated the storyline will be ruined, fans of the show finally can get back at the fans of the books that have been spoiling things for them for years.

And that's a grand total of 10 people?

[Mormolyce]

Hard to say if I think that's a good thing or a bad thing, because AFoC and ADwD were terrible.

It is utterly ridiculous though. Not only is he taking decades to write the rest of the series, the plot ground to a fucking halt for the last two (massive) books. Over 2,000 pages of NOTHING HAPPENING and then 10 cliffhangers right at the end, and then 5 years and counting until the next book...

He had what, 7 series worth of time to finish the last two books before the show caught up?

Speaking of Shae in the books.. Did she "commit suicide" by a stupid hook-up with Tywin... or was she planted in his bed by Varys or someone else, knowing that Tyrion would find her there and lose it? Or, for that matter, was she a 'double-agent' of Tywin's the entire time?

Remains a mystery to me.

Martin's books have been pretty hot among the fantasy crowd since they were first released. I'd say the first time I heard of them was sometime in '02, but several people in my circle already knew about them. WoW is probably more based off of Martin's books than you may realize, Eastern Kingdoms being Westeros and Kalimdor being the lands across the narrow sea. Horse lords and centaurs, anyone? Giant ass walls in the north to protect from impending undead invasion from a frozen northern wasteland... I could go on, but in vanilla people would point out to me just how so many small things in WoW were ripped straight from the books.

Two continents across a sea are pretty much universal in fantasy. Really, really reaching with this stuff.

Warcraft is pretty much straight Warhammer/D&D (Blizzard originally approached Games Workshop to make a Warhammer game before making Warcraft 1), which of course is straight Tolkien.

I quit the show after 5 eps season 1 cos it was fairly good and I hate waiting a week for the next ep.

As someone who read the books I'm laughing like a lunatic with tears streaming down my face after reading this.

- - - Updated - - -

And speaking of "not trusting Martin"... I'm not sure I trust him to finish them as he originally intended. I think some things, like, for example, R+L=J were intended as awesome reveals when he started, but as the series has grown (in several ways) and as time has gone on, readers have figured it out, and, from Martin's perspective "ruined the surprise". So now, I'm wondering if he's not planning on abandoning his planned arcs in favor of different ones, "for effect". In effect, I'm fearing that Mr. Martin will sort-of pre-emptively pull a massive George Lucas on his masterpiece.

This concerns me also, since he did such a fantastic job of subtly setting it up in a non-obvious way in the books.

But of course the MASSIVE intervening time and the power of the internet have exposed any secrets the books might hold.

He better not change it, I WILL be mad.

[Rukh]

This should probably be in the forum for cinema/music/tv shows.

[ItachiZaku]

I just need them to kill off that annoying Arya and i'll be pretty ok with just about anything they do. So many of my favorites are still alive (I really only "lost" Tywin from amongst my favorites), that one of them finishing with the crown is almost a certainty.

[Mormolyce]

I don't like GRRM's last book of GoT. Personally I think that when he started getting involved with the series he started writing half-assedly.
May be the series will be better (thanks to the talent of the actors).

Nah, it started to really drag its feet in AFoC, I thought this might be because he split the narrative in two in that weird way, but even when they come back together in the last half of ADwD it's still really poorly paced and spiralling out of control.

In part I'm glad because the Red Wedding, to me, wasn't as HOLY SHIT as it could have been if I didn't know (by reading the books) it was coming. Don't get me wrong, it was well done and heartwrenching, but the surprise of it all was lost on me.

But I also feel the books covered some areas better than the TV show. Robb's reasons for breaking his oath to Walder Frey in the book, makes more sense than it does in the show. It's still stupid, but it's more Ned Stark kind of stupid rather than just stupid. In the book, he takes an arrow in a battle and has his wounds tended by Jeyne Westerling, who he later sleeps with. In order to maintain her honor, he weds her. In the show, he simply falls in love and breaks his oath. The book showed that he was his father's son, that he had that same rigorous drive to adhere to honor no matter the cost and it kills him. So in the book, it works better.

Eh, I got my fill of horrible gutwrench in the books :P

I thought the replacement of Jeyne Westerling with some generic anachronistic fantasy woman was pretty uninspired.

Maybe I'm a pedant but honestly I can't think of anything the show changed that was better than the original. And the books weren't perfect.

And that's a grand total of 10 people?

What is with this attitude? The books have a huge readership. They're better, by the way. Except that the last two suck.

The show did an admirable job of adapting many aspects of the books and some of the actors and actresses really did a great job, but it's still a pale shadow.

[Nachturnal]

Considering I haven't read the books, I guess I'm fine with it. Can't really be mad over something I haven't delved into.

[WingsofLiberty]

It might sound funny, but in GoT's case, I've always found that the TV show is actually much better than the books, somewhat more realistic and with far less plot holes.

I read them all until 'A Feast for Crows' and I've always thought G.R.R Martin's writing was lacking essence.

Obviously, the TV show has its fair share of blemishes but overall the quality was higher imo.(and that's coming from someone who absolutely despises movie adaptions of books).

[Mormolyce]

It might sound funny, but in GoT's case, I've always found that the TV show is actually much better than the books, somewhat more realistic and with far less plot holes.

I think the complete opposite is the case.

[CptEgo]

In my opinion (which is usually hotly contested) the books are a meandering, poorly worded mess. George RR Martin writes interesting stories and characters but on a structural and line by line level he comes off as pretty amateur.

The show is the best thing that could happen to the series, it took his poorly designed story arcs and thinly written characters and actually made sense of them and gave people equal time in the limelight.

There is a reason sales for the book hit platinum after the show was released, despite the book being out for some 10 years before it.

LOL, the show is more 'structured' than the books, oh my fucking God. I am not going to read those books then, my head would explode. The shows storyline and characters already makes me dizzy..