A Game of Thrones
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Which was better: TV Serial Or The Book?
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Mohit
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Aug 14, 2012 03:20AM
I am a huge fan of this series(both versions), but can't help notice that there are some difference in the story-line of both versions. So, I hereby make this thread for discussion of the book and the both the seasons of the books in TV format, about their pros & cons, and at last which one is better.
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I read the book first and than started watching the TV series (haven't finished watching the first season). I have to say I was disappointed. I felt that some characters in the book(Daenerys, Cersei) were more dynamic and intriguing than the actors who portray them.
Of course the books will definitely be better in terms fantasies like aSoIaF. BUT, I equally love them. I think the series offers a different take.Instead of being critical, I actually appreciate how they adapt the events in the novels, especially the settings and locations. Some bits and places in the novel are a bit difficult to imagine, so the TV series helps with that I think. I always look forward to the new episodes because I always wonder, "Oh I wonder how they'll do the battle of blackwater," or "I wonder what they're planning about Ramsay, why is he still not appearing? When will they introduce him?"
Both are great!
Erika Etherviere wrote: "Of course the books will definitely be better in terms fantasies like aSoIaF. BUT, I equally love them. I think the series offers a different take.Instead of being critical, I actually appreciate..."
Yeah both are great, its always nice to watch your fav novel (in my case) to come alive but, after watching some episodes I came to understand that there was HUGE difference b/w the script & novel. Spoiler Alert!! But just see the last 10 sec of the last episode of season 02, where did it come from!
I should start out by saying I haven't seen any of the 2nd season (but did see the 1st & have read through the books)... I really enjoyed the books - in fact, they're on my to-read-again-someday list. I also enjoyed the 1st series; I thought it was well done - with the exception of a lot of explicit sex. I know the books weren't "frigid" in this regard, but I don't remember them being so over the top as the series seemed.
I am glad I read the book before watching the series; I watched it w/ my hubby (who's not a big reader & hadn't read the books), and he was lost a lot of the time as to who was what & what was going on. There are a ton of characters to try to translate on screen & keep track of.
Mohit wrote: "Erika Etherviere wrote: "Of course the books will definitely be better in terms fantasies like aSoIaF. BUT, I equally love them. I think the series offers a different take.Instead of being critic..."
I agree. However, there were certainly nice touches exclusive to the series: Stannis and Arya's scenes together :) I actually loved that. :D
My biggest season 2 disappointment was probably the part about Dany's dragons being stolen. WTF? And the visions she saw in the House of the Undying. Total letdown.
I'm still waiting for Ramsay to appear. I hope they're not planning to delete his character altogether?!!
In fact, there seems not to be too much difference between the novels and the TV series. I believe the producers took great care to draw a parallel between the two. And of course, the effective quality of visual media helps imagining the environment and the story more crystal clear. None the less,the 'original story' of Martin is much more captivating and ruling.
I was really not bothered about the end of the second sseason, maybe because I alredy knew what was going to happen from the book, but either way. I think the books are better, still I expect the next season to be absolutely awesome, you know, the red wedding and stuff ;)
Kevs wrote: "I was really not bothered about the end of the second sseason, maybe because I alredy knew what was going to happen from the book, but either way. I think the books are better, still I expect the n..."Thats what exciting, with all this much story-changing I don't know how they are going to show the red wedding! Maybe it will happen somewhere else, or who knows not at all.
Tv series are made solely for entertainment, so now with the Zombie party already at the WALL, where are the wilding going to go? Hmm....whatever happens, its going to be interesting.
The books! I began reading the series when it first came out, and each time a new book in the series would come out, I would go back and re-read from the beginning. I know each time I have read the books I pick up on something I had not caught before. While, the tv series is a nice visual experience (not always matching what I envisioned when reading), it just is not capable of being as complex and layered as the books are.
The others/wights aren't at the wall, they are storming the Fist of the First Men. This happens in the opening chapter of the third book. I really enjoyed the first season. it was concise, yet followed the source material closely—even taking some of the dialogue directly from the book. The second season was confusing. It didn't seem to follow the source material, and in fact took some vast liberties with the chronology, story arcs and even character development and motivations.
I didn't care for how much of Dany's story they changed. The House of the Undying, Xaro, nearly all of Qarth was wrong. And, the visions/prophecies she was privy to are currently missing completely. For me, Daenerys is one of the least interesting characters in the books. However, that said her chapters in Clash of Kings are exceptional and incredibly vital to her story arc, and likely to the entire progression of the overall plot.
I also, wasn't impressed with the new version of events involving Jon and Craster, and later with Ygritte and Quorin. Those felt chaotic, confusing, and completely unnecessary and out of character. I'm not certain how it benefits them to cut certain parts due to time and budgetary constraints only to add in superfluous scenes which deviate from the intent of the books.
All that said, I did enjoy Harrenhal, and Jaqen H'gar was intriguing. Though much of the story was changed there, it ultimately made more sense because they've had to condense and summarize the events at Harrenhal to cut down on scenes and cast members. I liked some of the added scenes between Robb and Talisa (why isn't she Jeyne?), and Arya and Tywin. I loved the shadow creatures and The battle of the Blackwater was nearly pitch perfect (no doubt because it was writen by Martin himself).
I'm hoping that with the third season being split they will focus more on the intricate details and character interactions that occur in the books rather than skip over them in favor of ham-fisted adaptations that never took place.
I like the adaptation. I felt it was very close, especially in the first season. I just wish they could've added more background, such as further explaining Roberts Rebellion, and discussing Lyanna and Rheagar a bit more in depth. Other than that and The House of the Undying, I have no complaints with the show.
I find the differences between the books and the episodes quite entertaining, mostly because you get to experience the same idea, but from two visions.. they will alter some of the scenes, but I hope the final outcome will be the same.
The series is amazingbut the book captures the characters in a way the show never will be able to.
so, the book, indefinitely outdoes the show in every way.
but i say this in a scale of the show being a 10/10
and the book being a 15/10
both good, book better.
I love the books, but the adaptation is terrific. The writers really nailed it. And what a tough job! But it does help to read the books. We watched it on DVD which made it alot easier for my husband (who has not read the books) to keep up. :)
the book hands down. I do enjoy the show because I really like the visual. I wish the show would follow all the book details though.
I saw a few parts of some episodes before reading the books. The books were an absolute delight to read but the episodes were a frikkin porno. I mean there's a thing called as abre minimum of clothes
I read the first book and watched the first series show.... Prefer the book
I'm up to book three and so far I love both series and the books, so I would say both are equally epic, and I can't wait for season three of the tv series.
Definitely the books. the Show limits the character development.
I think the books have more substance to them, but they can be daunting especially if you're not used to epic fantasy.Let's be honest, they're huge, they have so many characters and houses and political and historical details, that it can take a lot of effort to get to the point where you remember and recognise who people are and why they're important.
The TV series makes the books MUCH more accessible imo. If you want even just a few episodes of season 1, then start reading, it makes it much easier to digest without trying to commit so much information to memory all at once.
Jonsnow3x wrote: "Definitely the books. the Show limits the character development."How exactly does the show limit character development? I love the books, but I found that several non-viewpoint characters were more developed and nuanced than in the books, which tend to ignore them in favour of the viewpoint characters. For example, Cersei, Robert, Viserys, and to a lesser extent, Jorah, Theon and Renly. (This is when comparing Book 1 to Season 1 of the show, btw.)
I am currently on book 5, I started reading them in July after watching both series 1 and 2 for the third time, I think HBO have done a brilliant job and I am really looking forward to the next one but I had to read the books and I havent been able to put them down except for the times when things happened like the red wedding where I was so upset I had to walk away from reading it to get over it. I know they have changed some things and some of them do seem silly, like Robbs marriage, you wonder what signifigance that will have in the series as compared to the book but all in all I love both versions in their own right.
I actually did not love season 1. I read the first book a few years ago because my craving for the Wheel of Time series was reaching a new low, and my cousin handed me A Game of Thrones just to quiet me down for a bit. I didn't love it enough to get my hands on the second book.I didn't remember a lot from the novel, other then Ned's fate, so the show was still something new for me. I thought it was too slow in the beginning. Although being a huge, HUGE fan of Stanley Kubrick, I appreciate great direction when I can, and I have to say the show is beautifully directed!
The second season I loved! I already knew the entire storyline (wikileaks, because I didn't want to read the huge books), but they still managed to surprise me, to make me happy even with storylines I already knew.
As for Dany's story, it's so much more interesting than it is in the book (talking about the second season here). Even though I did find it stupid, but if they hadn't, everybody would have been bored with Dany.
Second season finale: (view spoiler)
I watched season One before I read any of the books. I still like the tv series' but I much prefer the books. Richer by far-more intense suspense and multi faceted characters You are still able to find sympathy for "bad" characters (except Joffrey)Also The violence though more extreme/horrific in the books is much easier for me to handle than on the screen. It's one of the reasons I started to read the books so I'd know when to hide...when season two came on I found I was expecting worse than what appeared.
I can't imagine that Arya will be done enough justice on tv and I don't think that Brienne or Jaime Lannister have the same chemistry on tv.
But..I love the visuals and most of the new characters are as I imagined.
I too liked the Tywin-Arya stuff although I don't want to like him.
I would say that I liked the show and the book as separate entities. I miss the depth that characters like Cersei and co. had in the books but I think the show did a great job at making an entertaining, beautifully shot + costumed fantasy series.
Though Ive only seen season 1 and the first half of season 2, I have read all of the books that have been released and to be perfectly honest I favour the show. To me the story has more life and purpose in the show and the characters have so much more energy. Particularly Robb Stark, Daenerys and Tyrion. Will be interesting to see what the show does from book four onwards. The story is carried by an almost completely different set of characters than in the first three books and i'm not sure how the show will fill in the gaps without losing audiences who dislike constant cast changes and storylines without closure. Im not entirely convinced that it will work on screen.
Davytron wrote: "I would say that I liked the show and the book as separate entities. I miss the depth that characters like Cersei and co. had in the books but I think the show did a great job at making an entertai..."Cersei had depth in the first two books? I must have blinked and missed it. If you're talking about later books (I haven't read them yet, though I do know that Cersei becomes a viewpoint character in the later ones), then it's not really a fair comparison, as those seasons of the show haven't been made yet.
IMO, Cersei had far more depth on the show than in the books: in the show, she comes off as a woman who has become bitter after being trapped in a loveless marriage to a man who openly cheats on her and is in love with a dead woman; in the books (once again, I'm referring only to the first two), she simply seems like a horrible person with no inner life.
İ like them both. In fact I started reading books after watching the series. I'm grateful to HBO for that. The only thing I don't like about the show is that there's nothing about Rhaegar Targaryen there. They rarely mention him or Lyanna in TV series. This is weird because I think these two, especially Rhaegar are one of the most important characters in the whole series.
William wrote: "Though Ive only seen season 1 and the first half of season 2, I have read all of the books that have been released and to be perfectly honest I favour the show. To me the story has more life and pu..."I like the HBO shows equally as well. I agree about Robb Stark, Daenerys and Tyrion. Daenerys went from being one of my least favorite to one of my more favorite.
Someone posted that Book 3 was going to be divided into 2 seasons and Books 4 and 5 combined into a season so all the characters would have continued roles.
Narmin wrote: "İ like them both. In fact I started reading books after watching the series. I'm grateful to HBO for that. The only thing I don't like about the show is that there's nothing about Rhaegar Targaryen..."You're right - it would have been nice to see Rhaegar Targaryen, maybe during the battle between him and Robert, as a flashback. But I think it's a conscious choice on the show to avoid flashbacks. All the backstory is told almost exclusively through dialogue. And Rhaegar has no chance of appearing in the present story, of course.
book, since i dont have tv
Kerry wrote: "William wrote: "Though Ive only seen season 1 and the first half of season 2, I have read all of the books that have been released and to be perfectly honest I favour the show. To me the story has ..."Yeah I still don't know though. I hope that it works but with the storyline the way it is in the later books, I would bet my magic monkey paw that they are going to chop and change quite a bit of it.
Mitali wrote: "Davytron wrote: "I would say that I liked the show and the book as separate entities. I miss the depth that characters like Cersei and co. had in the books but I think the show did a great job at m..."I meant that the character of Cersei had more depth in the novel because we didn't get a POV picture of her right away. We knew that she goes to great lengths for her purposes, people fear her, and she is constantly scheming and foiling the "heroes." Coupled with that we knew enough about her based on her interactions with the other POV characters, until her POV comes in. In the show they reduce her to a babbling incompetent woman who is outsmarted at every turn, basically. Granted there are some decisions she makes later on that suggest she can be quite narrowly focused, but I never considered her incompetent. Also the actress that plays her needs to do a little more than smirk and wear crazy ass hair pieces with weirdly mismatched hair and eyebrows to convey the BAMF that is Cersei.
Of course this is all my opinion and it's heavily biased because I lurv Cersei. hah
I like both. The books are such an incredible amount of detail, characters, and scenes, they could never adapt all of that exactly to television. Not anything that any but a very few would watch. Vast difference between reading (you see the book and know you're in for something dense; in other words, prepared for the long journey) and viewing from your couch every Sunday night. Entirely different things.
I feel as long as it follows the important parts of plot, ie, gets us where GRRM is going, and keeps characters "in character" then they're doing pretty well.
Add the actors and the look of this series, and I'd say they're doing pretty darned well.
A series that went far, far off the rails from books is True Blood. GoT is exact, by comparison.
(I actually enjoy True Blood. It's become its own thing.)
Davytron wrote: "Mitali wrote: "Davytron wrote: "I would say that I liked the show and the book as separate entities. I miss the depth that characters like Cersei and co. had in the books but I think the show did a..."Cersie better die... in a fire!
BOOKS ARE ALWAYS BETTER. I haven't found a single exception.
The television show actually introduced me to the books and I hope it does the same for more people.
I am currently about 500 pages in to A Storm of Swords. I can not wait for Joffrey to die!
If the books can only be a 10 then the tv series is a 3. And I LOVE the tv series! Exception to the books are always better rule: Sookie Stackhouse books vs True Blood
The only thing I liked better in the show was the battle of Blackwater especially the part where Cercei tells Tommen a story about mother lion and her cub. I love that scene. I've probably watched it hundred times.
I began the HBO series on my son's recommendation, and enjoyed Season 1 very much. Again, on his recommendation, I got "Game of Thrones" from the library and was riveted. I appreciated how much the book paralleled the TV series. Then I began watching Season 2, and feel flummoxed and disoriented. As I am currently reading "Clash of Kings", I feel I should go back and watch each episode again; maybe I'll better understand what is going on. I also must say I found myself confusing some of the male characters for each other; many have similar looks.
Josh wrote: "The others/wights aren't at the wall, they are storming the Fist of the First Men. This happens in the opening chapter of the third book. I really enjoyed the first season. it was concise, yet fo..."
You pretty much said EXACTLY what I wanted to say about every little change in the TV series!
I was turned on to the book series after I watched the first season. I then devoured all the books - and can't watch the series anymore:-)
I've read the books three times and can't get enough. I truly enjoyed the first season of the show. In the second season I was a little worried with the way the story line around Gendry and Robert's bastards started to play out, then when they first introduced Asha my wife and I both groaned and haven't turned it on since.I understand the series can never follow the books exactly nor portray the characters the same as the books, but with Martin being an on-set adviser I expected a lot better quality than what they put out.
And I second others comments about all of the sex. I love sex and all, it's not that, it just wasn't in the books and comes across purely as gratuitous to run up ratings like so many other pay TV series - True Blood, Spartacus, etc.
I love both the books and the tv series. HBO has done a wonderful job with it, and any changes were made with GRRM's knowledge/approval. So whether we like it, agree with it, or think it whould have been done, it was done, and it makes for a wonderful experience^_^
Oh, and GRRM said in a panel at MisCon that he loves gratuitous sex. So that explains a lot too^_^
Jeff wrote: "I've read the books three times and can't get enough. I truly enjoyed the first season of the show. In the second season I was a little worried with the way the story line around Gendry and Robert'..."Just out of curiosity - what was your problem with Asha's introduction? It's pretty much the same as in the book (though Asha's name is changed - is that your problem?), only streamlined a bit keeping in mind time constraints for the show.
I am on book 3 and just saw the first season HBO series. I would have missed a lot just watching the show. Although, I thought the 1k pages a bit much I am hooked now.
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