My recent dissapontment with HBO’s treatment of season 2 of Game of Thrones prompted me to write a review of the A Song of Fire and Ice series by George R.R. Martin. I will admit I was not aware of this series before the HBO show but the first season was so amazing that I decided to pick it up.
The first season is pretty true to the book. I think the only big difference I noticed about the book vs show for the first season was hearing the characters’ thoughts. In the TV show most subtleties have to been spelled out since soliloquies aren’t popular any more.
I read through all 5 currently available books in the sesries before the second season and was really looking forward to it. There was so much amazing stuff that was going to happen and I was looking forward to how HBO portrayed it. In the end I had to wait weeks between episodes because wastching 2 in a row made me furious.
I’m not usually one to preach on how books are better than TV/movies but in this case I feel you would be doing yourself a disservice if you are a fan of the world/characters and you didn’t read the books.
The books are more powerful and really bring you in to care about these characters and their journeys. There were characters I didn’t like in the beginning that I ended up rooting for and one I liked that I ended up hating. I felt drawn into the world and found myself caring about the choices the charaters made.
I will go so far as to say that I think this might be a better story that Lord of the Rings (which in some circles will get you an arrow to the knee). LOTR is a fantastic story and a must read for any fantasy fan, but I felt the characters in A Song of Fire and Ice series were easier to identify with. LOTR keeps their characters on a pedastal where its hard to imagine yourself in that situation.
There are some problems with the Song of Fire and Ice books. I feel that some of the women in the story are portrayed very flat or in a way where you can very clearly tell its a man writing about how he thinks women feel/act but its biased by his stereotypes. Obviously the unfinished nature of the series is an issue as well, especially now that show has come out and changed some of the events. The story telling style and flow change from book to book as well, which although expected from any new author, can be jarring at times.
All in all I would recommend A Song of Fire and Ice series to any fantasy fan, whether or not you watch the HBO show. It was the first series to make me feel so strongly about the differences between its book and tv counterparts and any work of fiction that can provoke such an emotional reaction is worth a read.
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