I mean, I’m on the edge of my seat here, I’m so ready for this show to start the new season!
My sister recently bought the entire series so far so we can start reading it. I tried to start the first book when it was released — I pre-ordered it for the husband of a friend who was constantly looking for new books, and I’d heard things about GRR Martin that made me think the series would be right up his alley. He read it, loved it and loaned it to me, but after the prologue, I realised there was no magic in the book and lost interest within the first chapter. I sort of felt like it had been a bait and switch. And the prose was so very heavy.
I have to say, the books benefited greatly from the television series because it’s made people like me think that maybe we judged too quickly. I’m not a fan of the endless sexual violence against women, or the way some of the women are portrayed in the book, as opposed to in the series (which often improves on Martin’s mistakes IMHO)–based on what I’ve heard, Tyrion’s lover comes to mind as an example of a woman that needed that makeover. But no book is perfect, and I think GRR Martin is doing something exciting and huge. So I’m giving the books another chance.
And in the meantime, I’m watching these trailers and longing for April!
R.S.A. Garcia 
Glad you’re giving the books a second chance.
The show is a fantastic adaptation, and I really enjoy it, but the books have a tremendous amount of rich detail. Some of it makes it into the show, sometimes there’s a throwaway sentence that refers to a much deeper backstory, but often the constraints of the medium restricts what can be expressed.
I can’t wait for Season Four. Although I guess I have to!
To be honest, one man’s rich detail can be another man’s never-ending setting lol. What put me off was that I felt like I was suffering for his art. All that creation and painstaking research slowed the story hugely for me. It’s great to know you know your world, but I don’t have to see every nook and cranny. I believe because he got such a great fan reaction to the scale of what he was doing, that encouraged him to make each book bigger and more bloated, instead of getting on with the story, Which leads to huge books about masses of characters you really don’t care that much about. So, constrained though the medium might be, I thought the series did for the books what Peter Jackson did for the Lord of the Rings–stripped it down to what really matters, so you can enjoy some of the best parts without all the extraneous stuff.
However, I fully understand that the books are a huge success, indicating that many fans would have him write them no other way. And certainly I can see what they enjoy and I do admire his talent and hard work. So I’m definitely going to take another look and see if, like JK Rowling, he can take an iconic series and after all the missteps, side-steps and clamouring for the next book, manage to find a fitting ending.
You know…before he croaks lol.