Reviews Series / Game Of Thrones

As a counterpoint, I haven't read the series, but I'm pretty sure I understand what's going on.

I think the series is doing an admirable job of explaining things to the audience while staying true to the books.

I disagree, I've been perfectly able to understand most of what's happened thus far, I find the Pious attitude of some book fans towards new fans to be quite insulting actually as though only people who've read the books should be able to comment on the serries, if you have to read the books to understand and enjoy the series then it fails an adaptation while I understand there's a lot of things glossed over or changed from the books as is usual for Book to Screen adaptation but The Show has been enjoyable in it's own without reading the books before hand

Balderdash. Watch it, love it. It is complete unto itself. Reading the books will only enhance your enjoyment, not enable it.

The series holds its own. I've just gotten my hands on the first book, and since my reading time is limited to a few hours a week, I'm in the hilarious position where I read part of the book, then watch that same part on TV in that week's episode (or vice versa). IMO the show has done a fantastic job of compressing the gigantic Doorstopper. There is some screentime issue (Joffrey's siblings are seldom/never seen, for example, and in the book it is The Hound who tells Sansa about how he got the scar, not Littlefinger, etc.), but the characters retain their essence, thanks to some very good acting.

My one complaint about the show is that since I hadn't read the books prior to watching the pilot, the prologue made me think the White Walkers were going to play a much bigger role, and they haven't even made another appearance yet. Hope they will soon.

I haven't read the books and I am understanding things just fine. Sure, I don't know every little detail and it took me a few episodes to remember all the names of the characters, but telling someone "don't bother watching unless you've read the books" is silly and insulting.

I also was really excited for some white walker action right after that first scene, but I knew a bit of what to expect from people who have read the books.

Yeah, the series does a really good job. As long as you pay attention, it reaps it rewards.

Actually, it worked out just fine with the TV show first, books second, unlike The Golden Compass (or Percy Jackson, from what I hear, speaking of adaptations to watch for the Bean.) That mess didn't have time to develop characters to the point that we could really care for anyone's struggles; Game of Thrones does a great job at making me want to read more about the characters. (Though part of me still is wary for later-season instances of Filmamir and the World Quidditch Cup, they're doing a good job of showing rounded characters so far, and the skipped/glossed-over scenes are understandable.)

Its Popular Now It Sucks much? If you have to read a book just to understand a tv show, that makes me not want to read said book and become a member of the Hatedom. Fans of the book preaching that the book is better does not make me want to watch the show.

It's not that you can't enjoy the series without reading the books. I'm sure the HBO show is quite good on its own. It is simply that the story is actually so deep and complex that the viewer who has not read the books will never grasp its true greatness.

This is not true to every adaptation, but in this particular case, the viewing IS a lesser experience to those who haven't read the books, simply because they won't trully understand the wonderfull and rich details on characterization and plot.

No TV series, despite the amount of screen time could ever contain all the information and backstory A Song of Ice and Fire has. The main reason is that TV series won't let you hear what the characters think and the series is told only from their points of view.

I happened to read the book first, but it's not like that was easy to understand right off the bat (considering that a dozen significant characters are introduced rapid-fire in the first few chapters). If anything, the TV version makes it EASIER to understand because you don't have to read every name of every secondary character (which are all given in the book) and wonder if they're somehow important.

"An amazing series, but people really need to read the book series to understand a lot of what's going on." If you're going to make that type of statement, you need to explain it, otherwise it reads as 'the book is better because I said it is.' "Don't bother watching or commenting on the series otherwise." Why shouldn't I comment on the TV series just because I haven't read the books? That doesn't make any sense, and almost sounds like you're trying to say that my opinion is inferior to yours because I've only seen the show. This hardly qualifies as a review.

Alternately, read our Recap page! It fills in any gaps that the series leaves behind!

From what I understand, the show actually makes the books easier to read, as Johan Grayskull said. The film puts faces to the many names your introduced to in the book, which helps readers remember which character is which.

This summarizes every Ice and Fire reader, ever. I've a hard time believing it's not a stealth parody. Err, actually, no I don't.

How is this even a review? It's just a statement.

Disagree 100% with the statement which seems to be elitist and excluding. You most certainly can comment on this series without having read the books. In fact if 1% of viewers have read the books I'd be amazed. And especially with the series now diverging from the books, frankly following the books is pointless at this stage in the game anyway.