Author: George R. R. Martin
Sure, I had heard of the show on HBO and seen maybe 10 minutes of one episode while Pink was watching. But I didn't add it to my already busting viewing schedule. I'm a pretty loyal viewer so my schedule doesn't leave a lot of room for newbies.
About two weeks ago I read in my Entertainment Weekly magazine about the release of GRRM's latest book, the 5th in the Fire and Ice series, of which A Game of Thrones is the first. I didn't realize the show was based on a book, let alone a series as revered as this one. I've never dabbled in the fantasy genre before but this last book was getting such amazing reviews that I committed myself to reading the series from the beginning.
So began an interesting experience for me - reading the book and staggering the HBO episodes such that I had already read whatever was in that episode. While I was a little disappointed when small things deviated from the book, I'm not sure I would have connected all the dots between characters if I hadn't read the book first. I even ended up filling in a few important details for Pink who just watched the show.
Even though the books are intimidatingly long, I almost feel like some of the plot lines didn't get to develop completely and were cut way too short. Maybe he knew he had a lot more books to write. Overall, though, I really enjoyed both the book and the show - good characters, good plot lines, and lots of imagination.
