Posted in books, fantasy, writing

Game of Thrones Books vs Television Series

Posted on by D. D. Syrdal

SO, I’ve had few hits on the blog lately from people using the search terms “will Game of Thrones follow the books.”

I can tell you in no uncertain terms I Have No Idea.®

My best guess is they will follow the books relatively faithfully, concerning major events, but some scenes not in the book have been reportedly written into the scripts. I’m not able to watch the show myself, as I don’t have cable, so I’m trying to keep up to an extent by following @GameofThrones on Twitter (the official Twitter account for the production) and @Westerosorg, the most complete fan site out there. Elio and Linda at Westeros.org probably have more info on the books and show than anyone; they’ve been on-set, gotten swagged by HBO with publicity kits, met GRRM, and usually tweet out what Martin writes on his own blog, http://grrm.livejournal.com/.

Sorry I can’t be more help than that, but since people are landing here looking for info I thought I could at least direct you to those who know more. I have to wait for the DVDs.

Author:

Writer of vampire stories and science fiction. First novel, "Revenants Abroad", available now at Amazon. If you like a vampire you can go out drinking with and still respect yourself in the morning, I think you'd like Andrej.

9 thoughts on “Game of Thrones Books vs Television Series”

  1. Yes, for the most part they have followed the book faithfully…sometimes too faithfully. A lot of the dialogues are even exactly the same. One of the biggest difference is that there are a lot of sex scenes and scenes of naked women in the show that are not in the book or are not given that much importance in the book – but I guess that is necessary to draw in viewers. So far, the first 6 episodes of the mini-series have been pretty faithful. The last episode (7th) was the first time they deviated a bit from the book…added a few scenes here and there that is not in the book. I used to really like the mini-series…that is, until I started reading the book. Now I find the mini-series lacking in depth; the story transitions seem too abrupt and the character development seems shallow.

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  2. Thanks for the run-down! It’s pretty ambitious to try to cram the whole book into one season, I’m not surprised a lot is being lost. I would imagine all the interior monologues that go on are the first casualty of trying to translate these books to a television show.

    It seems like there is a fair amount of nudity in the books, but it’s not emphasized, it’s like it’s mentioned in a setting and then the rest of the scene takes over. Very little of the nudity is in any way meant to titillate, it’s usually accompanied by violence IIRC. The books of course are going to be much deeper and more detailed. It’s probably best to see each creation separately and not try to draw exacting comparisons. I’m sure much is being left out of the show.

    Thanks for the info! 🙂

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  4. Thanks Chazz! I’m looking forward to the release of the DVDs. I also want to get the soundtrack, I really like Ramin Djawadi’s music.

    Just in case anyone is interested, Westeros.org mentioned that while it’s available for pre-order at Amazon, they have the wrong release date. It’s not going to be released until June 28, although Amazon is saying June 14.

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  5. I don’t have HBO, so I’m missing out on the series, which in a way it’s a good thing since I’m reading the first book on my Kobo.I’ll have to finish the first book at least before I dive into the TV show.

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  6. Definitely! I’ve read the first two so far, and have the third, A Storm of Swords, ready to go. Just finishing up Harry Connolly’s “Game of Cages” first.

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  7. I’m still loving it. And let me emphasize the word, “loving”. 🙂

    Of course it’s not as deep as the novels. That would be impossible. And yes, a few things are changed to fit the TV medium. But it’s a great show.

    As for the nudity…pff. This is HBO. They never shy away from that. And there’s plenty of male goodies, too. 😉

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    1. I haven’t started Storm yet. I just this morning (around 3:30, thank you insomnia) finished Harry Connolly’s “Game of Cages.” It’s urban fantasy, along the lines of the Dresden Files. It’s really good, very interesting concepts. The 3rd book in the series is due out at the end of August, and he’s writing a prequel now. I follow Harry on Twitter, he’s a character! Very funny. I’ll start Storm this week probably.

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