15 years after publication, A Game of Thrones finally reaches #1 on the NYT Bestseller List http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2011-07-10/mass-market-paperback/list.html
The writer must be loving this. I just bought the 4 book set in order to keep the series going in a way.
Don't look at that list if you haven't read past the few books (or are just watching the show) if you don't want to be spoiled!
This is a great year for Martin. He not only has the series on HBO, with a big budget, great reviews, and second season approval, while getting to write at least one of the screenplays, but his novels are going like hotcakes!
I bought the set too. I'm about 160 pages into the first book which is 2 episodes worth. It's interesting to read 80-100 pages and then go back and re-watch the episode that covered that material to see what they omitted, what they changed, what they contracted, and what they added in.
I started to read the 1st book after watching the HBO series. Awesome stuff. My favorite characters are the Imp, Daenerys, Arya, and Varys. They are very intriguing.
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I have too. I've almost slogged through the first book, which isn't terribly exciting since I know what's going to happen throughout. That said, it's nice to get familiar with a lot of the names (there are a lot of them to remember) and learn a few tidbits I didn't pick up from the series, too (such as Lord Mormont of the Black Watch is actually the father of the guy assisting Dany and the sword Mormont gave to Jon was originally his son's -- I didn't know that). I've got about 75 pages left, so I'm excited to start the next book and read some new stuff. I'd say Dany, Tyrion (and by extension, Bronn) and Arya are by favorites as well. I liked Robert Baratheon a lot, too. Oh, and Shagga. Shagga amuses me greatly. Pretty much anyone in Tyrion's band, really.
I am halfway through the 1st book and I don't know if I want to delve into the 2nd book before I watch it on TV. I feel that the overall story is much more suspenseful by watching on the tube and then reading than the other way around. Any thoughts?
I think it's just not suspenseful because you know what's going to happen since you've seen it on TV. I'll let you know if I found the second book more exciting since I don't know what's going to happen. My guess is: I will. I'm really only reading the first book to get facts/names straight. It's done an excellent job of that. It's not suspenseful for me because, again, I know what's going to happen in it.