QUESTION: Regarding any creative works (not just Game of Thrones), Do you think its better to read the book AFTER you see the movie/TV adaptation to be surprised while watching...or to read the book BEFORE the adaptation so you'll be surprised while reading?
with this series... its honestly a toss up... cause theres alot of insight you get from the show that you never get from the books and even more so vice versa (obviously).
Example: (not a spoiler at all) The books are in a handful of characters POVs so you get alot of characters inner thoughts. In the books, all you see of Robb is through folklore of how bad ass he is and through his naggy mothers eyes (she is 100 times more paranoid and annoying in the books). So he is built up as a guy who was undefeated and only made 2 mistakes really, you really felt like he had a shot at taking shyt over so when the red wedding happened, it really crushed souls. This is the case for some other characters as well that I'm not gonna discuss cause im not sure if it would be a spoiler or not.
I think it was a conscious decision to dial Robb back a bit on the show by showing you that he really was alot less mythical than he seemed in the books... you got to see him be more human, have more doubts etc...
It's a different show if you read the books however... cause your seeing ALOT of the little things that the readers don't... this show is probably 3 times more brilliant than none book readers can even understand which says ALOT...