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[Donald mac Ronald]

I have a habit of reading something I've watched if I know it's based off a book and good source material.

Of course I also read books normally.

I Love the expanse series and given how rich that universe is, I wanted more so bought the books. I've nearly finished the second book.
Watching the series first however, let's you visualise what you are reading alot better, including what characters look and sound like.

You can also appreciate how much the producers of the expanse respected the source material.

 

[Artistic]

Didn't do it with Game of Thrones, so no.

 

[AJUMP23]

I will watch things, but rarely read the books.

I did read Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and I am glad I did.

 

[falconhoof]

I typically read the books first. This has caused me to not get round to watching shows if I haven't finished (or started) the books.

This is why I haven't watched The Expanse or Knight of the Seven Kingdoms yet. I've read most of The Expanse but needed to take a break as I smashed about 6 of them in a row, which I'm now doing with Dungeon Crawler Carl.

 

[Jaybe]

I typically read the books first. This has caused me to not get round to watching shows if I haven't finished (or started) the books.

This is why I haven't watched The Expanse or Knight of the Seven Kingdoms yet. I've read most of The Expanse but needed to take a break as I smashed about 6 of them in a row, which I'm now doing with Dungeon Crawler Carl.

The last three books in the Expanse are so damn good, probably the best in the series. I highly recommend finishing them off. I thought about watching the TV series (which ends at book 6) but I read some characters are portrayed different and I'm not sure I want that.
Edit: also read the short novellas that are now all collected in Memory Legion. There's an order on when to read them between the novels. They add a lot of enrichment and background to the saga!

I couldn't stand Dungeon Crawler Carl though

 

[TheUnicornGuy]

Books are, 99% of the time, better than their adaptations so reading them first can put a dampener on watching them, along with colouring your view of characters and whether they match your imagined versions. Reading after is generally preferable for me as it usually adds lots more detail and extra scenes, some of which may be really good and watching after can disappoint if they're missing. Sometimes there's so little in common between the page and the screen it doesn't matter which way around you do it, like How to Train Your Dragon or I am Legend for instance.

 

[jason10mm]

I typically read the books first. This has caused me to not get round to watching shows if I haven't finished (or started) the books.

I do this, if I'm interested enough to consider watching the show, I'll check out the source material.

This is why I haven't watched The Expanse or Knight of the Seven Kingdoms yet. I've read most of The Expanse but needed to take a break as I smashed about 6 of them in a row, which I'm now doing with Dungeon Crawler Carl.

Gt on it, both Expanse and KSK are quite faithful, KSK quite so. They are both good examples of adaptions done right, IMHO.

 

[Itchy.Tasty.]

Hell no. My imagination is restricted to the director's vision if I watch the movie/show first.

I prefer to visualise the characters and settings free of any constraints. It feels like directing your own movie.

 

[jason10mm]

I couldn't stand Dungeon Crawler Carl though

How far did you get? I'm pretty close to considering DCC as the best fantasy (if you can consider it that) series in the past TWO DECADES. The way it blends personal trauma, grand strategy, battlefield tactics, humor, and extreme violence in increasingly novel and creative ways is really something. If he can stick the landing at book 10 or whatever, it will be a modern magnum opus.

 

[LyricalShrike]

I read enough to preempt film adaptations. The question becomes, "do I want to see this book adapted to film" and the answer is usually no unless the original was something I especially enjoyed.

 

[Jaybe]

How far did you get? I'm pretty close to considering DCC as the best fantasy (if you can consider it that) series in the past TWO DECADES. The way it blends personal trauma, grand strategy, battlefield tactics, humor, and extreme violence in increasingly novel and creative ways is really something. If he can stick the landing at book 10 or whatever, it will be a modern magnum opus.

I'm glad you're loving them. There are many fans of the series for sure. I have read that the series gets better the further it goes. I've only gotten a quarter through the first book on audible last year and tried again reading it and made it half way. The humour and writing style just didn't connect with me at the time. I liked the opening couple chapters and lead and the cat but the way the game narrator cuts in with long explanations takes me out of the flow. Maybe I'll give the audiobook another go given the praise.

 

[Valonquar]

I wasn't gonna wait another 3 or 4 years for Apple to finish Silo. The books were pretty good and a fast read. Read the Expanse series after Amazon canceled that and those are super good too. When the TV show left off there's a 20 year time jump, so maybe they'll pick it up again in another 15 or so years.
Books give you character's inner thoughts\dialog which really helps a ton vs TV shows & movies where they can't do that. It's one of many reasons why Game of Thrones went off the rails.

 

[Trunx81]

I've read Jurassic Park after watching the movie and kept asking myself 'what is this? This doesn't happen in the movie.'

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

I will usually try to wait to watch a show/movie if I want to read a the book first

I did watch the first season of Wheel of Time and dropped it after that season. I immediately started reading the books. I'm only two books in so far but the books are way better than the show and I'm never going back to watching that show

I wasn't gonna wait another 3 or 4 years for Apple to finish Silo. The books were pretty good and a fast read. Read the Expanse series after Amazon canceled that and those are super good too. When the TV show left off there's a 20 year time jump, so maybe they'll pick it up again in another 15 or so years.
Books give you character's inner thoughts\dialog which really helps a ton vs TV shows & movies where they can't do that. It's one of many reasons why Game of Thrones went off the rails.

I actually watched all of The Expanse before I started reading the books. I plan to read books 2 and 3 this year

As for SIlo, I have the last book to read and so the far the trilogy has been good. I found the second season of SIlo to be boring

When it came to Game of Thrones, I was a huge fan of A Song of Ice And Fire way before that show came out. I wonder how much of The Winds of Winter and A Time For Spring was in the show once they ran out of written material.

I'm still disappointed that they didn't go into Lady Stoneheart and that show while I enjoyed it, they really stripped away the magical elements to the story

 

[DenchDeckard]

Sometimes I read before, sometimes after, sometimes not at all. If something really grabs me, I may check out the source material.

 

[falconhoof]

Gt on it, both Expanse and KSK are quite faithful, KSK quite so. They are both good examples of adaptions done right, IMHO.

I do need to get back to it. I'm gonna wrap up on DCC first and then get back to Expanse. I was aiming to start the Malazan books early this year. I really need to pick more single book titles I think.

 

[jason10mm]

I do need to get back to it. I'm gonna wrap up on DCC first and then get back to Expanse. I was aiming to start the Malazan books early this year. I really need to pick more single book titles I think.

Malazan, while a massive commitment, is somewhat helped by having specific storylines in each book. So you can read each one, take a break, and come back to a different set of characters (mostly) in the next book. It's not just a long continuous narrative that requires you to keep 500,000 pages in your head (mostly).

 

[jason10mm]

I'm glad you're loving them. There are many fans of the series for sure. I have read that the series gets better the further it goes. I've only gotten a quarter through the first book on audible last year and tried again reading it and made it half way. The humour and writing style just didn't connect with me at the time. I liked the opening couple chapters and lead and the cat but the way the game narrator cuts in with long explanations takes me out of the flow. Maybe I'll give the audiobook another go given the praise.

While I hate the "after the first season is when it gets good" type stuff, for DCC I think this is very much the case. It's only when the scope pulls back and you see glimpses of the larger picture that the series really takes off IMHO. Book 2 would be my "this is/is not for ke" break point.

 

[xrnzaaas]

That's rare for me, but it happens sometimes. Like for instance I've first seen The Exorcist and then read the book. I absolutely don't mind that I know what happens (more or less, depending on what's been changed) assuming the book is still good. Reacher is also one of recent examples, but I've only read the first book so far.

I prefer to do it the other way around, I still remember how I read all The Strain books before the tv series started and that immediately killed most of my hype (because of what happens in later books). ;p Same with stuff like Stephen King's movies & tv shows - the book gets the priority.

 

[IDKFA]

I've read Jurassic Park after watching the movie and kept asking myself 'what is this? This doesn't happen in the movie.'

The novel is straight horror, where the movie is a family friendly adventure.

I love the movie, but I'd kill to see a live action true adaption of the novel.