I was already a fan of Martin's writing before he started Game of Thrones, so I started reading this series 20 years ago. The books have been great, but it seems like Martin won't finish writing them before he dies. I've heard that there are some significant differences between the show and the books, so to avoid getting mixed up between the two, I have been avoiding the show so far. My plan is to stick with the books until they are all published or Martin drops dead, then watch the show after I've read all of the available books.

Martin has also written three novellas in the same setting, but set about a century earlier. They are now collected in one volume called A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. They feature the adventures of a hedge knight and his squire as they travel about the southern half of Westeros. The first and third stories are good, and the second one is great. Martin has plans to write several more stories with these characters, and there is talk that HBO will eventually do a season of these stories.