Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones?

[KB4RN3S]

I am working a job this summer that will entail a lot of driving. I got a subscription to Audible where I get one credit each month and was going to listen to books on my commute(since there's not a nerd fitness podcast, and I'm tired of morning talk radio).

So my question is do I start with Lord of the Rings series, or Game of Thrones. I've never read either, and I haven't seen either of the two movies/TV shows.

Suggestions please.

[JDowntrotter]

Hi KB!  

 

I've read both, and both are very good reads.  One very important thing to keep in mind is that The Lord of the Rings is a finished trilogy and Game of Thrones isn't completed yet.  There are 5 completed books out of a planned 7.  

 

Game of Thrones has a lot more characters and a lot of scheming and backstabbing and certain characters have beautiful character development.  It has fantasy elements in it, but it is not a fantasy world.  One really cool thing I like about it, is that each chapter is told in the perspective of a different character.  Though be warned—that also leave you in for a lot of cliffhangers!

 

Lord of the Rings on the other hand, has less characters to keep track of, and there is a clearly defined "good" and "evil".  Not that that's a bad thing!  I really enjoyed the trilogy, and found some sections to be quite funny, especially the rivalry between elves and dwarves, while other sections are really emotional.  The LoTR is most definitely a fantasy world so you'll get to meet all sorts of cool creatures.  And actually, I'd recommend reading The Hobbit first if you haven't already.  You don't need to, but it's a nice opener to the world.

 

I'm hesitant to say too much about either story, because I don't want to accidentally give anything away.  When it comes down to it, I'd say go with the LoTR since it's completed.

[Harbard]

I love both series.  However, I have to warn you about a couple things on the Game of Thrones audio versions:

 

1.  The narrator, while I'm sure he's talented in some instances, was a horrible choice for this series.  His attempts at portraying women and children in dialogue are so laughably awful it can jar you out of the story.

 

2.  They are outrageously expensive.  Probably due more to the length than anything.

 

As far as the stories themselves, regardless of any quirks in the audio books, you can't really go wrong with either.  The thought does cross my mind though that they both involve so many characters, it may be difficult to keep pace in your head while commuting.  Just a thought.