I really don ' t care if the show is a watered down version , at least its going somewhere . I probably don ' t remember half the stuff thats different in the books apart from the big things anyway . I ' m in exactly the same boat . I ' d rather have a good ending now while I ' m still invested in the story than an ending that could be great but will come out long after I ' ve lost interest . I work full time now , and the demands of real life mean I don ' t have much free time to read . I don ' t want to use that time to reread books that I ' ve already finished once , which would be a necessity for TWoW and ADoS given the vast number of minor characters who might later become important . Fine , the show is watered down . However , the annual release of content maintains my interest in the story . I ' m invested in it now and so I ' m willing to look past most of the show ' s mistakes . I ' m less forgiving of the books ' faults because the wait between them is so long . I ' m happy enough with Game of Thrones . Taken on its own merits it ' s fantastic , and the books being better doesn ' t hinder my enjoyment of the show . At least the show will have an ending .