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This 'Game of Thrones' App Wants To Trick Us All Into Being Bookreaders

By Vivian Kane | Miscellaneous | July 31, 2015 |

By Vivian Kane | Miscellaneous | July 31, 2015 |



Okay, I know that people don’t read books like they used to and ‘dying art’ and all that, but it’s hard not to feel insulted by the fact that we’ve apparently reached the point where publishers have to straight-up trick people into reading books. HarperCollins UK, George RR Marting, and a digital production studio called Reason have all teamed up to bring you show-only fans of Game of Thrones an exciting new thing called “books.” Well, sort of, it’s an app that brings you PARTS of books, based around how caught up you are in the show.

The app asks users where they are in the storyline and then offers them a spoiler-free selection of over 40 extracts from across the books, along with maps and introductions from the very first battle of the series to the infamous “Red Wedding” scenes.

The extracts are between five and 25 minutes long and are designed to allow new readers to relive iconic moments from the show, while getting a taste of George R R Martin’s writing

I love the ingenious trickery of encouraging people to “relive” moments from the show with books, like it’s a crazy edgy sexy fun new thing the kids are all trying. If you like TV, you’ll love this new thing we’re calling BOOKS!

That said, as someone who ditched the books halfway through the second one, I’d love to be able to see some of what I’m missing. Plus, this trailer for the app looks really cool, and snark aside, I’ll probably be downloading it immediately.