<p>My nephew, who is 16, is campaigning to see the Game of Thrones series on HBO. My sister (his mom) has said no way, because of the adult themes. I have not seen the show so I have no idea whether her assessment of the show is accurate, but she's not about to budge on this point. My nephew has now asked to read the books. In her mind, this is a question that pits her desire to not have him read things that are "too adult" with her desire to encourage him to read (although he does read quite a bit as it is).</p>
<p>Since I have not read the books I could not offer an informed opinion. But those of you who have read the books, what do you think?</p>
<p>I don’t know how sheltered or worldly this boy is, and every kid is different, so it’s hard to say. In any event, you will want to know that an incestuous twin brother-sister relationship and its long-term ramifications are a key element of the series. While there are various sex scenes among a number of characters, the descriptions are pretty temperate–in fact their portrayal in the HBO series was to my mind far more explicit and in some cases gratuitous. But the books are very long and tremendously detailed (literally hundreds of characters), and I don’t think I would have had the patience to read them at that age. They are also rather addictive, so if this boy is likely to be getting lost in them for hours instead of doing his homework and chores, it might best to hold off until summer in any case. </p>
<p>When I decided a movie was inappropriate for my kids, I always told them that it wasn’t going anywhere and would be waiting for them when they got old enough. This argument is especially relevant for this series, since readers are awaiting the two more books that will allegedly finish the tale, and it takes R.R. Martin years to churn out each new volume. It took me a good six months to read all that have been written so far (with breaks in between volumes to do other reading), but by the time the next one is published, I will have forgotten 90% of the myriad story lines. There’s something to be said for putting off the whole immense project until the series is truly finished (keeping in mind that Mr. Martin is a grossly overweight 64 year old, and some doubt he will hang on long enough to get the job done). </p>
<p>On a personal level, I’ve found the later books to be much less appealing than the earlier ones, and I’m not sure I would recommend that anyone devote the hundreds of hours required to digest the entire series when there are so many other great books out there (and so little time…).</p>
<p>If he already “reads quite a bit” he is likely to love the books and get quite engrossed. I would think that the themes are fine for a 16-year-old, but of course it depends on the kid, his family, etc. </p>
<p>There is sex in the book but it is not dwelled upon. There’s plenty of violence and bad language too. Most importantly, this is a book about the Stark children and how their family is separated and in great danger. He will identify more or less with all of these children and their parents (and they don’t all survive). They are very young for what happens to them - HBO seems to have aged them all by 3 years or so - but he’s probably read of children in similar or worse danger (Hunger Games?).</p>
<p>The books may start out seeming black and white, good and evil, but the author develops all the characters so well that you end up rooting for characters you absolutely loathed in book one, a good point in my mind. It started out being inspired by the War of the Roses (York vs. Lancaster becoming Stark vs. Lannister) but has developed its own complexity. And for all that, there are clues in book 1 that don’t get fleshed out until much, much later, so it will challenge his comprehension as well as his patience. I would encourage him to read them, but to wait for summer so he doesn’t have to worry about schoolwork. Then, of course, he’ll want to see the series but he’ll appreciate it more when he does even if he misses what they had to leave out.</p>
<p>I have read the books, haven’t seen the show. Yes, there is sex (which I suspect is what your sister objects to?) in the books, but it is not what drives the books. My son is now 18yo and I would have let him read these books at that age. Each family is different though. I agree with mommaJ, the later books are tedious. The only reason I finished book 5 is I now need to know how this all plays out. Unfortunately the first three books sucked me in. I do hope tha author lives long enough to finish the series now that I am committed!</p>
<p>I don’t have the patience, and I’m 56. I gave up halfway through the third book.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t object to a 16-year-old reading the series, as long as he understands that the tone is dark (bad things happen to both good and bad people, and they happen almost constantly), the pace is slow, and yes, there is that incest situation. </p>
<p>I found that watching some of the clips from the show on YouTube enhanced my enjoyment of the first book. They helped me “see” settings that I had difficulty imagining – such as the Wall. And I don’t think anything particularly objectionable is in the clips (unless you object to Daenerys being naked in the final scene; she does not breastfeed her adopted offspring as she does in the book, which might have been beyond my tolerance).</p>
<p>Adult themes? Is her kid home schooled? There are some pretty amazing books read by most highschoolers. The bible even has adult themese. Shakespear? </p>
<p>I sorry but in find it kind of funny she is afraid of adult themes for a 16 year old. Why doesn’t he just go buy the book and read it?</p>
<p>The series does have adult themes that most 16 year olds will have been exposed to through Homer, Shakespeare, TV, movies and the internet. My son read the series in a week when he was 16, just before the first season of the HBO production aired. We enjoyed watching the HO production together, although there were a few awkward “TMI” moments.</p>
<p>The HBO series is remarkably faithful to the book. I also hope Martin finishes his opus before he or I die.</p>
<p>I hope I’m not being offensive, but I find it very weird that there are parents that control their 16 year old’s reading list. Is that normal? Everyone I know read whatever they liked far earlier than the age of 16, and most of the time, we never discussed what we read with parents, never mind asking their permission. Is that unusual?</p>
<p>I’m not sure what exactly would stop him from buying the book or checking it out at the library. There are no ratings that I know of for books, or laws preventing minors from buying any particular books for that matter.</p>
<p>I think my son read them younger than age 16. He reads a lot of science fiction/fantasy and would get each book in the series from the library and read it until he finished.</p>
<p>I actually got the audio books from the library (downloaded into my MP3 player), I have a longish commute and it’s been great, but it’s quite complex. Not Robert Jordan complex but not Tolkien “here are the good guys and the bad guys” either…</p>
<p>I don’t know about Game of Thrones but stay away from Rome series by HBO.
I bought it by mistake. Too much for a child or an adult. That is not the kind of movies I watched when I was young.</p>
<p>I don’t supposed I’d hand my 16 year old porn, but other than that, I can’t imagine that there’s anything in any book that I’d have kept them from reading.</p>
<p>I liked the Rome series – most of the episodes anyway.</p>
<p>The more I read this thread, the more I realize that I had no idea what my kids were reading or watching on TV at 16. The only form of entertainment I had any clue about was theatrical movies, because they would sometimes ask me to go see an R-rated film with them because they couldn’t get in without me.</p>
<p>If your kids ever went to sleepovers, they probably started watching R-rated movies (on DVD) at about 12. This is one of the main purposes of sleepovers. ;)</p>