Author’s Note: This article is going to talk about things that have happened in the current season, so if you are not caught up, read at your own risk.

Game of Thrones is arguably the most popular TV series right now. If you don’t watch it, you’re probably friends with someone who does, and they probably won’t shut up about it, because it’s the type of show that people want to debate and talk about for the three days after an episode airs.

But, as great as the show is, the books are ten times better.

Now I’m not going to get in to specifics about what happens in the books because even though the show has mostly caught up with the books, there are some storylines in the books that either haven’t caught up yet (e.g. the Kingsmoot in the Iron Islands) or the show hasn’t looked at yet, but might in the future.

So here are five reasons why you should read the books if you’re a fan of the show

1. More Direwolves and Dragons: HBO has given Game of Thrones an enormous budget, but CGI is still really expensive, so that’s why the show doesn’t show the direwolves and dragons all that often, because it’s really expensive to do so. But the direwolves and dragons are one of the best part of the show, when Shaggydog’s head was shown cut off in episode 3, one of the biggest debates that followed the episode was whether or not that was in fact Shaggydog’s head (Sidenote: who names their dog, Shaggdog?). The Stark children’s wolves play a way bigger role in the books, because there is no budget in a book, they can do whatever they want.

2. You get a better appreciation for George RR Martin: People who only read the show probably only know George RR Martin as the author of the books who takes forever to write, and that he enjoys making us suffer. So as someone who only watches the show, you don’t understand why it takes so long for him to write the books. For people who have read the books, we might get annoyed at Martin’s slow pace of writing sure, but we understand. There books are so dense with description that its easy to see why the show looks so good, because there is so much material to go on, and why it’s taking Martin forever to write the books.

3. You can find more information about your theories: While the show and books may slightly deviate from each other, the main story and ending are (probably) going to be the same. When the show creators David Benioff and David Weiss went to Martin to ask if they could make the books into a show, he asked them who Jon’s parents were, and apparently they guessed correctly. So If you’re a believer of the R+L=J theory, you can use the books to help prove or disprove your theory.

4. You see a different side of the characters: The best example of this is the characters in Dorne. Last season, my biggest disappointment was the Sandsnakes in Dorne, Oberyn Martell’s daughters. In the books they were so badass that you couldn’t help but root for them. But in the show, basically everything they did ended up failing, and they ended up in a Dornish jail. Now it appears as if they are going to become way more badass this season, but as a show watcher, I can see where show watchers maybe surprised about what’s going on.

5. Books are always better than the movie/tv adaption: Think about it, how many people have said to you, “yeah I liked the Harry Potter books, but the movies were sooooo much better”? No one. No one has ever said that. It’s the same thing here. Things have to get cut out going from paper to the tv screen. If they didn’t cut anything out, each season would be twice as long, which would be amazing, but ultimately that’s never going to happen.

So if you love Game of Thrones the show, consider reading the books, at the very worst, you’re going to get fresh and new stories from Westeros.