Is it better to read the Song of Fire and Ice books before watching the HBO series?

Would it be considered (though this is subjective) better to read the Song of Fire and Ice books (at least the first two) before watching the HBO series Game of Thrones or is it better to watch the series first?



I would normally just wait to watch the series and then examine the books, but it sounds like one would have to wait about a year between each season (though this may be necessary for quality). I am very interesting to know more about Stannis Baratheon and what will happen with Renly Baratheon.



Does reading the books series cause a "spoiler" effect that hinders enjoyment of the TV series or is it more interesting to see the surprises and plot twists for the first time in the books rather than on the TV series?Is it better to read the Song of Fire and Ice books before watching the HBO series?
Yes! The Books are 1 million times better than the TV series. No comparison. And in my own opinion I would recommend reading the first Book before you start on the second, because obviously they left out a lot of stuff and it will explain some situations/characters better then you could ever get from a TV show. And I really think you would enjoy it more since you watched season one. :)Is it better to read the Song of Fire and Ice books before watching the HBO series?
I recently watched the whole series without reading the book, but now I want to go read the books just to compare.