Hey I wanted to start with the httyd books. But what if they'll ruin the movie for me. What do you think I should do? Are they worth reading?
I had the exact same fears as you did before I read the books. I watched HTTYD in 2010 when it was in theatres but didn’t get to the books until the summer of 2014. I feared that the books would not measure up to the magic of the movies. Or, conversely, I feared that, if the books were very different than the movies, then I wouldn’t respect DreamWorks as much for diverging from the original story. I wanted to be able to experience draconic magic in both book and film and I didn’t know if I could do that if I read Cressida Cowell’s series.
However, I am now a very happy man for having read the books. I would greatly encourage you to read the stories, too. The stories expand up an entirely new world for How to Train Your Dragon and tell a tale that is highly memorable. The How to Train Your Dragon books are incredibly deep, well-written, dramatic, exciting, intense, hilarious, emotional, and memorable.
I was charmed when I finished the first book. I found it cute but thought that I liked the movies a lot better. As I continued reading the series, I dove deeper and deeper into it. Now I cannot decide if I like the DreamWorks franchise or the novels more; if I really had to pick between the two of them, I might even choose the novels.
My experience is that they will not ruin the movie for you. I haven’t talked to anyone who says it has ruined it for them. However, I will give you several warnings based on conversations I have had with other first-time readers:
1. It takes time for some people to “get into” the books. Some people adore the novels from the first page, but others do not find the first book extraordinary. The first book is, admittedly, somewhat childish, not incredibly action-packed, and prolific in toilet humor. The next few books in the series keep up a very lighthearted, jocular vibe. It’s enormously fun for me, but that’s not some peoples’ thing. Yet even for those who might feel a bit “slow” getting into the series, it is very worth continuing.
Whenever people get that feeling that the books are “okay,” I really urge them to keep going, believe me, BELIEVE ME. The further into the series you go, the more you’ll dive into it and get gripped into the story. The books dive into incredible depth in the second half of the series. You’ll get more action, more tears, more emotion, more drama, more memorable moments, more quotable passages, more amazing takeaways, and even more darkness than anything in “How to Train Your Dragon 2″.
I also talk in more depth here and here on this topic.
2. Some of the things you might complain about after book one will be solved in later books. To give one example, on Goodreads reviews I see lots of people asking where the female characters are. HTTYD has amazing, diverse, intricate female characters - Camicazi, Excellinor the Witch, Eggingarde, Valhallarama, Big-Boobied Bertha. You just don’t meet them in book one.
3. Don’t expect the books to be much alike the movies. They are, as I think of it, distant cousins from each other. You’ll see some similar themes, some similar plot ideas, and similar morals and heart. But all-in-all, the stories and the movies are VERY different.
Hiccup is a redhead. There’s no Hiccstrid; Astrid and Ruffnut aren’t even characters. Toothless is a small, green, iguana-sized dragon who talks in the third person with a stutter. That might throw you off at first, and you might (like me) initially hate Toothless (now he’s one of my favorite characters). You might find yourself comparing the first book with the first movie. But after that, the book’s plotline turns very distantly away from where the movies go, and you’ll find it harder and harder and harder to compare the two.
The author Cressida Cowell likes the movies a lot even though they’re very different from what she’s written. And the differences between books and movies don’t spoil one for the other. They in fact help prevent spoilage. There’s enough great material to go around to enjoy both without feeling soiled by knowledge of the other. The stories still have the same character and heart, and are both very lovable and worthwhile experiencing.
So yes. I highly encourage you to read the books. Read the first book, and then keep reading. The further you go, the better the books get, the more people get engrossed in the story. From my experience, people don’t feel like reading the books spoils how the movies are. Rather, they learn to really enjoy the books and celebrate “How to Train Your Dragon” in all its shapes and forms. “How to Train Your Dragon” is one of my all-time favorite book series ever, and that’s saying a lot!
I hope this helps. If you go about reading the books, have fun! And I’m here to jabber about them or answer any more questions you may have on them. :)
