Books are not based off of the story and even though Book 4 and 5 (especially 4) were garbage, I still prefer learning about the history and lore more than I care about what happens.
But yes he will prob die before Book 7 unless, as rumored, he's working on it at the same time as 6. That would be cool.
I can name 560 characters written down without any help from the books. I've never met a TV watcher that can name more than 80. I care about the world, the relationships, and all of that. I don't really watch TV too much for action, so it doesnt matter to me where they go with it because I've legitimately watched the show skip 80.. yes _eighty_ pages of material within 5 mins. And I'm just too big of a fan to skip 80 friggin pages. And some of it was important too.
Plus the made the best character in the books, Jaqen H'gar, a complete pansy in the shows. I won't stand for that... lol.