My Apologies to y'all in advance, for my general lack of knowledge and expertise with the author's original material. I am not quite finished watching the entire series, but after reading rather text more than a few harsh and pretty ripping, single-minded reviews, mostly pertaining to their outrage over deviations from the original material, I thought I'd lay my 2¢ on the table, bear my soul and share a thought with you.
Since I do not come as a staunch and purist devotee of the books (in fact, I'd never even heard of them), I came to watch this series with fresh eyes and no preconceived expectations(I know, it's apples and oranges!). I can definitely sympathize with the needs of so many devoted fans for a true and faithful plot and character representation(historically an issue), a certain continuity, and, if you're will, a pure idealism. I must say, however, that for me, having No Exposure to the original material appears to be a clear advantage. It frees me to accept or reject what they choose to put in front of me. While this series is unlikely to win any major accolades, it is not at all without its charm. The characters and script are quite original, it's Extremely Well-cast, composed of actors who exude and share a strong chemistry and comradely for one another, despite their social constructs lineage, position, or species. I found it to be very cleverly written, indeed. The dry wit and high humor, mixed with just a pinch of slapstick(that's enough for me) and a touch of quirkiness, along with any number of additional forms of humor employed, are well-timed and display quite the sophisticated dialogue writing skills.
Mind you, although I've always considered myself to be an avid and well-read consumer; all this is from a "book series-ignorant" perspective, so you're must forgive me my small errors and discrepancies. All in all, & with Covid/cabin fever forefront in mind, overall, I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed watching this series.
