I have not read the book, and now really wish I had. Many who have say its wonderful and the show a pale shadow of it. But I can't help feeling that having just watched the show will spoil the enjoyment of the book if I were to read it now.

So the question is, how come a stellar cast, one of the actual authors writing the screenplay and an obviously huge budget can deliver such an average interpretation of a highly regarded bestselling book?! I don't personally have an answer. All I know is that I nearly gave up on this show several times, struggled to make it to the end and was left utterly cold and 'blah' by its conclusion. Was it just too big a story to tell in this format? Was it badly paced? Did it ultimately suffer from NOT leaving enough to the imagination. It wasn't terrible, it was just average.

Perhaps in a few years, when this TV series is a faint memory and I read the book all will be revealed. But all credit to all the cast who all did their best and some of whom were magnificent.