I was one of the people who watched the tv show (atleast season 1) before reading the books so I will naturally compare the two in my head. In my opinion the tv show is better, not because of any big changes in the storyline or anything like that but simply the changes they made with the characters themselves, in the TV show Claire was a strong woman, unfazed by the blood and gore that became a daily occurrence, in the book she seems a little more flighty and squeamish at times which considering she has seen battlefield injuries, a nail through the ear shouldn't make you feel even a little faint. Jamie was also harder to like in the books, it's hard to put it any other way, it takes Claire longer to train him into what is and is not acceptable behaviour, he tries to force himself on her at one point not seeming to understand that it was a problem. He has some tender moments but definitely some less appealing moments too.
Overall I would reccomend this book to someone who has not watched the tv series or who has and would not be bothered by the extra violence and inappropriate behaviour.

Also am I the only one who thinks falling through time is an acceptable level of magic but magically seeing the future in a bowl of water seems far fetched?