The TV show is everything: the cast and staff really sell these characters and keep the stakes high. The show never loses focus of Claire and Jaime but it really develops the side characters to the point Claire and Jaime aren't even my faves (Murtagh, Dougal, and Lord John). The book, though, focuses almost entirely on Claire and Jaime, and Jaime's side of the family are all defined by being hard-headed and that's it. Murtagh is mostly absent and Dougal doesn't feel half so dangerous, here. It's too many pages for what this book delivers (850 pages in my edition).

I know this is a travesty to my "the book is better!" friends, but sometimes a story hits different in a different format, and it's ok.