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I just finished reading the book a few weeks ago, and finished catching up on the show yesterday. Personally I think both are great, but the show is definitely much different than the book. I don't really have many problems with most of the additions (the Anansi scene on the slaver ship was fantastic and I really like the added storyline for Laura). What bothers me the most though is probably the overall change in tone of the "magical" world. It was much more subtle in the book. It's very in your face in the show. In the book you can understand Shadow's problems coming to terms with things.
The book was a very slow burn, much like the show. The whole book could have been condensed into a few chapters. Considering how stretched the book was, I can see why people are getting bored with the show. It is getting super stretched. I am enjoying it though. The Essie Macgowan episode was a perfect example of the stretch in both the book and the show. I enjoyed the story in both mediums though.
The gay scene, while something I fast forwarded through, is not nearly as bad as portrayed in this thread. It was twice as long in the book, and overly detailed. If anything, they shortened it in the show. In the book I couldn't tell (and didn't really want to know) if it was supposed to be torture or sex. Regardless, I disliked the shorter show version (except having to see it part) less.
I also loved Mad Sweeney in the book. His role was disappointingly short. I'm enjoying his role being expanded, and since they are greatly Laura's role, I'm more than happy that the two are together so far. They're both assholes, and they playoff well together.
They've also done a much better job explaining the role of the coin in Mad Sweeney's life. The book was incredibly vague on that, and to be honest, I had no idea why the coin was so important in the book. In the show, it is much clearer. The bathroom stall at the bar shows the reversal in how Mad Sweeney used to be protected by those wishing to do him harm (no more bad luck to his enemies). It's also shown by the reversal in luck to those wishing to help him (the AA guy getting his head spiked). Racking his nuts on the cop car was just an hilarious exclamation point on that for me. Now he's with Laura, and I'm guessing his proximity to the coin is keeping things a little more neutral.
Curious to see how they end the season. I'm guessing they try to stretch this out into 3 seasons (24 episodes). I can see that much stretch becoming draining though. Hopefully they just finish it up next season.
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