As my Goodreads friends know, I'm making my way through the Sword of Truth series.  It's derivative, and he's a lousy writer.  But the story is HIGHLY entertaining at times.  And the characters, once very similar and thin in the first book, have become richer and more realistic in the 3rd.

And then, I found out that there's a TV show, Legend of the Seeker.  While based on the same characters, and sharing *some* plot elements with the books, they're like a whole different series.  We're watching one episode a night, after my son does his homework, and before his shower...