I saw the series before I read the book. That was a plus. This is slow moving, and it's a long book, which worked well for me when I actually read it because I was recovering from surgery. I needed something that could hold my attention but not demand my attention. I was able to put the book down when I needed to, and I was ready to go back to it when I picked it up. Very detail heavy, and again, after seeing the series, I was watching for some of those details. The series followed the book fairly closely. I preferred the ending in the book as the series annoyed me with its cliffhanger ending. Not a fan of those in books, and while this book leads you into the next one, it wasn't an abrupt falling off a cliff ending. Lots of historical background and ancient manuscript references.