Definitely a big departure from the books. Not horrible for it though; it's been an enjoyable watch, for the most part. It falls off a bit the last few episodes. I think people who haven't read the books will have an easier time enjoying it maybe than people who have and can't get over the fact that adaptations are a thing and changes are made. Doesn't make them bad, necessarily. [spoiler]Also, how about of all those beautiful, naked, rehydrated Trisolarians (or San Tinos, I guess?) in episode 2. Didn't get that image from the novel, I'll tell you what :tongue:[/spoiler] As for any comparisons with the Chinese series, it was definitely truer to the source material and I'm usually the guy saying, "They should have made a limited series out of (insert novel here), this movie didn't do it justice at all." But damn, the Chinese series was so unnecessarily long and drawn out. It really could have used some trimming in the adaptation and editing phases; pacing was dreadful. This series may be a big departure from the novels, but it was done with the author's blessing as he understood the need to make it appeal to a wider, international audience and more accessible than the source material may have been for some people.

D&D have done it again! (created a disappointment)

While the Tencent adaptation had some flaws, notably very poor pacing and some downright bizarre acting and editing, I think it was an overall better experience. Netflix cut the runtime significantly, to the point of skipping several important developments in subplots, yet found ways to waste precious minutes on scenes that dragged on and didn't serve to improve the show.

I've read several positive reviews that downplayed negative reviews for being too pedantic in regards to source material. I haven't read the books yet, and I think it's fine to diverge, but it should be done thoughtfully. I think the Netflix adaptation fails on its own merits. The changes I saw seem to introduce plot holes, and some changes must have been made to the chagrin of any science advisors they had on staff. [spoiler]I'm not sure why the sophon is able to unfold itself to envelop Earth, just to show an ominous eye? From what I understand, the eye was observed during a failed Trisolaran unfolding experiment. They can hack cars to cause crashes, but not planes?[/spoiler]

Tencent gave the viewer many episodes to theory-craft why physics doesn't exist, what could be targeting scientists, the meaning behind the game, and slowly unveiled the truth. It drip fed pieces of information that would become relevant later into the show. It went into philosophical experiments that inspired existential dread. It conveyed many interesting physics concepts in a way that was easy to process and yet showed respect to the viewer.

Netflix? Nah, it's aliens bro, it's right there in the trailer. We don't think our viewers can comprehend concepts like cosmic background radiation so we won't even try.

On that note, I think the Oxford Five were created to somehow be more relatable to the viewer than Wang Miao? They achieved this in part in the laziest way possible, by just swearing often. At several points, I didn't feel like I was watching world class scientists or engineers, just people struggling to even have some basic critical thoughts.

Is this D&D adaptation as bad as GoT S8? Definitely not, it's several points better, but that is setting a low bar. There were some redeeming moments, a few funny lines in almost every episode, I particularly liked some parts of the last one. It's probably still worth a watch, but I think it could have been a lot better, and I'm not sure it will be awe inspiring like a proper adaptation could have been. Hopefully it defies my expectations and becomes a hit with a western audience that isn't familiar with the source content, but I'm tempering expectations.

Solid! Pacing in latter half of the first season gets kind of slow though, and I was left wanting the story to be a bit more developed by the time it was wrapped up. Still, hoping / looking forward to the second installment.