Oh, I know what you mean -- the books are ever so dense. Many characters, many places, many plot threads, all so vivid and so thick.

In truth, I was curious, but not very optimistic about the series.

And yet, I was pleasantly surprised. Of course, a lot of the books' feel of thickness didn't make it. Nevertheless, I felt the series found a voice of its own, with a certain... refined crudeness to it, you know, and that worked pretty well for me. Keeping talons crossed for the next episodes. At least one was written by GRRM himself, as far as I know; the comparison with the book will be interesting.