When I read The Rook, it made my skin crawl. The book is creepy and fascinating while the sequel book is chaotic and satisfying. After the first trailer for the TV adaptation, I knew they were going to make it action-adventure. I’m still going to watch every last minute of it.

Sometimes, adaptations are very true to the original. Other times, the source is used a framework with the details changed to make relevant sociopolitical points. Much of the time, it feels like the TV production or movie were based on a five minute sales pitch of the book. I’m okay with all of these.

Never ask either of my older sons about LOTR movies. They will chew your ear off with complaints about book differences, especially omissions. I failed to teach them to embrace the joy of seeing something they love in one media adapted for other forms of entertainment.

Yes, I even love the trainwreck adaptations, like the Generation X nostalgia book that was sourced for a young adult movie crutched with endless narration. Most book inspired movies and television programs fall somewhere near that. They’re neither the same as the book nor original enough to be judged without the book. Once in a blue moon, a book is adapted for screen so beautifully that it is both a love letter to the book and something uniquely its own. That kind of perfection makes up for all the directors and editors who don’t read books.