I mean, to be perfectly honest I'm not too interested in Game of Thrones anymore. There are some great moments every season. The Hardhome sequence, last year, was a very impressive piece of television action. But, really, there's only 10 episodes a year which only ever feels like enough time to check in with our characters rather than do any meaningful with them. The plot isn't interesting enough to carry the characters and the characters aren't interesting enough to carry the plot.
Then I watch a show like Better Call Saul - with minimal plot momentum - but I largely feel that character interactions are interesting enough that it carries the show.
Where the books succeed, I think, is its compelling character exploration. The plot momentum is even slower than the show but it doesn't really matter when it's characters and ideas are interesting. Perhaps now the show can get out from under the book's shadow it can tailor itself more to work as a 10 episode season.
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