Hmm... when I really like a TV series, I want to read novels based on it, because novels are a more immersive experience and you can get more into the show from reading them.
I think for me the actual performances or the way the show is performed by actors such as Olmos, McDonnell or Callis becomes very important. That's a dimension no book can ever have.
I also adore seeing how the creators continue to flesh out how that universe looks and feels. That's something a book can indeed offer but in a different way.
I'm a very visual person. I also have a background in architecture, which is why I love seeing what people from other forms of art envision. On a tv show like Battlestar, it's literally dozens of people who have to work together to produce the whole. In a book, it's just the writer, really.
So for me, a show like Galactica just becomes something that exists as a tv show or as a movie. A book set in the same universe with the same characters just doesn't feel as 'real' to me.
It's kind of hard to explain it. I'm not sure if the description I've given is somehow understandable.
And don't be mistaken, I love reading books. I adored, for example, picking up "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" a long time after I'd seen "Blade Runner". In that case (among other things) I was really curious to find out what the source of inspiration really was like.
Most of the comments I've read about the new Galactica novels focus on the large number of things the writers get wrong, even basic things, like putting a Trek-style viewscreen on the bridge.
That's actually something that would already start alienating me from the books. I'd argue that, to pick up the viewscreen example, those writers didn't actually understand or properly dig into the very clear concept and design concept of the show.
If you see it on tv, it's clear that there's no viewscreen missing. In my book, anyway.
Meanwhile, for those of us who loved DS9, the relaunch novels have continued that show's complex character and plot arcs, moving forward into the kind of new territory the show itself might have done. It's felt a lot more like Star Trek to me than some Star Trek TV series I could name.
I am glad that so many people are enjoying them. I really am. I just found I couldn't. It was a nice read. But in the end I felt I'd be better of either re-watching the show (which, again, felt more 'real' to me) or reading books by Clarke, Dick, Assimov etc. that I hadn't read yet.
I suppose I feel that the characters are the way they are in large part not only thanks to the writers but also thanks to the actors. If you take them out of the equation and you can end up losing a lot.
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