User blog comment:TwilightReaderFan/Season 5 Finale/@comment-15030876-20151001074303

While the books are obviously better at "having more material", including more characters and more backstory, honestly the show is better at fleshing out secondary, non-POV characters. And it gives more of a distinct voice to each character, initially thanks to the acting and later because the writing was adjusted for the strengths of each actor; George R.R. Martin isn't that great at giving each character a distinct voice (if you've watched the show first, you'll probably be surprised by, for example, how Jaime speaks.) Sometimes the show also acts as the harsh editor GRRM sorely needs sometimes, cutting fluff or condensing material in intelligent ways (e.g. in the books, Gendry dissapears from the plot after joining the Brotherhood without Banners (except for a small cameo in book four); another one of Robert's bastards, this one utterly characterless, appears in the Dragonstone plot so that Davos can save him; the show wisely used Gendry instead, giving him something to do.)