Amazon is hoping their new series The Wheel of Time, based on the books by Robert Jordan, will be the next Game of Thrones. Science fiction editor John Joseph Adams was captivated by the show.

“I thought it was great,” Adams says in Episode 507 of the Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast. “I have no particular affinity for the books, so I didn’t care about the adaptation part of it—I didn’t care if they changed things. I was watching it basically as a fresh viewer, and honestly I love it.”

The Wheel of Time is one of Amazon’s more popular shows, and has received mostly positive reviews, but some fans are underwhelmed with the adaptation. Fantasy author Douglas Cohen thought The Wheel of Time made too many changes to the books. “I really don’t think much of the writing, I don’t think much of the acting,” he says. “I understand that changes happen when you translate one medium into another, but I don’t think that they did the best possible job with translating the books to the show.”

Science fiction author Abby Goldsmith agrees. She thought the relationships in the show didn’t ring true to the characters she knows from the books. “The strength of the series is the interpersonal character dynamics,” she says. “That’s what it’s really about. It’s almost like a soap opera. It’s really about the people, the heroes. And the show, to me, just threw that all away, completely ignored that.”

But Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy host David Barr Kirtley thinks the show will probably appeal to most fantasy fans, as long as they keep their expectations in check. “If you’re into the epic fantasy genre, and you want to watch a TV show or a movie in that genre, there are so few examples to begin with that are any good, and I feel like this is pretty good compared to what else is out there,” he says.

Listen to the complete interview with John Joseph Adams, Douglas Cohen, and Abby Goldsmith in Episode 507 of Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy (above). And check out some highlights from the discussion below.