I liked the addition to Laura's story. I think she's roughly about as terrible as she was in the novel (I don't have much patience at all for infidelity), but she's much better realized in the show. There's more substance. Also, the "Of course I still love you. I'm just not happy" conversation was one of the better depictions of depression I've seen on the screen.

As to the show in general, I think it's phenomenal and far better than the book. The changes are numerous, but they're virtually always an improvement. Laura isn't a travel agent in a small town, because travel agents don't exist anymore in small towns. They're online. And speaking of online, the change to the Technical Boy was perfect. The fat greasy neckbeard might have been the face of the Internet when the book was published, but it's not anymore. Now it's the coked up social media fresh-out-of-dropout entrepreneur. The show has managed to seamlessly jump from the 2000ish setting of the book to 2017, and it's much better for it.

The introduction of Anansi to the Americas, along with the subtle hint towards the sort of person who agitates racial crises for their own benefit? Perfect. The channeling of fury at the life of black people in America? Perfect. The immediate switch from the slave trade to the iconography of the lynched black man? It's phenomenal. There's so much interplay between these vast mythological archetypes--the slave trade, the American lynch mob, the hanging-for-wisdom of certain Norse divinities--and it all manages to expose ideas buried deep in the American psyche.

The writing is amazing, the acting spot-on, and the casting is to die for. Ian McShane as Mr. Wednesday is perfect.

I really like the show.

Also, Shadow is really, really good looking.