Campy/low budget, but kind of fun at times. The characters actually aren't that bad. They're all a little bit melodramatic (particularly Richard) but that's to be expected. What turned me off the show is that there are a LOT of "town of the week" episodes. They stop at a town, fix someone's trivial problem, and move on. I hear that improves as the show goes on, but it just wasn't good enough for me to stick it out. Maybe you'll disagree. *shrug*

To answer your other question, yes, it deviates from the book. Significantly. You'll recognize most of the major plot points, but rarely will the details match up. If you're a stickler for accuracy and you can't tell yourself "this is legend of the seeker, not sword of truth," this is not the series for you. They often toss out the book plot entirely.

Anyway, overall I wouldn't recommend it, HOWEVER: Kahlan is super hot, and her confessor's power going off looks almost exactly as I imagined it from the books. The details of the actual effects have been changed a bit, but I swear I got goosebumps the first time I watched her use it. Kahlan is great, and it's almost worth watching the show just for her.