I agree - started this summer with book 1 and just finished 10 - 11 due out next April - pre-ordered it - have to see how Michael is !! Books are always so much better then the movies - Harry Potter came close - especially Alan Rickman as Snape and the Tolkein Trilogy was really pretty true to the characters - hated the Hobbits in the books - hated them in the movie too - but Gandolph and and Shadowfax carried it for me -