I thought the show was fantastic. Just for the record, no, I haven't read the books.
I rented the first series on DVD and watched it before this one-- first thing I noticed- the fx were 10x better. I suppose they have a bigger budget and better technology this time around. The whole sequence where they capture the worm was nifty. The Spacer guilder is all CGI now and he's well animated.
Costumes....better. Acting...better. Story....I'm getting wrapped up in it. Juicy. mmmm.