It's been a long time since I read the books, but it seems to me that they're following the over-arching plot, but having the main characters travel a lot more and do a lot more "mundane" stuff, or stuff not directly related to the overall plot than there were in the books.
I can't recall anything like the last two episodes happening in the books, but both of them mentioned ideas that were in the books (additive magic and the role of a Confessor in Midlands society). I feel like the recipe for each episode of this show will be to make up some adventure or conundrum for the characters to deal with and finish in the span of that episode, then toss in some element from the book plot like a pinch of salt to finish it off.
Probably they'll have major episodes every once and a while that'll really push the book plot forward, like the first episode did, where some of it felt like it came directly from the book (though there were pieces I didn't remember, or remembered differently, but I couldn't tell what was me misremembering and what was actually different - it makes me want to look for my copy of
Wizards' First Rule so I can re-read it and more accurately compare it to the show).
I went to the book store yesterday and sighed when I saw a copy of
Wizards' First Rule on display with the actors from the TV show on the cover. I hate when they do that to books. I picked it up just because and was startled to remember how thick it was. I think they had enough to make a full season, maybe two, of episodes if they had stuck exactly with the book plot!
