As a book reader I’d argue the problem is they aren’t following the books closely enough :/ The plot from the flashbacks has been very different from the books.
The pacing has been atrocious, we’re now 4 episodes into season 3 and still retreading and resetting back to where we were at the end of last season…
Admittedly, I’ve enjoyed most of SNW’s gimmick episodes. But- this season it really feels like they’ve dropped all pretense and gone all in on the genre mixing and callbacks. My feeling is the sci-fi and moral intrigue is a bit lacking.