According to my granddaughter who read all the books the movie was true to the book with only a couple slight variations that were meaningless. She loved it, thought it was great. She commented that the dress that Catness wore was so well described in the book that what she saw on screen matched what she had imagined it to look like when she read the book. Kudos to the costume directors! For me, the casting was awesome! I remember Donald Sutherland from when he was much younger - excellent choice for his character. Kudos to the casting crew as well! Awesome film .. will buy the DVD as soon as it comes out! Trust me, for the most part, I do not buy movies. I think Avitar was the last movie I bought and before that couldn't tell you. EXCELLENT film, it will not disappoint. The violence was not senseless which makes a huge difference in how it is perceived. Great job by the author and the film makers in bringing it to the big screen!