Thoughts on "A Song of Ice and Fire" vs "Game of Thrones"

I'm just about done re-reading "A Dance with Dragons", bringing me up-to-date on the books of "A Song of Ice and Fire". I'm also up-to-date on the latest season of "Game of Thrones".

Thoughts:

• I get why HBO cut back on the magic. SFX are expensive and all that. Still, I would have liked to see a bit more magic than the TV series currently shows.
• Along that vein, I'm disappointed the TV series has not seen fit to show Arya Stark and Jon Snow as wargs, similar to Brandon Stark (and, it's implied, Rickon Stark). Of course, Arya being a warg makes her whole training by the Faceless Men completely different, but it makes her even more badass. And Jon... well, if it turns out his parentage is the same in the books as in the TV series, then just imagine the possibilities!
• It's a nitpick, but I kind of wish the TV series had gone with making the White Walkers (known as "The Others" in the books) look inhumanly-beautiful instead of just creepy.
• I'm still not cool on the whole Ramsay Bolton and Sansa Stark storyline, but I have to admit that the conclusion in the TV series was very satisfying!
• I think the series cheated itself a bit by not introducing Lady Stoneheart.
• I like Kit Harrington fine as Jon Snow, but I have to admit, I still think the character of Jon Snow in the TV series is kind of a vacuous dork. At least in the books he learns a certain wisdom. And he proves smart and fairly politically-canny. I get why the TV series went that route, but it lessens the character and disappoints me.
• I hope the books do as well with Tyrion and Danerys as the TV series has done.
• I have no idea what crack HBO's writers were smoking when they did their Dorne sub-plots.

At this point, the TV series is so far off-the-rails from the books, they're essentially different experiences altogether, but I have to say I'm enjoying them. I'm even getting some new respect for "A Feast of Crows" and "A Dance with Dragons" as books. I wasn't keen on them the first couple of times, but now I have to say I appreciate most of the content and understand how Martin is getting lost in his incredibly complex and compelling world.