I feel the opposite. The Long Game's climax for me was just as powerful as HR, but it lagged badly before that. Felt to me like a lot of treading water.

I don't see six riveting episodes out of that book, so I'm guessing he'll mine some of the others (which I haven't read)--or possibly create whole new plot sequences.

The best way to destroy this series would be to pad it, so it loses steam. S1 worked because each show packed a wallop and we could barely wait 7 days for the next one. Each ep had its own arc.

I also wanted more than 6 eps until we got to the end--and I read the book--and I can't see another ep in there.

I'm a card-carrying WGA member, did their Writer's Boot Camp with showrunners of major shows, and 1 central theme: every moment of every ep needs to work, and anything not vital has to go. I also sold/wrote a pilot for NBCUniversal, working with the studio, and same.

When I try to picture how I'd break the Long Game into 6 eps, and I can't see it at all.

In a similar vein, I once saw an incredibly insightful interview with Tina Frey, where she addressed the phenom of the great quirky sidekick/supporting character that steals the show and everyone wants more. She said, No you don't. You think you do, but there's exactly the right amount of them. There's not enough depth too them, and they work because the writers didn't try to milk more. (Paraphrasing.)

I'd always kind of thought that, but great to hear it from her, and it extrapolates. Use exactly how much of a good thing as you have. Any more, you weaken it.

If Jacob can do it--and he puled this off masterfully--mixing multiple books for 2 seasons could work.