And they ran out of source material. Once they got ahead of the books, the stupid started.

That was the big problem. The HBO series caught up with Martin, and he was having trouble finishing his books. So the writers for the show went off on their own (supposedly consulting Martin). They were rushing, and it showed. They probably should have waiting until Martin finished his books.

I had a coworker who was reading the books, and watching the show. He loved it, and was describing the situation to me. It was an artistic tragedy that the ending was rushed and disjointed.

I would recommend The Expanse. It's smart, has lots of moving parts, and maintains its level of storytelling throughout. Plus, as a bonus, they get a LOT of physics details right (wounds in zero-g, being born and growing up in low gravity, etc). I just re-watched it, and am on the waiting list for the books at the library.