With the novel and first two films being damn near perfect, and Part III being a worthy conclusion, perhaps we've set our sights a little too high. I'm about 200 pages into the book, and while it is tedious at times, and head scratch inducing (ie, confusing), I think the book is going pretty well and has picked up its pace where I currently am.

As for Winegardner, perhaps he wasn't the best choice for the book. But you have to admire his changes or expansion of the GF universe. If he was going to simply recycle the same stuff we've seen before, and add nothing new to the universe, then as an author, it wouldn't even be worth writing. While he still manages to recycle some stuff, I think he does a good job bringing new ideas in.

We're always going to be spoiled by the original book and movies. We're always going to expect anything with the GF name on it to be the next masterpiece. Could the book be better? Sure... but at the same time, we have to remembre that it's entertainment, and we're supposed to have fun with it.

My saying is, anything to get me back into the Godfather state of mind is a good thing.