>>/51856/
Perhaps this should go to the literature thread, but highly related to this.
Started to read the novel. Couple pages from the prologue, but from the description of Blackthorn, the older miniseries' hero is closer to his character. In the book he is tall, have light, blue eyes, and always have a smirk on his face. The 1980 miniseries grabs this better, in this recent one, he feels more stocky. Remember he was traveling on a Dutch ship, where the vast majority of the crew is Dutch. Dutchmen are generally tall, so noting his height as characteristic, means he was really tall, and since nothing else is mentioned, for now I think Clavell pictured him lanky. But back to the new show, he also feels darker somewhat, but he lacks that cheeky grin, he seems frowning more.
This is just my first impression.