Books?

They do not.

My wife has read all the books. There are considerable differences between the books and the television program; almost too many to list. From what she has told me, the opening credits for the show should say "Inspired by..." not "Based on..." with reference to the books.

It's based on the books but it doesn't follow them closely.

bigtonk

I have just read the first eleven novels and will receive the twelfth one on Tuesday. I have watched only the first five episodes of Season one. The author says that the novels and the television version are parallel worlds. The same thing happened with Game of Thrones. There are some things exactly the same and glaring differences. I'm having the most trouble with the casting of Lou Diamond Phillips as Bear. He's great but not big enough in stature which is hard to do next to Taylor who is 6'4".