A Discovery of Witches will drop all eight episodes of season 1 on Sundance Now and Shudder streaming services Jan. 17, 2019. Here’s our reaction to the premiere!

Stunning, sweeping shots of Oxford. Beautiful old books, libraries, laboratories, and coffee shops. It is every academic’s dream. The shots on location are only one element of A Discovery of Witches‘ premiere episode that ground the story.

The other comes from the spectacular cast of Teresa Palmer (Diana Bishop), Matthew Goode (Matthew Clairmont), and Alex Kingston (Sarah Bishop), to name a few. Each of their first appearances on screen at NYCC were greeted with a sharp intake of breath and a slow satisfied exhale. They carried the characters from the page to the screen without a hint of effort.

Minor spoilers for the book series A Discovery of Witches is based on ahead.

A Discovery of Witches‘ first season will complete the first book in the All Souls Trilogy by the same name. Needless to say, fitting a nearly 600 page book into eight episodes requires a ton of leg work for each episode. But the first episode felt like it had time to breathe and unfold in the perfect amount of time.

And how did the first meeting of Diana Bishop and Matthew Clairmont go? Well, I’m still grinning. The chemistry between Palmer and Goode is electric. From their first verbal exchange to their intense last look, the duo walk the fine line between perfect composure and complete unraveling with ease.

There is a scene in the opening few minutes where Diana is preparing for a lecture and takes her bike over to the hall. Clad in a long blue jacket and her button-up and blazer, she appears to have stepped out of another time. Her coloring stands out among the worn buildings and more modern tourists walking the cobblestone paths of Oxford.

She is at the same time perfectly at home in this place of great historic importance and yet still set a bit apart from it. Just like she is with her connection to her powers and her own history.

Fans of the book will certainly not be disappointed in the structure of the first episode. There are so many moments that readers are not privy to because they are in Diana’s head. But in the series, the camera can cut to Finland or siring at any given moment.

Pacing is one thing I am still concerned about as the season progresses and I hope all the episodes feel as complete as the pilot. For U.S. viewers, you will have the option to binge the series in one sitting should you desire. And from the looks of the teaser trailer shown immediately following the episode, I imagine it will be hard to hit stop.

Series author Deborah Harkness answered a few questions following the screening and dished about her cameo (!!), finding the right people to play the roles of Diana and Matthew, and the adaptation process.

Related: Deborah Harkness on Time’s Convert and how experiences in reading inform her characters

When it comes to transforming an author’s words on the page to action on the screen, Harkness notes that what scared her the most was “how many people had ideas about what would make the perfect TV show.” Too many cooks in the kitchen and you’ll never get anything done.

Harkness did note that despite some necessary changes to make the plot move on television, she commends the group of writers for “sticking to the spirit of the books and the characters of the books.” There were a few elements of the filming process that she thought should not be left up to Hollywood. That includes attention to detail. Don’t expect to see anyone using white gloves to touch the old books. It’s not a thing!

Speaking to the casting process for Diana and Matthew, Harkness says, “From the minute [Palmer and Goode] were together it was clear. There was no one else for these roles.” With any role that requires an actor to engage with the supernatural, Harkness notes that you have to find actors who take it seriously. Audiences can immediately tell when someone is taken out of the world they are trying to play in.

And as for what makes Diana and Matthew such a compelling duo to both read and watch, it boils down to them finding someone who sees the other for what they are. Diana is willing to accept that Matthew is 1500 years old and might try to open the car door for her because feminism is new for him. At the same time, Matthew sees Diana as a witch who, right now, doesn’t want to live that truth.

Harkness goes on to joke that Diana also has to put up with Matthew’s weird tendency to sniff everything.

If you’re nervous about this adaptation, don’t be. From the looks of the first episode, A Discovery of Witches is going to be an incredible journey for both old and new fans!

A Discovery of Witches comes to Sundance Now and Shudder on Jan. 17, 2019.