Book crew is better, I agree. But Avasarala IMO carries the show by herself. The casting is perfect here, and I'll miss her the most.
But my view is that if I wanted to read a character development story, I'd pick up just about any other genre than science fiction. A romance novel, a crime novel, a drama novel, etc. I like my sci-fi when it's about something else than usual, mundane interpersonal drama that real life is so full of already.
I'm okay with this because it's more realistic.