ut I think they did a really good job with the adaptation -- visually it's stunning, and it has much more narrative push

Yes, what I do remember feels more like a collection of short stories, whereas even with the two time jumps s1 does feel like it tells a continuous story.

Gaal and Salvor are both white men in the original stories, unsurprisingly.

Figures. And confirms the tv team having made a good decision there.

visually it's stunning

Very true. It can compete with the latest Dune in that regard, and then some.