I actually really hated the book, which was a big surprise to me, since I love Princess Bride and most of Sanderson. But man, the narrator was way more grating and unfunny to me than Princess Bride's.
Sanderson usually isn't funny for me, which is usually fine, but Tress relied on humor too much imo
My spouse and I have played a couple times. Everything's decently made, we've had fun with just us, but I can see where having the full 4 would be the best experience.
Can't speak of the solo play. Kinda tempted to set the game up and throw the movie on for it one day, though.
Here's a more more direct route if you're one of Dread Roberts' crew... just posted it over on the @13thFloor to preserve the link in case any of the mods here were Humperdinck agents looking for volunteers to test the Pit of Despair.