Anyone watching this new Amazon series? I read the books and enjoyed them immensely but not sure how I feel about the show. The newest episode (4) was the best so far. I’m also watching the new Peter Jackson-directed Beatles documentary on Disney+. It’s better than I expected.
I remember reading the first parts of the first book and being like ‘this is a shameless copy of The Fellowship of the Ring’ and putting it down. Apparently it gets great though.
yes that was on purpose but it gets really good if you can make it past the first half of the first book. What you’re describing has stopped a lot of people I know from reading it.
That’s a shame. I have been an avid fantasy/sci-fi reader since my teens so will pick these up again at some point.
no question LOTR was referenced - it was after all one of the most influential fantasy works ever.
OTOH, the 3 main boys end up going their own separate paths, and their stories are very very different than classic Tolkien stuff.
I read them up through book six before I got tired of the first half of every book being a recap of everything that came before. This was ~15 years ago, and so far I don’t remember anything in the series happening in the books (aside from the heron blade and Mat’s dagger and a few other powers that haven’t bloomed yet), and almost every story I do remember from the books isn’t addressed at all. I also don’t remember the group being separated for at least the first three books, so as far as the timeline goes, I’m lost.
It’s probably just time taking it’s toll on my mind, but at least I’m not champing at bit waiting for scenes that won’t come or characters to be introduced that I barely remember. I’ll keep watching, it’s a halfway decent fantasy show.
They do get separated in the first book (and almost every book after that). I’ve noticed they’ve added extraneous stuff that doesn’t make a lot of sense and I didn’t really like the show until episode 4. It’s starting to pick up the pace. I love watching it with someone who has never read the books and watching their reactions. Did the same thing with Game of Thrones since I had read the books way before it was a show (that didn’t end well at all and the books will probably never get finished but let’s not go there).
I’m enjoying the TV show…started reading book 1 again.
Always felt WoT took a lot of its stuff from Dune, actually.
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Havent read the books, enjoying the series though.
Those wolf/goat/satyr beasts are brutal, I hope there is plenty more of them to be seen!
Just been re-watching the extended cuts of these actually. I’ve read it about 20 times, favourite childhood book and I still love the movies.
I’ll give Wheel of Time a try when I’ve finished, never read these.
Just started reading the books as the show managed to hook me in. I can appreciate that if you know the books well there can be reservations about how they get interpreted but the show is really good for the genre. Seems very well produced and looks beautiful and so far every episode (upto 4 right now) has held my attention with a few wtf moments… I am looking forward to watching it further.
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I try to read LOTR every Thanksgiving/Christmas. Obviously that’s not enough time to finish the whole thing but it gets me in the holiday spirit. I also watch the extended cuts. Don’t know what it is but it makes me think of Christmas time. I guess because that’s when the movies came out back in the day. As a LOTR fan, you might be a little annoyed at the very beginning of the WoT books but it does get really good about midway through the first book.
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Yeah the movies have a lot of good memories for me too. I was in NZ when the first one came out and won all the awards!
Maybe I’ll try the Wheel of Time books. I’m reading the Last Kingdom series just now which was similar, I thought the first 1-1.5 weren’t;t all that but then it tightened up nicely. Nice to have the historical angle in there too. Come to think of it probably should watch this series as well…
Was a big fan of the books in the 90s and reread pre 2010s (through book 8 I think). In the 90s I was mortified by the romance novel covers so I (somewhat sacrilegiously) blacked them out with sharpie or ripped them off all together (ah the folly of youth). I have an intact set on the shelf now lol!
Anyways, I’m enjoying the show but am curious to see how people who haven’t read the books react. I don’t think it’s good enough (yet) to generate a cult following but there is a dearth of good fantasy so there’s still some wiggle room for the producers to get it right…
I felt the same way about the covers! I have up until book 7 with the original cheesy covers and guess what? Cannot find them in paperback now (at least not the original covers on Amazon). 2 or 3 years ago it was not a problem finding one. Weird.
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Hahaha! Same! I remember reading Lord of Chaos every day on the NY subway in the early 2000s and always felt like people were eyeballling me weird!
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I started Wheels of Time because my Apple TV advertised it as Must-See show … I turned it off after a few minutes. There was something about it I didn’t like at all.
But the more I read how much you like it (at least the books shows me I should reiterate - and at least read the books?)
That’s a tough call because it’s hard for me to view them objectively (they’re tied to a certain period of my life, people who passed etc.). If you’re a big fantasy person they’re worth a try but otherwise you’re probably not missing out…
Haha, it was the Boston subway for me!
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