Poll Amazon Prime Fantasy Series: Lord of the Rings or The Wheel of Time

[JD]

Right now we've got two different new epic fantasy series coming up on Amazon Prime's streaming video service, a Lord of the Rings/Middle Earth prequel series, rumored to be about a young Aragorn, and an adaptation of the Wheel of Time book series. So I was just wondering, which are you more excited for?
Personally, I'm leaning more towards The Wheel of Time, we've already gotten a bunch of LOTR/Middle Earth adaptations, but all we've gotten for TWoT is one pilot that nobody saw, that was so cheap and so bad that it was fired off in the middle of the night with no warning.

 

[Relayer1]

Have been meaning to read TWOT for twenty-four years. Still haven't.

Read LOTR a couple of times, plus some peripheral material. Love it and would like some more...

 

[Kai "the spy"]

Conan.

 

[dahj]

Lord of the Rings or The Wheel of Time,

Conan.

It would be funny if they shot all three on the same sets to save money.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Have been meaning to read TWOT for twenty-four years. Still haven't.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Since I still haven't read The Wheel of Time either and knowing nothing about it beyond the title and author, whereas I'm a huge Tolkien fan and will never get tired of more (I just started reading The Fall of Gondolin), the choice is obvious for me.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

Since I still haven't read The Wheel of Time either and knowing nothing about it beyond the title and author, whereas I'm a huge Tolkien fan and will never get tired of more (I just started reading The Fall of Gondolin), the choice is obvious for me.

Is it Conan? It's Conan, isn't it.

 

[Skywalker]

I'll take all of them (including Conan).

 

[fireproof78]

Neither. If I have to chose between the two it would be Lord of the Rings, but I would rather see Mistborn or Stormlight Archive or another take on Dresden Files.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Is it Conan? It's Conan, isn't it.

All I know about Conan, I learned from Arnold and, very briefly, Ralf Möller. Which is to say, eh.

 

[kirk55555]

I have to go with LoTR. I tried to read the first WoT book, but I just couldn't get into it. As for Conan, I loathe the character in any form. So, since I love the LotR trilogy and movies (and the Hobbit book, but not the movies), this is an easy choice. I'm definitely interested in the LoTR tv show, although it could go either way quality wise.

 

[dahj]

All I know about Conan, I learned from Arnold

Then you know what's best in life and what more do you need.

 

[Turtletrekker]

All I know about Conan, I learned from Arnold and, very briefly, Ralf Möller. Which is to say, eh.

I learned everything I needed to know about Conan from Roy Thomas and John Buscema.

 

[JD]

It would be funny if they shot all three on the same sets to save money.

Damn, I hadn't heard about that, I would have included it in the thread if I knew had.

 

[saddestmoon]

No contest: LOTRs for the win! :P

 

[DigificWriter]

Have been meaning to read TWOT for twenty-four years. Still haven't.

Don't. It's seriously derivative, repetitive, and duller than dishwater, taking most of 4 books as lengthy as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to actually get anywhere.

And I'm with Fireproof on this one in terms of not being interested in either show. Middle-earth will forever be associated with Peter Jackson and Co. for me and I have no interest in seeing anybody else try to match their representation of it, and, as I noted, the WoT novels are crap.

Instead of adapting shit and rehashing something that has already been done well, Hollywood producers should instead option something new, such as Brandon Sanderson's original works (either his Cosmere [Mistborn, Wax and Wayne, The Stormlight Archive, Elantris, Warbreaker, and White Sand], his Infinity Blade tie-ins, his Legion series, or his YA stuff like The Rithmatist and Steelheart), anything written by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman (either solo, together, or with other partners), or any of R.A. Salvatore's original series or his "Forgotten Realms tie-ins.

 

[Booji]

Conan

 

[JD]

Don't. It's seriously derivative, repetitive, and duller than dishwater, taking most of 4 books as lengthy as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to actually get anywhere.

And I'm with Fireproof on this one in terms of not being interested in either show. Middle-earth will forever be associated with Peter Jackson and Co. for me and I have no interest in seeing anybody else try to match their representation of it, and, as I noted, the WoT novels are crap.

Instead of adapting shit and rehashing something that has already been done well, Hollywood producers should instead option something new, such as Brandon Sanderson's original works (either his Cosmere [Mistborn, Wax and Wayne, The Stormlight Archive, Elantris, Warbreaker, and White Sand], his Infinity Blade tie-ins, his Legion series, or his YA stuff like The Rithmatist and Steelheart), anything written by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman (either solo, together, or with other partners), or any of R.A. Salvatore's original series or his "Forgotten Realms tie-ins.

This discussion of other possibilities for adaptation reminds me of something. Has anybody heard anything lately about Hulu's Throne of Glass adaptation? It was announced back around the same time as Runaways and that has already had a full season, and I've seen no signs of ToG.

 

[Kelthaz]

I'm three books into the Wheel of Time myself, and, yeah, I don't recommend it. It's not bad by any means, but unless you've exhausted the entire fantasy genre there's definitely something better that you could be reading instead. But with that said I am very interested in a TV adaptation. The framework of the story is solid and with a few tweaks to the pacing and characters we could end up with a pretty damn good series. The writers just have to be willing to make some big changes and upset the purists.

 

[The Lensman]

Since I still haven't read The Wheel of Time either and knowing nothing about it beyond the title and author, whereas I'm a huge Tolkien fan and will never get tired of more (I just started reading The Fall of Gondolin), the choice is obvious for me.

How is The Fall of Gondolin? I know that it's more in line with Beren and Luthien than Children of Hurin, but it's my favorite of the Great Tales.

As for the OP's question, I'm more interested in the Middle Earth show. I enjoyed the Jackson films, but they haven't aged well for me. I think his presentation of the world itself is still fine though. But I'm not averse to seeing what someone else can do either.

Never read Wheel Of Time because I don't have that much time to invest in a series that seems mediocre. But then I don't read much new fantasy and would rather they adapt the Champion Eternal books, the Amber series or Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser stories instead.