News The Wheel of Time Coming to Amazon Video
- Thread starter TheSeeker
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How and why are those reasons odd?
I just finished watching the season of Survivor on which Mr. Judkins competed and on which he was one of my favorite players, he shares my religious faith, and he was at one point a resident of the state I call home and in which I take great pride.
Brandon Sanderson being involved is also motivation for me to at least give the show a chance because I have not only enjoyed his original literary works, but have also met him.
None of those things say "great show runner" or writer. I'd be more interested in his past work rather than what he did on a game show, what religion he is or where he lived. Anything in his actual work resume that indicates he'll do a good job with the material?
^ Here's the writing credits on his resume:
* My Own Worst Enemy ("The Night Train to Moscow", "Down Rio Way", "Henry and the Terrible, Horrible No Good Very Bad Day")
* Chuck (Chuck Versus the Honeymooners", "Chuck Versus the Living Dead", "Chuck Versus the Suitcase",, "Chuck Versus the First Fight", "Chuck Versus the Push Mix", "Chuck Versus the Masquerade", "Chuck Versus the Wedding Planner", "Chuck Versus the Bearded Bandit", "Chuck Versus Sarah")
* Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ("The Hub", "T.R.A.C.K.S.", "A Fractured House", "One Door Closes" , "Scars")
* Hemlock Grove (" What Peter Can Do Without")
* My Own Worst Enemy ("The Night Train to Moscow", "Down Rio Way", "Henry and the Terrible, Horrible No Good Very Bad Day")
* Chuck (Chuck Versus the Honeymooners", "Chuck Versus the Living Dead", "Chuck Versus the Suitcase",, "Chuck Versus the First Fight", "Chuck Versus the Push Mix", "Chuck Versus the Masquerade", "Chuck Versus the Wedding Planner", "Chuck Versus the Bearded Bandit", "Chuck Versus Sarah")
* Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ("The Hub", "T.R.A.C.K.S.", "A Fractured House", "One Door Closes" , "Scars")
* Hemlock Grove (" What Peter Can Do Without")
Now those actually mean something in the context of TV production.
This doesn't sound all that interesting. I'm not super into fantasy and magic to begin with but nothing about this sounds compelling are unique. I actually like the idea of a world were only women have magic and thus they sort of control the world but to me if that is your setting it's more interesting to tell the story from a non-powered human male or maybe a female who doesn't have magic powers for some reason and them sort of having to fight for justice or find meaning in their lives in a world that is built to be unfair to them. Magic could be a metaphor to the Patriotarcy and frankly that was kind of one of the more interesting things about that Will Smith/Orc cop movie on Netflix a couple of years ago. Not really interested in another story though of a wizard or witch or whatever the best term is.
Jason
Jason
Speaking of, I've never read any of Robert Jordan's stuff but I have read all 6 of Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn books and enjoyed them immensely. I'm planning on getting around to Elantris and The Stormlight Archive soon. Do you think that I would like the Wheel of Time books? And if so, should I start with The Eye of the World or New Spring? And if I don't start with New Spring, when would you recommend that I read it?
Kinda reminds me of Jim Butcher's Codex Alera book series. The main character is the only one in the world that doesn't have any magic superpowers, so he has to survive on his wits.
To me that sounds interesting and a good idea for a tv show or movie but especially a tv show because I do like the world building that can come from these kinds of settings. Especially if the world is a slight variation of our own world. I enjoy it when shows like "True Blood" do that.
Jason
Well, Codex Alera is definitely a fantasy world. The idea is that the lost Roman legion apparently fell into some kind of dimensional portal hundreds of years ago and wound up on some other planet. The humans that arrived on this planet realized that they can control elemental spirits which give them powers. There are also other intelligent species on the planet but the humans tend to keep to themselves and still maintain a very Romanesque society.
That sounds kind of nice. Heck though the idea of doing a Roman Empire with 2019 tech and also everyone with magic except the hero plus aliens sounds kind of fun. Though confusing as heck to a mainstream audience.
Jason
Definitely start with The Eye of the World. It's the introduction to the world, the characters, all of it. New Spring started out as a short story that Jordan wrote midway through the series, which was later expanded into a full novel that was published after Crossroads of Twilight, the tenth book. Most say it's best to read New Spring at that point because by then all major characters in that book have been introduced in the main sequence, but I've seen other people say you can read it sooner.
^ Yeah, that's what I'd say too. Starting with New Spring would be chronologically first but it still shows itself as being written much later. Eye of the World introduces us to all this world and its concepts.
And yes, I'd say it's totally worth a shot, at least the first few books.
And yes, I'd say it's totally worth a shot, at least the first few books.
I think the first six books all range from good to great. I can't comment on the middle books which seem to have more mixed reviews because I only got about halfway through A Crown of Swords (book seven) before getting burned out--I'd gone through a good chunk of the series in a row by that point--and needing to take a break.
Brandon Sanderson's original novels are nothing like Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time stories, even though he was handpicked to finish the series following Jordan's death.
What I think Sanderson is going to bring to the TV series - beyond having a pretty intimate knowledge of Jordan's world - is a less plodding and repetitive story.
What I think Sanderson is going to bring to the TV series - beyond having a pretty intimate knowledge of Jordan's world - is a less plodding and repetitive story.
I love the whole series, but sounds about right. I'd say up though A Crown of Swords are pretty good to great and then there's some sag in books 8-11 before Sanderson finishes the series. His three are all fantastic, and 8-11 have some excellent stuff as well.
I suggested through at least 3 because it's hard to recommend a whole six books if they're just not connecting at all, haha.
Yeah, I would definitely recommend people at least read the first three. The first book feels pretty familiar but that was by design. When Jordan was writing it, most fantasy novels were still very much leaning on the tropes and style that Tolkien pioneered in The Lord of the Rings. So it was expected for his story to start out feeling kind of samey; but by the time The Eye of the World is over, the story starts becoming its own thing, and Jordan keeps this up through The Great Hunt, and then The Dragon Reborn feels kind of climactic in a sense.
Books 4 and 5 - which is as far as I got - are a massive slog to get through.
The comparisons to The Lord of the Rings really aren't as favorable as some people would like them to be because LotR is also a massive slog to get through.
If he could have avoided getting bogged down in detail for the sake of detail, the WoT series has a lot of interesting ideas and concepts that could've made for a good story.
The comparisons to The Lord of the Rings really aren't as favorable as some people would like them to be because LotR is also a massive slog to get through.
If he could have avoided getting bogged down in detail for the sake of detail, the WoT series has a lot of interesting ideas and concepts that could've made for a good story.
Nope.
Book four, especially, is the best book in the first half of the series. (Like I said earlier, I can't comment on the second half yet.)
Unless I'm mistaken, Books 4 and 5 are the ones that spend most of their stories with Egwyne and the Aes Sedai and we get page after page of dull tedious descriptions of Egwyne getting put upon by a bunch of brand-new characters who have very little interesting about them, which is why I said that they're a massive slog to get through.
Hmm, nope.
Book 4
Book 5
And yeah, there's a bunch of brand-new characters, but that's part of The Wheel of Time - there's an absolutely incredible number of named characters of varying importance, and expecting Jordan to not introduce a whole bunch more considering where the story goes in Book 4 is rather silly.
"Detail for the sake of detail." Aka world-building.
Book 4
sees Egwene with Rand, Mat, and Moiraine in the Aiel Waste, where Rand learns the Aiel history while Egwene especially and Moiraine to a lesser extent start being trained ('put upon' perhaps?) by the Aiel Wise Women. But there's three other groups of characters with three other plotlines; Perrin in the Two Rivers gets just as much time, as does Nynaeve and Elaine in Tanchico. Min at Tar Valon gets less page time overall, but still makes up a solid chunk of story
Book 5
Continues with the same character setups. Perrin and the Two Rivers plot is absent entirely, but Min and company get a lot more 'screentime' to go with Rand & Company and Nynaeve & Company.
And yeah, there's a bunch of brand-new characters, but that's part of The Wheel of Time - there's an absolutely incredible number of named characters of varying importance, and expecting Jordan to not introduce a whole bunch more considering where the story goes in Book 4 is rather silly.
"Detail for the sake of detail." Aka world-building.
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