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March 28, 2024, 08:34:33 AM

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The Wheel of Time (Amazon Prime)

Started by king_tubby, November 20, 2021, 08:59:11 AM

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king_tubby

Surprised there's not a thread on this already. Now I read all of these during the first sleep deprived months of being a new parent, so thought I'd give this a go.

We watched the first two last night, first was a bit slow but which first episodes often are, but didn't really fill in many details despite it. The second was a lot better, more going on, and a proper villainous turn from Abdul Salis.

Kankurette

Is he Padan Fain? That cunt was so creepy even the Dark One hated him.

I wish it wasn't on Prime cos I like what I've seen of the trailers. Perrin looks like a hotter Troy Deeney. Can't wait for when the Aiel show up, though Aviendha is a couple of books off.

MojoJojo

Between this, foundation, Dune, Cowboy Beebop, handmaid's tale, it's like they're making all the stuff I half remember reading as a teen into live action. Just need to add the Belgariad and Snowcrash to finish it off. Probably something to do with being a white 40 year old male.

That said, I less than half remember the Wheel of Time, and only read a few of them anyway. So I have no enthusiasm for this. I have Prime though, so will try this once I finish or get bored of Cowboy Bepop.

Alberon

I thought the books were the prime example of a high fantasy series bloated beyond all sense.

Gave up on them two and a half books in.

Someone needs to adapt some David Gemmell or Joe Abercrombie novels.

Hasn't an attempt to film Snowcrash been grinding on for the best part of a decade? Joe Cornish was attached to it at one point.

Alberon


Alberon

Triple Post.

Don't understand the new forum settings!

Kankurette

Quote from: Alberon on November 20, 2021, 10:19:20 AMI thought the books were the prime example of a high fantasy series bloated beyond all sense.

Gave up on them two and a half books in.

Someone needs to adapt some David Gemmell or Joe Abercrombie novels.

Hasn't an attempt to film Snowcrash been grinding on for the best part of a decade? Joe Cornish was attached to it at one point.
It gets even worse mid-series. There's a whole book that's set during a major event in the previous book and is basically everyone else reacting to said event. And I liked A Crown of Swords but I wish to fuck Jordan had cut down on the Ebou Dar subplot, because it just dragged and dragged. And it had way too many scenes with Mat and Tylin which I hated because of the obvious undercurrent of 'ha ha ha, isn't it hilarious that a hot older woman is raping a man at knifepoint and withholding food from him until he has sex with her'.

Apparently they've got a new actor for Mat.

king_tubby

#7
Quote from: Kankurette on November 20, 2021, 09:50:23 AMIs he Padan Fain? That cunt was so creepy even the Dark One hated him.

Nah, but the guy they've got playing him is also well fucking scary.

Quote from: Alberon on November 20, 2021, 10:19:20 AMI thought the books were the prime example of a high fantasy series bloated beyond all sense.

Gave up on them two and a half books in.

Someone needs to adapt some David Gemmell or Joe Abercrombie novels.

Hasn't an attempt to film Snowcrash been grinding on for the best part of a decade? Joe Cornish was attached to it at one point.

Yeah, the books just went on and on and on.

I'd love to see the Bloody Nine on screen, need to start the latest one properly though, got distracted with other stuff. Abercrombie's YA trilogy would be a really good thing to adapt too.

earl_sleek

Can we have no book spoilers in this thread please? A lot of people watching won't have read the books, and I'm only up to Dragon Reborn, so I'd appreciate people not giving away future developments here.

druss

Is it good then? My mate said he had to check Weiss and Benioff weren't behind it which didn't fill me with confidence.

mothman

What ARE B&W up to these days? Their star seems to have sunk considerably after GoT's final season. Their stupid "Wouldn't it be nice if black people were still slaves?" show got rejected, one silver lining there anyway.

olliebean

Could've sworn I remembered posting in a previous thread about this. Anyway, I'm not planning to watch it. From the title, I was hoping there'd be some neato time travel shenanigans, but apparently the books are just some long-winded LoTR/GoT wannabe. Also I saw a review that said the series is very much aimed at people who know and love the books, and people who don't probably won't get much out of it.

mjwilson

Quote from: mothman on November 20, 2021, 11:27:56 AMWhat ARE B&W up to these days? Their star seems to have sunk considerably after GoT's final season. Their stupid "Wouldn't it be nice if black people were still slaves?" show got rejected, one silver lining there anyway.

Three Body Problem for Netflix I think.

mothman

Hmm. Forgot that was happening. As there are just three books therefore an established beginning, middle and end, less opportunity for them to screw up by having to extemporise new material...

Kankurette

Quote from: earl_sleek on November 20, 2021, 11:13:42 AMCan we have no book spoilers in this thread please? A lot of people watching won't have read the books, and I'm only up to Dragon Reborn, so I'd appreciate people not giving away future developments here.
It's really, really not that much of a spoiler to say that that arc is very long and very boring. I didn't even say what happens in it other than Jordan's usual fetishes.

I've not read The Eye of the World, although I have a vague idea of what happens in it. Trollocs and such. I hope they get up to The Great Hunt, although it has
Spoiler alert
the really skeevy bit with the damane and Egwene being tortured. Your id is showing, Jordan.
[close]

Poobum

Quote from: mothman on November 20, 2021, 11:27:56 AMWhat ARE B&W up to these days? Their star seems to have sunk considerably after GoT's final season. Their stupid "Wouldn't it be nice if black people were still slaves?" show got rejected, one silver lining there anyway.

They did a shit cameo in Westworld with Drogon, didn't even die horribly, very misjudged.

earl_sleek

Quote from: Kankurette on November 20, 2021, 03:48:22 PMIt's really, really not that much of a spoiler to say that that arc is very long and very boring. I didn't even say what happens in it other than Jordan's usual fetishes.

That isn't a problem, but as part of that discussion you then went on to mention things that happen to Mat in a later book.

It's (probably) not a big detail, and I don't want to be the spoiler police - just asking people that have read the books further than the TV show to think before they post, and err on the side of caution in using spoiler tags.

earl_sleek

Thoughts on the show:

- Mat's my favourite character at the moment, which is actually a minor pain because I know the actor is replaced for S2. Hopefully that doesn't have a big impact.
Spoiler alert
Mat was my least favourite character in the books up until Dragon Reborn, when he starts getting viewpoint chapters and actually does stuff rather than being a whinging prick.
[close]

- Don't see the point in Perrin's wife
Spoiler alert
especially as she gets fridged very early on and isn't even in the book. I don't mind adaptations adding/removing characters if it works well, but this seems a a lazy example.
[close]

- Lan doesn't look anything like I imagined him, but he's suitably badass.

- Rosamund Pike is generally good as Moiraine, but I thought the big channeling sequence was a bit clumsy.

- I think they've contracted things quite well, it's a lot snappier than Eye Of The World.

Spoiler alert
Wondering what they're doing with keeping Rand's dad alive. I guess they want to keep the mystery of which one of them is the Dragon, and Tam's last words to Rand signpost that it's him IIRC.
[close]

I liked it and think it's got a lot of potential.


mothman

Quote from: Poobum on November 20, 2021, 04:08:15 PMThey did a shit cameo in Westworld with Drogon, didn't even die horribly, very misjudged.
Yes, a very clever cameo - assuming we were capable of recognising who they are, and they were capable of acting.

Kankurette

Lan is hot. As is Thom, but he is
Spoiler alert
a bit of a sex machine in the books, what with shagging Elayne's mum
[close]
, so it's not surprising. Btw who is the black Whitecloak? Is he Jaichim Carridin or someone else?

Spoiler alert
I'm surprised Perrin has a wife. Especially as Faile is due to show up later - apparently she's been cast.
[close]

Catalogue Trousers

'Come Arseache my Elf, Nurofen Owlbag the Filler of the Bowl. Our Quest is the Sacred Lambada deep in the Forest of Splodd - for I am Jordan The Windbag.'

Kankurette

I'm glad they're condensing the books as well. They can drag at times.

Jack Shaftoe

Quote from: Alberon on November 20, 2021, 10:19:20 AMHasn't an attempt to film Snowcrash been grinding on for the best part of a decade? Joe Cornish was attached to it at one point.

That was also going to be on Prime at some point (two of my friends were working on it, I was well jealous). Seems like they ran into problems with it seeming too similar to Ready Player One (madness) so it went on the back burner for a bit, although Cornish was having another go last I heard.

WoT always seemed like what Pratchett called 'Extruded Fantasy Product' to me, all a bit clean and ticking all the boxes of fantasy tropes without bringing anything new to it (although to be fair I've barely read it, so shut up, me). D&D as opposed to Warhammer Fantasy or The Witcher.

king_tubby

Quote from: Jack Shaftoe on November 20, 2021, 06:40:10 PMSeems like they ran into problems with it seeming too similar to Ready Player One (madness)

wtf

Quote from: Jack Shaftoe on November 20, 2021, 06:40:10 PMWoT always seemed like what Pratchett called 'Extruded Fantasy Product' to me, all a bit clean and ticking all the boxes of fantasy tropes without bringing anything new to it (although to be fair I've barely read it, so shut up, me). D&D as opposed to Warhammer Fantasy or The Witcher.

Yeah, that's fair. In fact I read something the other day which said 'Do you like Wheel of Time? You'll love D&D!!!!'



Kankurette

I liked the first episode, though
Spoiler alert
Perrin having a wife was a bit shit since she just existed to get offed by Trollocs.
[close]

I like the fact that Two Rivers/Emond's Field doesn't look like a fantasy British village, it looks more like a mishmash of cultures? Also, Lan's arse. Phwoar.

I'm guessing the blonde Red sister was
Spoiler alert
Liandrin. And the bloke getting stilled is Logain. Also, no way is Nynaeve dead, she's one of the Supergirls for fuck's sake.

Did Egwene and Rand actually get it on? Rand doesn't get laid until about 5 or so books in when he gets his leg over with Aviendha, and Lanfear finds out and goes apeshit.
[close]

The guy who plays Fain looks familiar. Don't know who he is though.

ETA: Abdul Salis is Eamon Valda, not Carridin.
Spoiler alert
He's one of the nastiest Whitecloaks. Especially later in the series.
[close]

mothman

I largely gave up reading fantasy by the end of the 1990s so all my knowledge is massively out of date. I do wonder if, as the streamers scramble for content, people would ever contemplate, say, the Shannara books or the Dragonlance ones. Or the Belgariad (and Malloreon) or even the Eleniad and Tamuli. That's as far as my reading went! So if I do give WoT a go - the show not the books - I'd be going into it completely blind...

Inspector Norse

Not read WoT because the general consensus seems to be that it's spread out over at least 6 books too many and the prose is actually dreadful, which doesn't really seem to be my thing. Might give the show a go, if they're condensing it. There's room for a daft escapist big-budget fantasy in my viewing schedule.

One '90s fantasy series - not that I've read many, must admit - that I think would make great TV is Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow and Thorn: it's eerie, sad and deep yet has plenty of classic epic adventure elements. It doesn't have the snappy dialogue or politicking of GoT but it has strong, complex characters and a lot of the murky, challenging morality of GoT.

What counts against it, though, is that it was such an influence on GoT that many elements would feel overfamiliar.

king_tubby

Quote from: mothman on November 20, 2021, 08:50:41 PMthe Shannara books

They've done this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shannara_Chronicles

Again, watched in the midst of utter sleep deprivation but it was pretty woeful. I've not read the books though.


mothman

Well, there you go. I think they were the first fantasy series I read (after LotR of course) and I can't remember anything about it apart from it being unusual in being explicitly set in a very very far future Earth following a cataclysm which remodelled the entire planet...

Ooh, how about Raymond E. Feist's books, Wizard etc.?

Quote from: mothman on November 20, 2021, 08:50:41 PMOr the Belgariad (and Malloreon) or even the Eleniad and Tamuli.

Not likely, Eddings turned out to be a bit of a wrong un.

Watched about 5 minutes of this and will need a stronger stomach before going back for more. Never a good sign when in the first minute someone tells you in voice-over what the plot is and then a minute later we cut to the same person telling us some more of what the plot is.