Sword of Truth TV Series

[Ashval]

I can't say that I enjoyed last night's episode much at all. I know they plan to deviate from the original story, but they could at least make it interesting when they do.

[Tarryk]

That's not the first "ho-hum" review I've heard of episode 3. I haven't seen it yet, myself, but I hope it's not a complete loss. :/

Interesting to see that one of my theories was correct, looking at the titles for upcoming episodes: The entire "Denna" thing will be condensed into a single episode. Considering how much of the book it consumed, I'm very interested to see what bits they use, and if they make the chronology of it stick (which would result in a lot of "1 Month Later" dissolves).

EDIT: Further from that, it looks like the episodic approach is both a favor and a curse for the writers, wherein instead of each episode being a "step forward" in the book, it will instead be mostly original episodes that don't fit with anything in the book at all, and the occasional (1 in 3 or 1 in 5?) episode that follows a few leads from the book simply to advance the story.

[Gridfan]

So in other words, unlike Batman Begins whih was a retcon of the previous batman movies,
this sounds more along the lines of a alternate universe?
(Anime fans like me and Tarryk are very familiar with this, the Japanese have a habit of alternate universe series, Gundam being a classic example)

I've never read the books so, I guess I'm able to evaluate on the worth of the series itself rather than a pre-bias of any sort.

Guess I'll have to check it out, just hope there is magic in this series.

[Tarryk]

this sounds more along the lines of a alternate universe?
(Anime fans like me and Tarryk are very familiar with this, the Japanese have a habit of alternate universe series, Gundam being a classic example)

Hadn't really thought about it that way, but really that's exactly what it is. They are retelling the story, but at the same time writing whole new stories to weave in that were never there originally.

Guess I'll have to check it out, just hope there is magic in this series.

There is definitely plenty of that.

[Gridfan]

Having seen the 3 first eps. I gotta say I kinda like it. Except, just like Metalynx said, something IS kinda odd.

And I think I know what, certain scene changes/cuts I would have done differently/better (I'm confident of this). The cuts and "running slomo" scenes...

Is it just me or does it feel like the editor has previously worked on music videos for Nightwish and the like? *laughs*

Let's hope stuff gets a beat more streamlined soon, first few eps are always a bit shaky. Especially considering that this series is nowhere near the budget of Stargate Atlantis for example. (just guessing here)

Hadn't really thought about it that way, but really that's exactly what it is. They are retelling the story, but at the same time writing whole new stories to weave in that were never there originally.

Exactly. The legend is the same, just a different storyteller, or possibly the stories between the other stories (in the books).

Back in the old days, before the internet (shock horror) and before books (ask your grandpa what books are),
there was a Storyteller profession, these guys traveled the world, and for food, shelter, clothes and maybe the odd coin they told stories, many stories was of the same legend, and some of the storytellers themselves became legendary with people flocking from afar to hear the stories.

Now imagine the books being told by one storyteller, and the series by another. The fact that possibly one of the two storytellers have the height of the male lead wrong should be the least of any worries

And someone mentioned the book author approved this series and consulted, so if he's ok with this, it would be silly if the fans aren't as well. (well most of them)

I guess I'll have to check out the books later. Might be fun to try and "guess" where a episode fit in-between events in the book. (i.e. figuring out the timeline).

[Innari]

I've heard nothing but wonders about the books, but I still haven't read them. I'm currently re-entrenched in Anne McCaffrey books. But I'll definitely be picking them up.

[Metalynx]

Ditch the Mccafery, pick up the pile of the Sword of truth (what like 8 books or so now?). Tis decent reading overall (last few books get a bit preachy though).

On par (in my opinion) with Robert Jordans Wheel of time (but we will never see the proper ending of that, since he passed away. Damnit.

There are no mere words I can put in text that shows my massive dissapointment about his passing. A massive epoc that died with him, that was nearly finished.

Meh.

[Tarryk]

My fanboyish love for Goodkind's series and his involvement with the TV series has been waning slightly.

I still do enjoy the series. On it's own, I think it is it's own storyline using only a few central concepts from the books to drive it forward.

But, as I am reading the books again and catching an episode now and again, I'm finding myself approving less and less of some of the plot keys that were ditched for the series.

[Metalynx]

Always seems that way when they take a book series and condense it into a tv series (especialy when its a long book series, and they have no clue if theire tv knock off will even last half a season).

Not often when they can do such a thing form a book. The lord of the Rings was a damn lucky thing that suceeded amazingly. Not often that happens.