The show from my avatar

[SimonDoom]

Read the books years ago; very quickly worked out that he was wilfully extending them as his meal-ticket. Gave up somewhere around book six. Same sort of experience I had with a Song of Ice and Fire. Haven't watched the show and don't intend to.

Very few authors can make a trilogy work. Of every author I've read who's done more, only Douglas Adams, Ursula K Le Guin and Megan Lindholm have (to my mind) succeeded with longer series.

As a kid, I enjoyed the young adult sci fi Tripod series by John Christopher. It was a trilogy, and years later the author wrote a fourth book as a prequel.

I don't know anything about the Wheel of Time, either the books or the show. I will have to look into that.

 

[onehitwanda]

As a kid, I enjoyed the young adult sci fi Tripod series by John Christopher. It was a trilogy, and years later the author wrote a fourth book as a prequel.

I don't know anything about the Wheel of Time, either the books or the show. I will have to look into that.

Tripods... isn't that the one where the humans get captured, taken to the cities with toxic air, and have telecontrollers surgically bonded to their skulls?

Wow. I hadn't thought of those books in years.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

As a kid, I enjoyed the young adult sci fi Tripod series by John Christopher. It was a trilogy, and years later the author wrote a fourth book as a prequel.

I don't know anything about the Wheel of Time, either the books or the show. I will have to look into that.

I guess a short introduction is in order for all those who haven't read the books.

The Wheel of Time is a 14-book long, high-fantasy series by Robert Jordan. Long story short, Jordan isn't a great writer for sure, but he is an amazing storyteller. The scope of the world, the imagination, the world-building, and the plot are truly exceptional, while the series suffers heavily from terrible pacing, too much idle content, and a huge cast of characters. Also worth mentioning is the fact that the emotional side of the characters wasn't done well, with romances being the worst of it. All in all, it takes some determination to read those books, but the story they tell, the world they build, and the characters they paint are well worth it.

 

[SimonDoom]

Tripods... isn't that the one where the humans get captured, taken to the cities with toxic air, and have telecontrollers surgically bonded to their skulls?

Wow. I hadn't thought of those books in years.

You got it! I hadn't either but this thread jogged my memory of them.

 

[djrip]

I've just seen the last episode of The Wheel of Time show and I feel the need to share my impressions with the rest of you who watched it, regardless if you read the books or not.
Now, watching the episodes that came before the last one had been an intense SM experience, a sort of self-flagellation where I experienced no pleasure whatsoever, sexual or any other. (I might be breaking Lit rules here, who knows). Yet the last episode has surpassed them in every conceivable way. From the standpoint of someone who liked the books, I find the show to be a pile of noxious garbage, badly written, in many ways insulting towards the source material, and also brimming with political messages. Trying to put myself in the shoes of someone who didn't read the books, I would say that the show is still mediocre at best, as its plot is all over the place and probably incomprehensible to an average viewer. Action scenes are decent in the sense of production and effects, while still completely ridiculous in the sense of physics and the laws of the Wheel of Time world.

Has anyone else watched the show and what are your impressions?

I agree the show has mangled the story. But I still have to watch every single episode and then watch youtubers' commentary on it. I can't get enough WoT, no matter how badly they adapt it.

I did think they finally handled a part pretty well, in Egwene's time with the Seanchan.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I can't get enough WoT, no matter how badly they adapt it.

I think I've been like that once. Now, I am hoping for the show to get canceled. There is nothing worse than putting great source material into the hands of talentless idiots who are prioritizing political messages over anything else. Star Wars franchise is the perfect proof of that. It would have been better for everyone if episodes 7-9 and almost all the shows that came after were never made. They soiled and ruined a fantastic universe and made it a mockery.

 

[djrip]

I think I've been like that once. Now, I am hoping for the show to get canceled. There is nothing worse than putting great source material into the hands of talentless idiots who are prioritizing political messages over anything else. Star Wars franchise is the perfect proof of that. It would have been better for everyone if episodes 7-9 and almost all the shows that came after were never made. They soiled and ruined a fantastic universe and made it a mockery.

I loved the animated shorts they did with the season 1 episodes. Should have just done a bunch more of that.