Following an inability to figure out exactly which channel Legend of the Seeker is playing on in Canada, I took the easy way out and bought the pilot on iTunes.

Last night, once the house was quiet and I had done enough reading to put me in the proper mood, I got comfortable and was finally prepared to enter the world of Wizard’s First Rule. 90 minutes later, my opinions on the show were fully formed.

Overall, I would say I enjoyed it enough to watch Episode 2, to see if the series would improve, as opposed to falling into the realm of campiness that Raimi and Tapert are unfortunately known for in television.

That said, I feel this deserves a more in depth review and analysis.

When the end credits roll, and it states ‘Based on Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series’, it should have inserted the word ‘loosely’ in there. ‘Ridiculously loosely’ is probably more fitting in any case. I can understand taking a creative license, to make it fit properly for a television audience, but some choices were just mind boggling to me.

Having Zed and Richard being strangers, Zed’s history, Kahlan being a Ninja as opposed to a confessor who needed protection, Michael’s quick turn on Richard, the method in which the Barrier came down and the Hercules like ending point all did not sit well with me.

For people who did not read the novels, I don’t know how they felt, but it seems to me as if they’re taking the best elements out in exchange for easy story telling.

I found the casting to be completely off, with the exceptions of Chase and Kahlan. Richard is far too young and Zed is way too imposing a figure. I’m unsure yet how I feel about Rahl. I can only hope they do it right when they cast the goat.

The fight scenes were enjoyable, a decent use of the slow motion technique, but I found the CGI to be rather poor, specifically in regards to the Gar. They were supposed to be frightening and imposing, and they were (the bloodflies were perfect), just not when they were on film.

Again, I will watch the next episode and hope for the best, but as a fan of the series, I find myself disappointed.

What did you think?

- Because I Can.

Well, I for one tell myself it was still only a pilot. Should a good community and audience be gathered, the special effects will grow in quality as will the budget aloted. That being said, even the best CG in the world couldn't make crappy storytelling good.

That being said, I know you've said it plenty of times before, but I need to pick up those books and get to reading them.

Richard and Zedd... strangers? Kahlan... ninja?

My brain just melted.

Well. I made it through most of the "Sword of Truth" books, usually just for laughs (check the copyright dates vis-a-vis the Wheel of Time Editions and you'll know what's so funny) and I have to say there are SO MANY better fantasy series they could have written a pilot for. That said I am a sword and sorcery nerd through and through so I have the pilot DVRed to watch later.

What I'm curious about is how they'll handle the WILDLY innapropriate and frequently out of place misogony and sexual content that characterized the book. I think the only hope for this show is if they embrace the campy, much like Hercules the Legendary Journey's did. I mean, if Raimi even hints that Bruce Campbell might be in Seeker then it will be worth watching. Also am I the only one who thinks that this doesn't bode particularly well for Raimi's film career if he's back to shows on the WB11?(or CW11 or wherever your crazy "canadian television" airs it)

But at least there's hope for George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire (loved the LFG reference to that btw) which has been picked up by HBO and seems on track for development. Incidentaly Martin uses some fairly explicit sexual content in his books, though i think much more adeptly then Goodkind, but that's why it'll be HBO.

I watched the first ten minutes and ended up not watching the rest because of how butchered it was even in the first ten minutes.

I might watch it later on, but right now, I don't want to sit through 2 hours of watching one of my favorite series be destroyed

I started up the "Hey, check it out, they're making this show" thread on the Least I Could Do forum...

...and I'm a little sad about that fact.

I compleyely agree with Sohmer's review (though he's seemingly a bit more forgiving than I am - I made it through episode 1 and that's it)

It's like they were aware of some basic facts - Richard lives in the woods. Kahlan crossed the Barrier. Richard's father died in a fire. Zedd is a wizard. etc... but then put it together however they wanted.

I explained it to a friend of mine like this -- it's as if, when PJ made the Lord of the Rings trilogy...he had made it so Frodo found the ring while fishing with Sam. Yes, the ring was found by two friends who were fishing -- hobbit-like friends, at that, and Frodo DID end up with the ring...but that's not how it happened.

Now don't get me wrong -- changes to a story have to happen in order for books to translate to the screen. But in this case, the changes made the story less compelling.

At the end of it all, I was just really disappointed in just about every aspect of the show, and I'm a really forgiving guy (Hell, I watched the new Flash Gordon series for a good 8 or 9 episodes!)

Well, I haven't seen it yet, but if they twist the characters as much as you say no matter the budget or Special effects it can't become a better series.
Sure it might be fun to watch if you haven't read the books.

But the only thing they seem to take from the books are the names.
From what you say "extremely loosely based" is still an insult to the books.
But I guess I'll find a way to look at it first myself.

I'm glad I'm not the only one - it's been about 5 years since I read The Sword of Truth series so I was having a hard time remembering those scenes that I saw. I kept saying... "I don't remember it happening that way."

I think the editing was terrible, sometimes it jumped around with no apparent purpose. From one scene to the next weird stuff happens. For example, Richard, Kahlan and Zedd are riding on horses in their little group and it goes to commercial. In the next scene, Richard, Kahlan, Zedd and Chase are in a group with no intermediary scene. I remember what happens because I read the book, but that leads to confusion for the newly initiated. That was poorly done.

As far as the CGI, the Green Screen stuff looked like it came from the early 90's. It was so bad that it completely brought me out of my "suspension of disbelief" - even my wife said "Wow, that looks terrible."

I also think a lot of character development went right out the window - I can see why because they had to fit everything into a 2-hour pilot. I think the relationship between Richard and his brother was severely underdeveloped. And I think a lot of the other characters suffered development because of The Powers That Be pushing more action into the story.

That's a lot of negatives, but on the other hand, it is a pilot. If I go back and watch the DVDs I have of other shows, the pilot/first season (or first couple seasons) are terrible. The characters are always very stiff and very frequently act differently than the roles they play later on in the series. Hopefully, if it lasts long enough, that'll give the characters time to grow.

I too though Kahlan was a good pick. I think she'll do well playing the part. I also think the actress playing Adie - for the short time she was on screen - played the part well. Richard's character... well, he does start out as a somewhat naive farm boy who changes quite a bit. I'm not sure if the actor playing Richard is a good actor or a bad actor. Some of Richard's qualities he nailed, others were completely off. As the character in the story grows, hopefully we'll see some change in the actor as well. I'm a little worried about Zedd. For me, he was the show-stealer. I was stuck in North Dakota working and I had the first 7 books. I went back several times and re-read different passages with Zedd because he just cracked me up. I hope that the actor can really bring the spirit of Zedd onto the screen - if he doesn't, that'll be my biggest disappointment of the series.

There's a lot of story to cover. A pilot needs to air to get people interested in watching the show. I hope to see, as the story progresses, much more in depth character development. Hollywood always takes really good stories and changes them into shitty stories when they make movies/shows out of them. I really hope that they try to stick to what happened in the books. There's a reason it's a good story and entertaining and if you pull out all the good parts, you're going to make it suck. After watching the pilot, I think the show has a lot of shortcomings, but it does have potential. I suppose we'll see if they're able to use that potential wisely or if they'll squander it. I'm willing to watch a few more episodes.

Simpsons showed at the same time so I missed the first half hour... but I saw the second half. Being a person who didn't read the book, I thought it was okay. It wasn't great graphically, but it was a good start. And when I saw Rahl, I was pretty confused since he looked really innocent faced and I thought "Hm, maybe Richard is having a case of mistaken identity." but as it moved on, I found out he was evil... a really innocent looking bad guy. But maybe that's just me!

Yeah totally agree I was disappointed with how they took down the barrier and I also think the part of the show where the men were going through the barrier looked really fake. I was expecting them to have to cross through the barrier through the small path addie talked about in the book and think a lot of parts were just too far away from the book. Also when I thought about a gar I always thought it was more like a giant flying boar not a gargoyle ish thing not sure about you. But yea also willing to see the second episode and hope it gets better heh.


Edit: What's worse is my girl friend watched and loved it that made me almost cry because of how much they took out of it from the book *tear*

Don't forget too...The Boxes of Orden went *poof* and Richard never memorized the Book of Counted Shadows, also they made it be Kahlan that stole the book, not George.... /sigh....

While I was watching it, I had hope that they would either salvage it somehow or perhaps Terry came up with another idea for how the story should develop as he apparantly worked very closely on the show...but no...they are literally just going to kill Darken just because they don't like him... le sigh

They should have realized when they made this show that they were gonna piss off all the fans of the series by making so many changes.
For the rest, who either don't care for the series anymore or never read them in the first place, it's just another campy fantasy action show, one of many.

I remember when Battlestar Galactica was starting up, and there were so many complaints about this or that character being a woman instead of a man, and the change from robots to flesh-and-blood for Cylons. It ended up being the best show on TV for a few seasons.

And then I see all these complaints about it not being like the books.

Yep, it's different. And I'm kinda glad.

This isn't the Dune miniseries, it's a full-season show with prospects of becoming a long-running series. They cannot stick to the plot of any particular book or series of books (though I wouldn't mind a decent story arch a la DS9 or B5).

I watched the first two episodes, and, contrary to the impression that I got from watching the "first 10 minutes" of it online (which gave me a very Hercules/Xena production/acting/writing-quality vibe), I thought it looked promising. The "first 10 minutes" were actually just the action scenes from about the first 20 minutes all crammed together, and so I was glad to see some sort of context and character development occur that was not in the preview.

First of all, I haven't read any of the books, and so I think I'm coming from a different perspective than some of you, but you might take comfort in the fact that from my perspective, it looks like it has great potential.

Second, some of the concepts in the book just wouldn't work on screen. Having memorized the book, for example, would have made the audience not able to relate to the hero, since he would constantly be pulling fully-digested wisdom and knowledge out of his ass (unless you want flashbacks or a voice-over). It works better on screen to have the hero learn his wisdom and lore organically, in a way that the audience can be on the same page as he is.

Also, having the confessor be a ninja (I love that description, by the way) instead of a perpetual damsel in distress would not work on screen. She would become annoying baggage, and besides, both men and women love seeing a chick kick ass in a flowy dress.

I'm a big fan of the books, but kind of skeptical about the show thus far.

I will grant that it would have been hard to explain in a TV show how Richard memorized the Book of Counted Shadows at an early age. TV is not a medium that is friendly to backstory. However, making Richard and Zedd strangers bugs the heck out of me. I see no reason for that.

Did anybody else notice that the Barrier changed in size, within the show? When Kahlan passes through it at the beginning, the rift goes pretty deep (as it should), yet when Darken Rahl's men break a hole in it, the Barrier is paper thin. How does that make sense?

Another thing: Zedd is supposed to be left behind when Richard and Kahlan pass through the barrier. How are they going to explain all the conflict that arises due to his absence? I'm curious to see what will happen with the Mud People now... I'm fairly sure a main character engaging in a cannibalistic act will not go over well with the censors.

The gars were terrible. Am I the only one that pictured them a lot more animalistic, rather than demonic? The Blood Flies were great though.

As far as casting goes, Kahlan and George Cypher were the most fitting. Zedd is... I don't know, and Richard isn't nearly as imposing as he should be. I don't mean he should be big and burly, he just doesn't have that commanding presence on the screen.

Despite those complaints, and others, I will keep watching the show for now. Breaking cannon and bad acting didn't stop me from becoming an avid watcher of Smallville, so it probably won't stop me here.

Side note: Am I the only one that has been pronouncing Kahlan's name differently in my head?

I agree with most of the points above, but what I think no one mentioned and what bothered me the most was calling him just The Seeker. Not once is he called the Seeker of Truth. The sword is named correctly, though I don't remember seeing the word truth on it anywhere. They also say that the Seeker seeks out evil and make no mention of why it is called the Sword of Truth. It seems like they've completely eliminated that part of his character. Even more it seems like they go out of their way to call him only the Seeker, saying it a ridiculous number of times

Also whats up with Zedd telling Richard that anger is bad? The strength of the sword, at least at the beginning, comes from anger. That is never made known or addressed, perhaps it will be fixed later but I am skeptical.

Well I have to remind me of the things you said yourself (and is quoted in the end credits)
I havent saw the episodes jet cause I'm from belgium and all but my friends if giving me it tomorow. But I for one read the books, I'm a member of the sword of truth forum 'prophets-inc' and I watch the official site of Terry goodkind on day base and resently I also keep watching the 'legend of the seeker' site.
Sam Raimi, Terry Goodkind and others keep telling that it's BASED on the books so that means it doesnt need to pick up the whole story line but might just take the concept of the books and use it. It's been done many times before for other things.
You might think it's not soo good cause you are a trusty fan of the novels and think it's pulled out of it's original story line that way but it's not. Trust me. I had it hard at the beginning too when I saw the actress her eye color was Gray and not green like the books say but I lay down with it and now I'm just waiting too see the episodes.

The only thing I do hope they dont screw up by not using the story line is Denna. Denna is an outstanding character in the books, even tough she isn't in all of them.

Let us not forget that there was no mention of anger when he holds the sword, or the pain of killing with it.
That, and is it just me or do they pronounce Rahl completely differently then I read it as (And spell it wrong in my guide)?

Let us not forget that Panis isn't mentioned, that the boundary was supposed to be about 30 years old, not hundreds and they create a hole in the boundary and not find the passage? These are elements that I don't see the need to change...along with those already mentioned.

I was OK with about half of the casting including Zedd but I think the script and direction changed what I would have expected (Though with all the story changes that doesn't surprise me). I pictured Chase being bigger and more opposing but with the possibility of being the big teddy bear (As he is with Rachel later on). Richard....looked like a surfer. I kept expecting him to say "Dude" or "No way!". I liked Micheal, George and Kahlan....but aren't Rahl's supposed to have blond hair?

Oh and Ryan...In Western Canada I found it on WGN in both standard def (Channel 65 on cable) and HD (218 I think...)

So, I'm watching this, and thinking that in all honesty, It could have been a lot worse. I mean, when I saw Richard Dean Anderson Cast as Jack O'Neil for SG-1, I had my doubts, but since then, I haven't been a victim of expectations. I mean let's face it, the show is called the legend of the seeker, NOT the sword of truth. variations are to be expected, and to be honest, things like the anger held in the sword, or the pain that accompanies drawing blood can't exactly be translated to the screen. I'm going to continue to give it a chance, because in all honesty, I enjoyed the show. I do have concerns about where it will go, because let's face it, the series is long and developed and tends to get windy at points, but it could work quite well.

time shall tell.

I believe I must agree with Sohmer's thoughts on this, though I do not think I will be watching the second episode. I think all in all Zedd was probably my favorite character from the books, and the person they cast to play him just could not manage the sort of crotchety old man that Zedd really was. He was such an abrasive good-natured old fart in the books, and it left me disappointed in how his part was played in the show. The rest of the characters for that matter had an off quality to them in almost the same way. Like they were trying to hard to play their parts, and I'm not sure if there is a way to better describe it.

Thought I'd chime in on a couple of statements made and offer my thoughts. There are spoilers below, and I've contained most of them with tags, but I may have let some slip.

There are many things that have happened and will happen that will not translate to the small screen. Some of the decisions made I question, but hope the overal spirit of the series remains intact.

-In response to Kench: George Cypher didn't die in a fire, he was gutted by Darken Rahl who was trying to find the location of the Book of Counted Shadows.

Which, by the way, [spoiler]wasn't even the correct or original Book of Counted Shadows.[/spoiler]

-In response to sohmer: Kahlan most certainly was a 'ninja' Confessor. Her father, King Wyborn Amnell, schooled her in battle and swordfighting. In later books, she receives even more training from Richard (who gained knowledge from the Sword of Truth). Girlfriend can hold her own, k?

-In response to Aftershokk: Boxes of Orden not necessarily out for the count. Kahlan has already mentioned that if the Seeker fails, Darken Rahl will have power over the entire world. This was Darken Rahl's endgame, to open the correct box of Orden in order to rule all life. Seeing as the storyline depends heavily later on the boxes [spoiler](Richard left it open, needed to close it in book 2, Sisters of the Dark invoke Chainfire so Kahlan will steal the boxes from the People's Palace for them, etc)[/spoiler], I won't count them out just yet.


I want very much for this series to continue for a good long time, and I know it will improve. The pilot may have been a little rocky, but it serves to hook those who aren't familiar with the books. The changes made so far aren't all entirely important (eye color, physical build, etc) and the important items that have been changed can be explained. For instance, yeah, Richard didn't memorize the Book in the TV show before it was destroyed, [spoiler]but it wasn't the only Book[/spoiler]. Also, he did start to read it. Who knows, the Book was magic, maybe all it takes is for the true seeker to read the first few lines and the knowledge of the book is transferred to his mind? Maybe he finds another copy? The SoT world is vast enough to take some creative liberties without damaging the underlying themes. I understand why those creative changes need to be made, and am a little lenient when I see them.

Bags, you're right...

(See what I did there?)

In my mind....I could barely recognize the series. None of the characters were like I recall them. Kahlan rejecting Richard after he helped her didn't seem in character for her. The fact her sister was a gross twisting of the plot. And, as bad as it sounds, it also wasn't in character for her to stop and help her instead of continuing on. One of the big themes of the series is that you sometimes have to leave others behind, sacrifice those you care about, etc. for the greater good. There was none of the bonding they have in the book, that I could see.

Richard...I don't know. Before he learned to unleash his anger, Richard was TOO controlled in the book. In this show, he seemed to have a temper right from the start. And it was somehow bad? Righteous wrath is the power of the Seeker. They completely screwed up that power, and...they seemed to be altering the purpose of the Seeker. He's Judge and Jury in one package, doing what needs to be done no matter how unpleasant, not a crusading paladin. Also, he doesn't seem to have that air of confident competence that Richard has right from the start.

Zedd....my god. There was none of his wit or humor. There was none of his relationship with Richard there. There was nothing at all of what I liked about him. He just seemed to be startled all the time. In fact, there wasn't any development of any relationships at all that I could see.

There were FIVE members of the Quad, none of which looked even close to right, people just burst into Darken Rahl's room, which considering he's had people killed for a rose petal, seems like something they wouldn't dream of. And THAT was supposed to be the People's Palace? It looked like any other poorly built medieval castle. I suppose I could let the fact that he wasn't blond pass. But he didn't look like Rahl in any way. And Nass. He's not supposed to be anywhere near the Midlands at that point. He's the top military commander, he wouldn't be risking himself by fighting a Confessor, let alone the Mother Confessor.

Chase...he didn't look old enough. Other than that, they didn't show him enough to really give an idea of what he's like. Then there's the general things that aren't right. Like the Book of Counted Shadows. It's not a source of random wisdom for him to pull out of his ass. It's an instruction book concerning a specific event, using the Boxes. Richard being the only one that knows it is a major plot point. Also, his father was alive? Darken Rahl WASN'T the one to kill him? I suppose cutting somebody and using their still-living entrails to ask questions is a little dark for TV. A number of things that happen are. It's not a series that can be toned down for television and really fit. Not and be the same series. I don't really see anything that makes me want to watch again.

I guess my main point is, I'm disappointed.

i have read Wizard's First Rule enough times to almost recite it, and know the plotline so well i can turn to any page and know where it is...

and honestly, i don't see the need for ANY of the changes made...there all explained so well in the book.

heck, even Zedd's cat turned into a chicken...not to mention Richard doesn’t know the book and there is no mention of the boxes at all...

How else do you propose turning a 500 page novel into a seasonal TV show?

I want a exact translation of the show as much as the next guy, but I understand that it is not feasible. Budget, audience, content, length... there are so many factors in play here that are going to demand changes.

I’ve had this same conversation with a few friends of mine, and each time i have a harder time rationalizing it...

certain things were essential. The book, the boxes, those weren’t part of the plot...they WERE the plot... with ought them, idk were they can really go with the storyline

See, I see stuff like the Chicken/cat thing and the Darken Rahl's hair thing to be nitpicking, and it's stuff that isn't important to the overall story. (though, yes, at least for Darken Rahl's hair, I was like "Woah, he's blonde" while watching it)

Things like describing the Seeker and a person who fights evil, as well as Zedd telling him to control his anger, though, are kind of big -- that's a complete change of what the basis of a Seeker is. Also, dumbing down the sword's power (While Richard was angry and the sword was, for the lack of a better term, charged, Nass' sword held up remarkably well, considering the Sword can cut through damn near anything, as long as the Seeker wants it to.) fell under this category.

Again, equating it to more well-known mythologies for those who didn't read the books, it's like if, again in the case of Lord of the Rings, instead of making you invisible, the movie had the ring make you fly. Or invincible. Completely different from the original basis.

I just registered on the forums so that I could post about this... I just read these books for the first time recently(i'm still on Chainfire), and I don't know if I can bring myself to watch the second episode. I spent the entire pilot having my hopes dashed and getting progressively more angry. Between Nass not having been in the story at that time, Zedd being totally wrong in every way, Richard not having the book memorized, George not already being dead, Michael turning on him way too early, how easy they got the boundary down, and Rahl being dark-haired and too young to be Richard's father...my brain feels like it's about to explode just thinking about it. I wonder if Raimi or the writing staff ever even read the books... When will they learn to stay away from the books we love?

everything i was going to say but coudn't bring to words... *sigh*

Nass hasn't been mentioned in the TV series yet. Are you thinking of Fain? None of the Quad sent after Kahlan had names as far as I know, but for the sake of having a bad guy instead of a nameless merc they gave him one. I doubt Demmin Nass will even be in this, his only purpose in the books seems to be to make Darken Rahl look even more evil (hanging out with a child molester is pretty bad...) and to have Kahlan rip off his balls and feed them to him. Although I don't doubt they will show the Con Dar at some point, Demmin isn't crucial to it.

Like I said, the boxes haven't necessarily been left out, just haven't been brought up yet. Mud People and Shota are coming up soon, I think we will at the latest hear about the boxes from Shota.

Describing the Seeker 'as a person who fights evil' is basically correct. He finds truth, answers only to himself. Truth is the antithesis of evil. He's a person who fights evil. Could it be better explained? Sure. Again, this is a pilot, its purpose is to hook in an audience. Details can be fleshed out once you have viewers.

Sure, it doesn't follow the book exactly. Don't expect it to and you won't be disappointed. Realize that you can't have a literal translation of the book into film. I understand where the criticism comes from, but it wouldn't exist if there wasn't already a body of work to base this series off of. Try and take the meat of the Sword of Truth series and make a different dish with it. Instead of a stew, you have soup.

Dammit, now I'm hungry.

I think the thing I was most disappointed with was the unnessessary changes. I understand the sexual situations and tensions needed to be toned down. I get that special effects are needed to keep a younger audience hooked... but why change something just for the sake of change?

- The Quad: No mention was made why they travel in groups of four. Being a defining characteristic of Rahl's might, I just expected more emphasis to be placed on the Quad.

- Zedd: Is a close friend to Richard. Enough drama will happen in Richard's life that adding a layer of mistrust this soon to their relationship is just plain odd. Zedd is cool and all but this is Richard's story... having Zedd travel with Richard will only take the decisions out of Richard's hands as he looks to Zedd for the right answer.

- The Sword: Rightous Anger. The idea of Truth was strangely absent in the pilot. The temperance of anger with the collective wisdom in justice was never addressed. Anger can be a good thing... if justified.

- Wizard's First Rule: When confronted with the mob mentality... Kahlan not enough... Richard too much... Zedd just right. That scene was slaughtered and did little to convice one... that reason leads to Truth hence the greatest weapon.

I just wish Sam would address why these points were changed,
Kalium

Lol, yes, I did mean Fain, and no, none of the quad made it, you were quite correct on that point.

I only got through about 20 minutes of the pilot before turning it off. The bad writing and plot changes killed it for me.
The elimination and alteration of good plot points that were in the books, ie Richard having memorized the Book of Shadows and Zed watching over him and teaching him, was not a good choice for the sake of easy plot. The acting was subpar even for Hercules standards. over all i think i'll avoid it in the future unless someone gives me a good reason to watch it again.

First, Richard's age: He is supposed to be pretty young, he and Kahlan are about the same age (never actually stated but I'd say very early twenties). He just reads as much older because he is so mature in his thoughts and actions, which makes him the proper Seeker of truth. Also he's above average in size(of non-D'haran soldiers) so people tend to take him seriously.
Second, the Sword of Truth: ohh it's a magic sword with glowing runes-wooo. The only things they got right were the ringing noise when drawn (actually have to give them props for that though it should have been louder when first drawn) and the general shape looked right. I didn't notice 'Truth' woven into the hilt. Other than it having glowing runes (which it should not) they didn't show anything magic about the sword. If they didn't want to deal with the whole magic of anger thing which is the whole basis of the seeker and then later Richard's use of both sides of magic, OK, I can see how it would be hard to explain outside of the book. But not having the sword shatter those held against it is just ridiculous. Not one sword was broken. That's so upsetting.
Third, Zed: I am not even going to go into the mess that they made of Zed's relationship with Richard. It is far more than upsetting, same with the Book.
Fourth, Kahlan's power: They could at least have done the 'thunder without sound' to signify it's use(simple air cannon effect), especially since they probably are not going to have her targets scream out 'Mistress command me' when she takes someone.
Fifth, the Gar: they was I imagined them was a lion like head on a roughly man shaped body (increased in size with claws on fingertips and werewolf style feet) covered in fur except for the bare chest and belly with large leathery wings in back.

There are many other points as well but that said I'll watch a few more episodes. I am going to pretend it's not set in the same universe at all (since it obviously is not) and judge it on it's own merits. I'll give them some time to get used to their roles.

I enjoyed it, it's the first fantasy on television I can recall since Earthsea. TV needs more fantasy, and I didn't see much campyness.

First of all, I expected changes. Hogfather, the Tery Pratchet film in two parts, is very true to the book and they are very weird films. Good, but weird.

But some things I don't get:

Secrets. One of the things I like, that is very common in the fantasy genre, is that the characters, for various reasons, keep secrets from their friends and allies. Such as Richard knowing and burning the Book of Counted Shadows without either Zedd or Khalan knowing it. That and many such small secrets where either left out or they told each other immediately.

Darken Rahl. Where is his trademark arrogance? Afraid of Richard? Please, that is not the Darken Rahl we know and love. He doesn't move around between "palaces and temples" to run from Richard. He doesn't even really care, since the sword of truth can't hurt him!. He knows he i invincible and acts accordingly.

And what about Richards often repeated statement "I will not be an assassin"?

That was my first internet forum rant for many a year, what is this series doing to me?

I'm someone who hasn't read any of the books, so I don't know if it's supposed to be a Star Wars rip-off. Honestly, while watching it, it was like, there's this old wizard who lives by himself and people avoid. Kinda like Ben Kenobi. Someone 's carrying a book that the evil empire desperately wants. R2-D2 was carrying the plans for the Death Star. I wasn't really suprised when I saw the house burning down, I saw that one coming and actually laughed at the time. How can anyone be suprised that anger is supposed to be bad; a Jedi has to learn to control his anger.

but the key concept of WFR, is that anger can be channeled for a righteous cause, and that the seeker needs to unleash it, not withhold it...

also, anyone else mention the fact that the barrier came centuries before?

By your own admission, you have not read the books, thus I presume that the reason you aren't concerned is because you don't understand how fundamental some of the changes are. In addition, you seem to lack an understanding of how the key items (case in point: Book of Counted Shadows) function. This is something completely different, and to those who say, "Just look at it as something different, rather than Sword of Truth," let me tell you something: I want The Sword of Truth, if they're just going to produce some crappy show and hope to automatically hook a certain demographic by dressing it up as a well loved book, I'm going to go read the book it's "based" on, because I want to be entertained.

Turning the book into some sort of Macguffin, rather than Richard's ace in the hole, is annoying, at best, at worst, it is one of the many changes that sets this up to be something entirely different. His knowledge from the book could easily be recounted by a voice-over, set to a montage of travel (Lord knows he crosses countries all the time, he probably has some serious frequent flyer miles).



Another example of Case in point: Confessors are not damsels in distress, they are formidable foes to be feared, Kahlan more so, because of the teaching from her father. In the second book, Kahlan leads a pitiful army of noobish soldiers into battle against superior forces, while NAKED, and wins.



Yes, it is remarkably similar...in the beginning, but do you remember that part where Luke is captured by a dominatrix and tortured for months, or when Obi-Wan hooks up with an eccentric female Jedi...yeah, me neither. However, Denna (the dominatrix, and one of the best characters, even [spoiler]after dying[/spoiler]) isn't going to be in the show(why risk it with the censors, when they've already shown they don't really care about being faithful to the text).


In closing, "They changed it, now it sucks." Only it's true, not just some stubborn fan clinging to nostalgia. If you aren't going to bother being faithful, don't try to pass it off, you'll anger more fans than you gain.

Well. I've not had the...pleasure...of reading the series. B/F and I watched this last night and I felt it was campy. I think the series "Merlin" is better than this. Many of the fight scenes looked like Richard was twitching in an epileptic fit. The characterization looked contrived and the actors don't seem to be able to act worth beans. The script sounded like a grade 4 school play and it was spoken like a bunch of grade 4 students in one.

Overall, it seemed like someone had taken the common denominators of the latest hot listed series, used them as a formula and forgot to add creativity. I once ran a GURPS game that had a magic barrier that everyone important was trying to cross and had to find a way into a magical realm to save the world. It ran for about 3 months and it ended when my players were having so much fun we did an Easter long weekend marathon that burned my brain out of ideas. It was my first time GMing...somehow it seemed better than this series.

BTW, did anyone else relate the last scene of them all sitting side by side on their horses to Tombstone? It just seemed soooo campy westerny spoofy..ugh...

sigh...

Love and blessings,

Cerridwen

PS. Do any of you remember when they turned Anne Rice's book into a movie? "Exit to Eden" Same idea...take the book, add it as background to a comedy/spoof movie to add some flavour to what amounts to gratuitous crap.

As I said in the topic previous, I could only watch the 10 min preview on the net.
It made me sick. I mean, I can handle the CGI, and I really don't mind the way they did the Boundary effects...
But they warped KEY Points!
1. The relationship between Zedd and Richard
2. The fact that Richard was a woods guide and not just some backwoods farmer.
3. Kahlan's past losses and the real reason she went to find the first wizard.
4. Zedd had a spell to keep anyone knowing he was First Wizard. (To save his own life)
5. The relationship between Rahl, Zedd, and Richard. (Not the one you find out at the end of book 1, but the fact that Zedd killed his father and he was caught in the backlash.. Where's Rahl's scars???)
Spoilers ahead;
My opinion: They could have followed the book more closely, but it seems that they may not have gotten Terry's go-ahead to make this series. Why else would they butcher it so bad? Richard and Kahlan should be about 26 years old. Zedd should be about 60 or so. [spoiler]Zedd put up the boundaries seperating Westland only about 15- 20 years before Richard was born. When his daughter was still a child. Read Debt of Bones. He made Westland be a refuge for people who were tired of Magic interfering with their lives. [/spoiler]
In short, I don't hate TV much, but I'm getting really close to hating this series.



AS an aside... I wonder if our Richard will name his bunny Gratch..?

Myznomer: the official site lists an entire episode titled "Denna," so I'm pretty sure she'll be in the show.

On the topic of the Mord-Sith, did anyone else notice the one wearing a BIG POOFY DRESS with cleavage? o.O

While I can't actually imagine a tv show being able to ruin this set of books. (Basically, in my opinion any change to these books has to be an improvement). I do agree that it is frustrating to see a book series get messed up when it goes to the big screen or television. Honestly I only managed to drag my way through the first two books of the series, and I was tempted to get more of the books on the hopes that the series that I had heard was really good, actually begins to not stink so badly, but when I talked to a friend who is also a fanboy of this series, he admitted that the books after the second one generally go down hill. This, of course, amazed me since I didn't think it was possible to go down from the first two. Although in all fairness, I am generally a fantasy fan rather than a romance fan. Perhaps my wife would be able to deal with them better than I since she actually likes novels of this nature.

My initial response to the pilot was definitely one of disgruntlement. All of the apparently gratuitous changes to key plot elements threw me off. I'm thinking that I'll continue watching it for now, with the mindset that it is more of an adventure series set in the Sword of Truth world, starring characters that happen to have the same names as the characters in the book but otherwise have no real relation. If it can emerge as a decent story in its own right I might continue watching in the longer term.

first, the gar was really bad, both in appearance and in CGI. With todays technology standards, a better portrayal is possible.

About the other issues, some could possibly be adressed in the following episodes, like the Boxes for instance.

the relationship between Richard and Zedd causes some issue's, i can see why. But a lot isn't revealed, when Richard asked who is father might be, Zedd looked uncomfortable. He knows something, so the whole Rahl is the father thing is still possible.
And then, so what if Richard isn't as close to Zedd as he could be, this could be developed through the episodes. Besides he still could be the grandfather. When his birth is described, Zedd said he had an edge over the D'Haran soldiers, he knew where to find Richard. This could be possible, because Richard's mother, was his daughter.

The portrayals of the characters led to a mixed response. The actors chosen for Kahlan and Chase, were well chosen is my opinion. My verdict about Richard is still out, but Zedd is a bit dissappointing. I always got a different vibe from him, something similar to "Back to the Future's" Doc Brown.
I haven't seen enough of Darken Rahl to form an opinion, besides the fact that he should be a blondie.

I also have an issue with the Wizards fire, i always thought it was something akin to a huge firebal, not some continuous stream of fire.

I do hope they put some of my favorites from the books in the show, like the Mudpeople and Nathan for instance. Introducing the Mudpeople, might be a bit easier then Nathan, but still i hope it would be done.

But in the overall i enjoyed it. i do hope that the show will improve with time, but i don't think that is impossible.

OK, I'm not going to beat a dead horse on the changes. But is it me or did I miss hearing Zed say bags even just once?



As for the Mord-Sith, (sorry I don't have most of the first books with me) but the red leather only comes out when they are expected to "see blood". As in defending Lord Rahl, or working on torturing someone. We don't know why she was in there, Darken did make them submit to him as part of their training, but yes the dude bursting into Lord Rahl's chambers should have caused an immediate burst of action out of the Mord-Sith.

It seemed to me like they were trying to cut out certain plot points that they didn't like, and emphasize others to try and cover for it. The first Seeker in a thousand years? I don't recall them saying TRUE seeker. It seems like it might just be first one period. The Boundary went up hundreds of years ago? Insane. And then there's Shar. Her sacrifice is one of the most touching moments in the first book. They never even gave any hint that the glowing bottle was more than just a magic item. I also seem to recall that somebody else had one on the tv show, though that can't be right. And yeah, wizards fire is a ball of blue/yellow tumbling flames. Not a stream. They have a picture of a Gar (Probably Gratch) on the back of Stone of Tears. And no Bags. No Toasted Toads. None of the quirky charm that Zedd has. He was just some old guy.

Personal Opinion not meant to offend, but as a lifelong fantasy novel reader, I think Goodkind is a hack. I'm almost glad to see his "books" ruined by a TV show, though all the money I'm sure he's getting from the series is probably of significant comfort.

I have watched the first 20min of the pilot, and I am not impressed. Too much is different from the books for me to be interested in it as a translation from novel to video. I agree that the actor who plays Richard is too young, and Zedd does look too imposing. And what the hell is this "Kahlan giving the Seeker the Book" crap? I think once the pilot is done then I will be done w/ this.

I have no cable, satilite, direct TV, public TV, or any other form of television not used for video games. I actually found out about this series from Waldens Book store, on the new cover for Wizards First Rule. From what I've read in the comments, it's a very good thing that I missed this pilot. I realize that a pilot ushers in a series and not everything is going to remain the same throughout the series, but my god, taking out KEY plot points such as Kahlan being the Mother Confessor!?! How are they even going to explain how she kills Demin Nass? How can she travel in the Silph? How does she allow Richard to trick Rahl? How can they even include the last 3 books in the friggin series?

Unless the pilot is completely overhauled and re-aired to be more accurate, this series has already hit the crapper and Goodkind should remove his name from it before this abomination soils it further.

I wouldn't get my hopes up. AFAIK, the pilot wasn't really a pilot. I haven't seen any indication that it was filmed before the various stations committed to the 22 episodes. If I'm wrong, please correct me. My understanding is that the stations all committed to 22 episodes, so the budget is probably set until the end. Later, if another year is produced, I suppose the budget could well be different. OTOH, the actors will probably get used to acting with each other, and the script writers will learn how to tailor the scripts for the actors, so things might improve during the year for those reasons, but I don't think the budget will change.

The latest bit of information from Terry Goodkind on his website is dated Feb 21, 2008. That struck me as a pretty strong warning that he wasn't happy with how things were going. As I said in another thread, I didn't bother watching.