Starting a separate thread for discussions on Wheel of Time, for both the books and TV show.
I’m liking the show so far… obviously they have to cut down a lot from the books but they have managed to keep the spirit of the main ideas and key plot points. Although they have been keeping it a mystery who is the Dragon Reborn so far, I highly doubt they would change it. That would be too big a change from the book for reader’s liking.
Yeah ep 4 sealed it for me. This will potentially unseat Breaking Bad for my top rated show. It’s already better than GoT
I think bringing Logain forward in the narrative definitely helps the world building, to get that multiple perspective storytelling that helped GoT thrive
One thing I found having read the books, it seems much harder for me to fully appreciate the show. I keep making comparisons with what happens in the books. I don’t mind most of the changes so far, just that it makes it harder to judge the merits of the changes.
Are other readers also finding that?
All of you
Ok boomer
I’ve been re-reading the books over the past month. There have been significant arcs and plot points that have been completely skipped.
Rand’s Dad not talking about stuff while sick. The heron mark isn’t on the handle of the sword, so doesn’t touch the hand. Perrin doesn’t have his mentor (yet?). Skipping Caemlyn and all the characters who live there until season 2.
Those things are fantastic parts of the book. As a reader, you feel the loss of those moments.
What I’m trying to do is stay conscious of this being a tv series. What works in 4 pages of description and internal monologue makes no sense in a 20 second scene. You need to tell the story in a different way for it to work on screen. The books are very tell don’t show.
I think the Mat and Perrin arc in episode 1 worked really well to rapidly set up the characters. It was jarring to see Mat’s family be horrendous and for Perrin to be married. But it got the general vibe of the two pretty close to the mark in a few valuable minutes. Perrin especially needed something to explain his inwards style to a tv audience, as he’s almost exclusively a monologue in the books.
Similarly, in the books all magic is performed mentally. No hand gestures. But put that into a visual medium and it wouldn’t make sense. An Aes Sedai standing there immobile and then a lightning bolt slams into the ground randomly. Just had to be changed.
Personally I think it will become easier over time to adjust to the adaption. But I can empathise with those that find it too difficult to adjust. Reading it right now with a tv mindset, the books as is aren’t filmable, so anyone who is locked into that version will be disappointed.
100%, though I do find it getting easier as each episode progresses.
I’m still kind of regretting rereading the first book in anticipation just before the show came out.
Not that they have much choice given it’s an 8 episode season…… Whoever thought that was a good idea ….
I think they missed the mark with Matt early on. I like the actor (though he won’t be there next season), but it was a monumental shift from the start of the books.
Obviously now with dagger in hand it doesn’t really make much of a difference though.
This ruined a bit of GoT for me, since it was fresh in my mind where they deviated from the source material and I always had to make a comment about it.
I’m not re reading the books for WoT. I have good memories about the books and the adventure all 14 of them take you on, which I haven’t re read for a few years, and I’m comfortable enjoying the series for what it is - a TV adaption that is really good in its own right.
Definitely the way to go about it, though I am still enjoying the show. Feels like it’s getting better and better, just a shame we’ve only got 3 episodes left.
I’m 3.5 books in now so will probably continue, been a few years since I read them
I find it impossible to watch shows after reading the books, and seeing as WOT is one of my favourite series I don’t know if I’ll be able to watch the show.
That’s what all the shows are doing now 8-10 episodes only. Unless it is a mainstream cop type show you won’t get anything more than the niche episode-style show.
imagine being a mr robot super fan and calling people nerd.
modern tv loves adversity.
i wish whatever was ailing the current mat actor somehow resolved himself and he was able to continue, i have zero hope for that rando guy that got the witcher to go on a quest.
they could hurry up introducing the aiel and min.
Could be worse I guess… The Expanse is only getting 6 for it’s final season…
I couldn’t really understand why they didn’t follow the books exactly on that show.
I don’t think they have the budget to do the rest of the books, and I don’t think they realistically could have factored in the time skip in a reasonable way.
There’s also the fact that (massive spoiler)
They had to kill off Alex after the sexual assault allegations, so probably a good time to end the series
my only gripe at the moment that hasn’t yet been mentioned (mat’s parents being ■■■■ and perrin hav a wife) is thom can’t ■■■■■■■ sing unless we have a massive turnaround in the future it will bug me the rest of the series.
Yeah, did bug me a bit at the start of the show, but I can understand why they did it as it helps to build up the personalities of Mat and Perrin in a shorter time. And it’s a minor change that doesn’t really affect the story.
What’s more annoying to me is keeping the mystery of who the Dragon Reborn is. No need to do it other than the purpose of drawing in people who don’t know the story at all.