"Legend of the Seeker": TV Series based on Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" novels!

[Jack T. Chance Really knows where his towel is! Find all posts View Profile Close Jack T. Chance]

Don't know if any of you are fans of Terry Goodkind's fantastic fantasy novels, the "Sword of Truth" series, but if you are, you may have already heard the news that Sam Raimi (Evil Dead series, Spider-Man films, Hercules and Xena) is Executive Producing a TV series adaptation, with the blessing of Terry Goodkind himself!

Well, the series debuts in syndication this November, and there was some information revealed at the Sandy Eggo Comic Convention this past weekend!

CLICK HERE to see an interview with Sam Raimi, his producing partner Rob Tappert, one of the SFX guys, and Terry Goodkind himself!

And check out the show's Official Website to see the trailer that was shown at SDCC!

Anyone else going to check this out when it hits the airwaves?

P.S. I just noticed that I made a small typo in the Title of this thread. Even though I've edited it, I know that sometimes, the MB software won't fix the actual title that people see in the topics list. So, if any friendly mods would like to make sure that gets fixed, I'd appreciate it.

[Parrylakks Neko Samurai Find all posts View Profile Close Parrylakks]

NO FUCKING WAY!!! I'm so excited!!! Terry Goodkind is one of my greatest novel inspirations! I love The Sword of Truth series, and in fact, Stone of Tears is one of my top 5 favorite books of all time. I'M DEFINATELY GOING TO BE WATCHING THIS!!!

[Jack T. Chance Really knows where his towel is! Find all posts View Profile Close Jack T. Chance]

NO FUCKING WAY!!! I'm so excited!!! Terry Goodkind is one of my greatest novel inspirations! I love The Sword of Truth series, and in fact, Stone of Tears is one of my top 5 favorite books of all time. I'M DEFINATELY GOING TO BE WATCHING THIS!!!

You obviously have very good taste, my friend.

[Jack T. Chance Really knows where his towel is! Find all posts View Profile Close Jack T. Chance]

So, this series premiered in syndication around the country this weekend. Did anyone besides myself watch it?

I thought it was VERY good! Sam Raimi has done a good job bringing the world of Richard and Kahlan to life!

I have a feeling some events might have been expanded or altered slightly from the way things happened in the first book, Wizard's First Rule, but it's been at least 2-3 years since I read the book, so my memory's getting a little fuzzy. One thing that I did notice, however, is that the Wizard's First Rule itself was abbreviated. Whoever wrote the final filming script left out the all-important first sentence of the Wizard's First Rule: "People are stupid." I guess they didn't want to risk offending the audience during the first broadcast or some such, so the Wizard's First Rule itself, the life lesson that the book itself is named after, has become a victim of the politically correct times we live in. "People are stupid"... you know, truer words were never spoken.

EDIT: Here is the COMPLETE version of the Wizard's First Rule, quoted directly from the novel, for the benefit of those that haven't read the book yet:

Wizard's First Rule

Chapter 36, Page #397 US Hard Cover

"People are stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it’s true, or because they are afraid it might be true."

That got abbreviated to "People will believe a lie because they want to believe it's true, or because they are afraid it might be true", thereby diluting the message just a hair.

Zedd follows up the Wizard's First Rule with this additional thought: "Therefore, simple deception can be a powerful form of magic", or words to that effect.

Also, noticing how far into the book Richard is given that lesson, it would seem that the TV series version of events has Zedd mentioning the Wizard's First Rule a good bit earlier. Perhaps it will be mentioned again down the line in another episode, and perhaps Richard will be told the COMPLETE Rule at that time. Time will tell, it always does.

[Limelantern Better than both the Salami and the Bologna combined Find all posts View Profile Close Limelantern]

No filmmaker is immune to the annoying "suggestions" of the network executives in charge. Just be glad only a few things were left out. They could have told the director they wanted a monkey pal sidekick for the hero and it would have to be added somewhere somehow.

[Jack T. Chance Really knows where his towel is! Find all posts View Profile Close Jack T. Chance]

No filmmaker is immune to the annoying "suggestions" of the network executives in charge. Just be glad only a few things were left out. They could have told the director they wanted a monkey pal sidekick for the hero and it would have to be added somewhere somehow.

Funny story, true story... Richard, the hero of the series, is a woodsman... or, what Lord of the Rings fans and Dungeons & Dragons players call a Ranger. He is at home in the woodlands, and early on in the book series, by the 2nd or 3rd book, If I Remember Correctly, he has managed to forge the most unusual animal friendship I've ever seen in fantasy. He befriends, and gains as an animal companion... a gar. Those of you that caught the 2-hour series premiere, or that have already read at least the first book, will know about the gars, how feared they are, and how unusual it is for any human to befriend one.

[Parrylakks Neko Samurai Find all posts View Profile Close Parrylakks]

I haven't watched it yet, since I was working all weekend, but its on my DVR... so I'm gonna enjoy it today.

[Darth_Andrea Owned by Natu Find all posts View Profile Close Darth_Andrea]

I'm skipping this I have read Wizard's first rule, and thumbed through the other books, and honestly it's a Weak rip off of the Wheel of Time novels by Robert Jordan. So much of whats in Goodkind's books seems to have been taken right from the pages of Wheel that it isn't funny.




Darth_Andrea

[Parrylakks Neko Samurai Find all posts View Profile Close Parrylakks]

DA, by that reasoning, you should hate the Green Lantern Corps because its a rip off of the Lensmen.

[Jack T. Chance Really knows where his towel is! Find all posts View Profile Close Jack T. Chance]

I'm skipping this I have read Wizard's first rule, and thumbed through the other books, and honestly it's a Weak rip off of the Wheel of Time novels by Robert Jordan. So much of whats in Goodkind's books seems to have been taken right from the pages of Wheel that it isn't funny.

I'm sorry you feel that way, Andrea.

I will not personally knock the Wheel of Time series, as I have not yet read any of the books in that series, although I may read them at some point in the future. But based on what little I've heard about that series, it seems that it may be a more traditional form of epic fantasy, with a LARGE cast of main characters, a la Lord of the Rings or many of the Dungeons & Dragons novels.

By comparison, the Sword of Truth series revolves around only 2 main characters; Richard Cypher and Kahlan Amnell. The series is THEIR story. The story of how they meet, how they fall in love, and the trials and tribulations they go through just to be together. The heart of the series is the romance between Richard and Kahlan, the relationship between those 2 characters. They are 2 of the most fully realized, fleshed out, "3-dimensional" characters in all of fantasy, or, for that matter, all of fiction in general.

The epic fantasy trappings of the series aren't what's important; the relationship between Richard and Kahlan is the REAL meat of the story. Since the narration of the novels isn't there to fill you in on their thoughts and feelings, it really helps to have read the books before watching the series, as it makes it easier to pick up on subtle things the actors are doing to try and convey what the characters are thinking and feeling. Having read the first few books, I know what Richard's thinking and feeling, and what's going through Kahlan's mind, as well. I also know what lies ahead, storywise, so I can see where the producers are setting up future events. As a result, I have a deeper insight into what's going on than someone that's never read the books, and is watching the series "cold".

If the series isn't your cup of tea, that's cool. But there IS a reason these books are so beloved. I will keep watching the show for the forseeable future, because Raimi and crew seem to be treating Goodkind's characters and world with the respect they deserve. Hopefully, someone will do the same for Robert Jordan's series someday, as well.

DA, by that reasoning, you should hate the Green Lantern Corps because its a rip off of the Lensmen.

LOL!! Too true!!!

And for that matter, the Jedi Knights rip-off both the Lensmen AND the Green Lantern Corps, after a fashion! And the Sith Lords are nothing if not blatant rip-offs of the false Lensmen created by the Boskone Empire, so she ought to hate Star Wars, as well!

It has been said that in drama, there is a finite number of basic story ideas/plot lines, something ridiculously low, like 7 or so. So, EVERYTHING in fiction is a rip-off of something that came before it. If I wanted to, I could disect the Sword of Truth series, and say "well, this idea came from so-and-so's novels, and this one here came from this book", and so-on, and so-forth. But again, that's not the important part. These books are all about Richard and Kahlan, those 2 characters are why people read them. These are characters that very quickly become real, living people inside your mind. They grow, and change over time, just like real people. Goodkind's real feat is in the writing of those 2 characters. Either those 2 characters work for you when you read the books, causing you to genuinely care about them and what happens to them, at which point you're hooked and keep reading, or they don't. If the latter, then this series isn't for you.

EDIT: I went back and edited my earlier post so that it now includes a quotation of the complete version of the Wizard's First Rule.

[Limelantern Better than both the Salami and the Bologna combined Find all posts View Profile Close Limelantern]

I have seen a few episodes of this show, enough for me to make an official opinion on it. And it really comes off as a very "by the numbers" fantasy story. Some farm boy is the "chosen one" from some unknown prophesy from way back when. Meets up with a wizard, rescues a princess, get's himself a magic sword, his loving uncle and aunt get killed off, must one day defeat a dark lord sometime in the future when he is ready, said dark lord randomly kills off his higher ranking servants when they screw up, his name is "Darken," CGI bullet-time fights. The whole works.

Add a little bad acting by majority of the actors playing the random villagers and guest stars and you have a show that is obviously not Lord of the Rings, but at least it's not Herculese the Legendary Journeys. Plus it is telling the exact same story Star Wars, Eragon, Legend of Earthsea, Beastmaster, Krull, and about a thousand video games have told me already. I was really hoping for something a little different.

[Willpower The Gunslinger Find all posts View Profile Close Willpower]

I'm sorry you feel that way, Andrea.

I will not personally knock the Wheel of Time series, as I have not yet read any of the books in that series, although I may read them at some point in the future. But based on what little I've heard about that series, it seems that it may be a more traditional form of epic fantasy, with a LARGE cast of main characters, a la Lord of the Rings or many of the Dungeons & Dragons novels.

By comparison, the Sword of Truth series revolves around only 2 main characters; Richard Cypher and Kahlan Amnell. The series is THEIR story. The story of how they meet, how they fall in love, and the trials and tribulations they go through just to be together. The heart of the series is the romance between Richard and Kahlan, the relationship between those 2 characters. They are 2 of the most fully realized, fleshed out, "3-dimensional" characters in all of fantasy, or, for that matter, all of fiction in general.

The epic fantasy trappings of the series aren't what's important; the relationship between Richard and Kahlan is the REAL meat of the story. Since the narration of the novels isn't there to fill you in on their thoughts and feelings, it really helps to have read the books before watching the series, as it makes it easier to pick up on subtle things the actors are doing to try and convey what the characters are thinking and feeling. Having read the first few books, I know what Richard's thinking and feeling, and what's going through Kahlan's mind, as well. I also know what lies ahead, storywise, so I can see where the producers are setting up future events. As a result, I have a deeper insight into what's going on than someone that's never read the books, and is watching the series "cold".

If the series isn't your cup of tea, that's cool. But there IS a reason these books are so beloved. I will keep watching the show for the forseeable future, because Raimi and crew seem to be treating Goodkind's characters and world with the respect they deserve. Hopefully, someone will do the same for Robert Jordan's series someday, as well. LOL!! Too true!!!

And for that matter, the Jedi Knights rip-off both the Lensmen AND the Green Lantern Corps, after a fashion! And the Sith Lords are nothing if not blatant rip-offs of the false Lensmen created by the Boskone Empire, so she ought to hate Star Wars, as well!

It has been said that in drama, there is a finite number of basic story ideas/plot lines, something ridiculously low, like 7 or so. So, EVERYTHING in fiction is a rip-off of something that came before it. If I wanted to, I could disect the Sword of Truth series, and say "well, this idea came from so-and-so's novels, and this one here came from this book", and so-on, and so-forth. But again, that's not the important part. These books are all about Richard and Kahlan, those 2 characters are why people read them. These are characters that very quickly become real, living people inside your mind. They grow, and change over time, just like real people. Goodkind's real feat is in the writing of those 2 characters. Either those 2 characters work for you when you read the books, causing you to genuinely care about them and what happens to them, at which point you're hooked and keep reading, or they don't. If the latter, then this series isn't for you.

EDIT: I went back and edited my earlier post so that it now includes a quotation of the complete version of the Wizard's First Rule.

I'm sad that its finally over. I wouldn't mind if the books went on forever. My sister hated how Richard was almost always in certain peril for most of each book, but I loved the characters so much that it didn't matter to me. This is my favorite series, period. George RR Martins "Song of Ice and Fire" series is 2nd. It could've been 1st, if not for the massive delays, and the last book was a little "meh", but finally after, what, 5 years, the next one, "A Dance With Dragons" comes out in sept.

[Chicago_GL Weaponer of Qward Find all posts View Profile Close Chicago_GL]

Andy don't get mad, but aren't most fantasy novels today, just some sort of ripoff off of another series, which are basically rip offs of mythology. I read Eragon, and I was like oh shit this is star wars and after reading the first few chapters of the first wheel of time, I was like oh shit this is star wars I love the dungeons and dragons book, but I love the Dragonlance series the best, and it's hard for me to find something close to it, but I think I might have found what I'm looking for in the chronicles of the necromancer. While the story line is very basic, it is told very well.