After what they did to Wheel of Time I couldn’t bring myself to watch it.
Comment on [Discussion] Do you have franchise fatigue? Or is there still a franchise that you enjoy seeing?
ryan213@lemmy.ca 10 months ago
Anything Tolkien I’ll still enjoy. Yes, even Rings Of Power. Lol
psycho_driver@lemmy.world 10 months ago
ryan213@lemmy.ca 10 months ago
Didn’t read WOT so I enjoyed it. Lol
maegul@lemmy.ml 10 months ago
I enjoyed the show too. So figured I’d enjoy the books. There’s a lot to praise the books for and I understand that the fandom exists … but IMO they are overrated and book fans hating on the show can get really toxic. The first three books are honestly kinda crappy in important ways that book fans struggle to even acknowledge or remember and reading them made me appreciate the show even more because of the stuff they had to struggle with in the adaptation.
I made it up to halfway through the fourth book, which is supposed to be the one where the series really gets going (yes, it doesn’t start until about 1.5 LotRs worth surprisingly repetitive story telling) and the best book of the series according to many … and I just had to stop. I felt manipulated as a reader and that the story was weirdly unsurprising or derivative feeling. There’s a lot to like about its scope and ambition and characters, but as an author I think Jordan/WoT has proper flaws that book fans just don’t acknowledge enough. AFAICT, the appeal for fans is the breadth of the world and a sorta soapy concentration on character stuff.
I posted my thoughts on the first three books over on !wheeloftime@lemmy.ml if you’re interested.
MrJameGumb@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I really liked Rings of Power! I think it was mostly just the neckbeard brigade who made so much noise about it lol
ryan213@lemmy.ca 10 months ago
I liked it too. Just… If the writing and dialogue were as good as the visuals and music, it would’ve been a great show.
maegul@lemmy.ml 10 months ago
What kinda saved it for me was finding value in the Sauron / Galadriel arc. As a Galadriel fan I struggled with the show.
But in the end, the idea that Sauron and Galadriel had this one off sorta platonic/spiritual hook up that flirted with the possibility of joining forces is interesting and sticks on my mind. It’s a nice exploration of the canon idea that Sauron was maybe contrite for a moment and that Galadriel has a rich and special past. And resonates nicely with the Doom of the Noldor.
I didn’t like a lot about how the story was told, but there were kernels there that stuck with me.
Otherwise, I’m not sure I can tolerate the wizard being Gandalf. Like if they clarify that I might just be out. I’d prefer they don’t clarify it, maybe tease that it could be Gandalf, so that book/canon fans can safely have the head canon that it’s a blue wizard who happens to be similar to Gandalf in some ways while everyone else can feel comfortable with it feeling like Gandalf.
ryan213@lemmy.ca 10 months ago
You know it’s Gandalf. Lol Just like you knew Halbrand was going to be Sauron. It’s the kind of amateur writing you’d get from inexperienced showrunners.
Pretty sure they didn’t get back in touch with PJ was because they were scared he’d overshadow them, regardless of how little he’d be involved.
But anyway, I enjoyed the show just enough to keep watching the rest of the seasons.