Wizard's First Rule... as a tv show?

[timepiececlock]

I feel kind of guilty about being excited for this promo for a new show.

I had some real dissatisfaction issues with the book Wizards First Rule, and I never ended up reading the sequels despite their enormous popularity as a fantasy series. Mostly my problems revolved around the fact that the protagonist, Richard, was about as exciting as a block of wood. He was so boring and lacking of any kind of personality, that...well, you know how a lot of fans like to read books where they can imagine themselves in the hero's place? We all do, right? But it should always be a flight of fancy, because the character ought to have a distinctive personality and presence of their own. Would I like to imagine myself kicking as as The Slayer? SURE! But I don't want to be Buffy herself. Because Buffy has a distinct "self" that I know is not like mine at all. Richard's character doesn't meet that requirement, at least not in the first book. He's about as developed as a paper doll. He walks, he talks, he supposedly falls in love, but he's like a Bot so none of it leaves a lasting impression. Luke Skywalker, fanboy manifest, had more personality than this farmboy does. Not to mention one of the major elements of the climax revolves specifically around this lack of personality...like it becomes a plot point that he's empty. But not in a cool or clever way, in a kind of "Uh...really?" way.

But aside from the lame protagonist, I did enjoy certain parts of the book. I thought the Confessor thing was very interesting because I had never seen a "power" like that before, though I had mixed and leery feelings about what it seemed to me to be saying about gender, sexuality, attraction, and power dynamics. I can easily see that being made better or being made more offensive by a tv-show...really depends on how you write it.

But back to the tv show's trailer! It looks cool. I'm geeking out a bit. I think a tv-show could take a flawed book and make it more interesting. Even though the quest story behind it is pretty generic (farmboy is given magic sword and goes out to find destiny and fight the dark lord Sauronwhoever), I did read a lot of generic fantasy in middle and high school so I can't exactly say that's a problem for me.

There are fantasy book series that I think would make more interesting tv shows, however... Wi'tchfire would be one. Or the story used in the movie Jumper, with the teleporters. And I would just about keel over from happiness if someone made Jonathon Strange & Mr. Norrel into a miniseries. And, of course...Discworld. What I wouldn't give for a tv-show version of Terry Pratchett books. Especially since series like Lost and Heroes have laid the groundwork for ensemble shows with multiple storylines from different characters and paths.

Comments

[irrel.livejournal.com]

Did you know that they made a tv movie of The Colour of Magic? =3

Uh, I like these kinds of shows in theory and then I forget to watch them! I mean, Robin Hood seemed pretty good, but I only watched about 2 episodes. this one looks good, though, I shall give it a try =D

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I watched 1 and 2/3 seasons of Robin Hood, and I thought it was cute, but it just couldn't keep my attention. Watching became a chore. I think because I didn't like Robin as much as all the characters around Robin liked Robin. Marian was played by an awesome lady, though. And the Sherrif was hilarious. And kinda gay for Robin. ...I think part of the reason I got bored was that I knew nothing would ever, substantially, change until the very end of the show. It's a static storyline.


I knew that there was a tv-movie made but I didn't know if it had aired yet. It's BBC or something, I think.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I'll probably download and watch that. :) Though I admit, ever since I heard about the casting I've been pretty leery... Rincewind (at this point in the book series) is presumably somewhere between 25 and 30, and he's being played by an actor who is older than the actor playing Cohen the Barbarian. So wrong! And Sean Astin, while I love him, is not remotely East-Asian-looking.

I'll undoubtedly watch it though.

[jade-sabre-301.livejournal.com]

they did make a miniseries out of Hogfather as well, which I haven't managed to watch all of, but the actress playing Susan was AWESOME.

[mswyrr]

That is *so pretty*.

But, yes, the whole "a hero will rise," "an epic journey will begin" thing made me think that they're just checking the Generic Fantasy tickyboxes one by one.

[mswyrr]

The BBC's Hogfather was quite good, imo. But then, I haven't read that book so I don't have the same basis for comparison you'd have. The actors who play Susan and Teatime were very convincing, I thought.