The Fantasy/Sci-Fi Books Thread Book • Page 44

The entire crew goes to the EOTW in the book, yes, not just Rand and Moiraine. One of the big adaptation shifts is making it more of an ensemble/who is the Dragon Reborn whereas in the books you know it's Rand from the get-go, pretty much. So they changed the EOTW ending a smidge to give everyone else something to do as opposed to Rand going full nuclear and handling all of the threats at once. Except Perrin who is a casualty of the actor playing Mat leaving the filming after episode 6/them trying the Way of the Leaf in action.

 

What the fuck? So no more Mat ever?

Also, am I crazy or was that part about Perrin's wife not in the book?

 

Overall I thought it was pretty good though, I'd love for them to finish it

 

They've recast Mat for season two.
That was a show specific addition (widely hated) since they cut out when he kills the two Whitecloaks protecting Hopper which is what sets him on the "I'm too strong" path in the books. They aged up all the characters and argued that at least one of them would've been married by then.

Season two is filming and three is greenlit, so we're at least getting two more. Some of the most glaring weaknesses/problems I had it seems were partly caused by COVID more than anything and they're listening to fans, so it seems, on some things as well. So I have hope it can get much better, despite really enjoying what we were given thus far.

 

I like this take, this is pretty much how I feel (and fwiw it's pretty close to how Sanderson feels, I think). Season one wasn't perfect, but on the whole, as an adaptation, I very much enjoyed it and am excited to see more—particularly as they're able to find their footing better.

 

Yeah I agree too

 

I loved the first season. I really liked Mat too, which sucks, I hope I'll like the new guy as much. I really didn't have any complaints besides the unnecessary fridging.

 

I've been so curious for your thoughts but you never popped up in the show thread, haha.

 

Yeah I wasn't sure how the show was being received and didn't want other people thoughts to color my own, which I usually do for shows I'm super excited for. Discourse for things I love can get exhausting lol.

 

Definitely get this! I think most of us were relatively pleased with optimism for the future seasons. I only saw one person outright hate it.

 

I feel this so hard haha. I generally tend to like most things, and I usually walk away from something saying "well hey, I really liked X and Y" instead of fixating on the stuff I didn't like. So it's awful to try to talk to certain kinds of fans, particularly about adaptations of beloved series, haha.

Not that everybody has to like everything, and there's obviously room for nuanced criticism of even things you love. But still.

 

We are completely the same page on this. Absolutely nothing wrong with looking at things with a critical eye, I just don't really enjoy being a part of it nowadays.

Sometimes I can't help it though, like I've been super hard on The Expanse. But that's because it boggles my mind that I don't like it more.

 

Oh hey you guys were talking about Dragonlance earlier, is that something I should be reading?

 

People aren't good separating something from its source material. People want TV shows or movies to be a beat for beat remake of the book. Why? You already have the book, why wouldn't you want to see a different version/different take?

I think the sprit of the source work should definitely flow into a movie or show. And maybe you have a lot of the major plot points / the end game be the same. But taking a different journey or changing up the characters makes adaptations more interest.

That said, the TV show has some issues. I think the guy who plays Rand can't act. Or the script sucked shit and he didn't know what to do with it. The CGI was god awful, but not a big deal. I kind of wish they had more time to do some of the parts they completely cut out of the book, but whatever. Decent first season overall, I'll definitely keep watching.

Reading the books for the first time and on book 4. Rand is a huge whiner books 1-3 but seems like he's getting better. Perrin is awful. Naenave, Egwene, Elayne are awesome and get shit done.

 

The core series (Weiss & Hickman’s work together a few of Weiss’s solo runs) is pure fun fantasy. You can see how it became such a huge inspiration/touchstone. I have been wanting to revisit since it’s been almost two decades since I read them, but I always remember them fondly.

 

Sounds like I should at least try it out for the legacy then. Always happy to fill in fantasy blind spots. The idea of that many books is tantalizing

 

I think it's the first true D&D-inspired takeoff, too? Like, it's the foundation for a lot of LitRPG work (without the stats) and such. The Twins trilogy is superb, too. I can see you loving Raistlin.

"Dragons of Autumn Twilight" is the starting point. There's a bunch of chronological vs publication order things... but I prefer chronological.

 

Thanks, I do too.

 

Oh yeah dude @Vivatoto Raistlin is right up your alley I think.

@Garrett has summarized it well. I read the core Dragonlance books in middle school/through high school and they were incredibly foundational in my interest in the genre. Pretty sure the War of Souls books were the first books that I bought myself, in hardcover, on release day, because I had been anticipating their release for months. They also really informed my own writing, even though I don't write stuff that's very similar to Dragonlance now.

So yeah, definitely check out the Chronicles, Legends, and War of Souls books, I'd say. I'll hop back later to detail further recommendations when I have a chance.

 

This is absolutely on point.

Personally, I thought the acting in WOT ranged from fine to superb, and I really enjoyed the CGI overall. My only real qualm was some pacing, but I didn't think it was a huge deal. But even where we disagree, we can have a reasonable discussion about things we liked and didn't like, unlike some people, haha. I know a guy who had a meltdown at what he called armor inaccuracies in The Two Towers and refused to watch ROTK as a result. Weird.

 

@Garrett This is better suited for a longer Dragonlance-specific conversation, but did you ever read The Soulforge?

 

I just picked up that duology in the Audible sale to fill in the gaps. I've read Chronicles, Legends, the two standalones, and War of Souls. So I picked up the Lost Chronicles, The Raistlin Chronicles, and Dark Disciple books as well this time.

 

Up next for me (after a "professional development" nonfiction read) is the Islington trilogy. I've heard *excellent* things.

 

Lol, I just learned via your comment that it had a sequel. Shows how much I know. Yeah, I'm gonna be buying a lot of Dragonlance stuff on Audible tonight, haha.

But anyway, that book gutted me as a fifteen-year-old. It explores the dynamics between Raistlin and Caramon, and I still think about some of those scenes to this day.

 

Speaking of Dragonlance scenes that I still think about to this day, but in a wildly different way...

When they're being flung up the mountain by the gnomes with the catapults.