MTV: The Shannara Chronicles

[keg in kc]

Yeah, I know, I know. I never thought I'd be posting a trailer for an MTV series based on a series of books I don't like, either, but hey, it looks at least a little neat...

[frankotank]

I read the books so long ago that I pretty much remember...well nothing....

but one thing that REALLY gripes me is the kings stupid douche bag son. he's all....magic is dumb and fake....and he's a frigging ELF. lol just dumb.....

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

The dicks were fake in that show. I watched it through a couple months back and they're pretty obviously fake.

MeatPeeker?

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by frankotank

I read the books so long ago that I pretty much remember...well nothing....

but one thing that REALLY gripes me is the kings stupid douche bag son. he's all....magic is dumb and fake....and he's a frigging ELF. lol just dumb.....

By this point of time, elves have basically no magic. They are pretty much human with pointed ears.

IIRC, the oldest prince's personality isn't terribly different from the book. He was pretty much a dick.

The messed up with the Anders' character here, though, which will change how things play out if follows the book.

[frankotank]

after the two hour premier....while I thought the "scenery" and effects were cool....I wasn't overly impressed with the show overall.
watched the second episode last night (technically ep #3) and found myself digging it more.

question - again...I did read the books but too long ago to remember much....I do NOT remember the books taking place in a future earth where remnants of our modern world are laying in ruins. books weren't like that were they?

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by frankotank

after the two hour premier....while I thought the "scenery" and effects were cool....I wasn't overly impressed with the show overall.
watched the second episode last night (technically ep #3) and found myself digging it more.

question - again...I did read the books but too long ago to remember much....I do NOT remember the books taking place in a future earth where remnants of our modern world are laying in ruins. books weren't like that were they?

Yep, the post-apocalyptic aspect is in the books. It's not as prevalent as in the show, though.

[Frosty]

I liked Ep 3 quite a bit. The one part I thought was funny though, is that Wil doesn't say something like "hey Allanon - you know that weird elf we found chained in a shed? Well, he knows about our secret mission to Safehold."

Seems like it might be important info.

[Bowser]

Originally Posted by Frosty

Yep, the post-apocalyptic aspect is in the books. It's not as prevalent as in the show, though.

I actually read Armageddon's Children. In it, the characters are still familiar with and use technology, iirc.

That was the first book of Shanara I had read since I was a teenager. I read Sword, Elfstones, and Wishsong, but never any others until Armageddon's Children.

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by Bowser

I actually read Armageddon's Children. In it, the characters are still familiar with and use technology, iirc.

That was the first book of Shanara I had read since I was a teenager. I read Sword, Elfstones, and Wishsong, but never any others until Armageddon's Children.

I really liked the five books that take place between the Knight of the Word series and the older Shannara books:

Genesis of Shannara

Armageddon’s Children
The Elves of Cintra
The Gypsy Morph

Legends of Shannara

Bearers of the Black Staff
The Measure of the Magic

Brooks is supposed to eventually add to those, leading up to the First Council of Druids.

Spoiler!

The Genesis books take place in areas I'm familiar with (Seattle, Portland, Central Washington, Norther Idaho), which added to my enjoyment. I'm 95% the protected valley they settle in is between Fourth of July Pass and Lookout Pass on I-90 in northern Idaho (between Coeur d'Alene and Wallace).

[Amnorix]

I read the original trilogy WAAAY back. I remember literally nothing other than "pretty decent LOTR rip off". Never read anything more.

Decided to give this show a shot based on both this thread and what a friend was saying. First episode seemed pretty solid, for a TV fantasy series. Special effects surprisingly decent. Teen romance crap is crap, but whatever, I'll just check out how hot the chicks are. Storyline seems solid.

I will ignore all spoiler stuff (very rare for me), and see how the show goes. Need something to replace Person of Interest in my house anyway, as they keep delaying that show, and it's obvious this will be its last season.

[NewChief]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

I read the original trilogy WAAAY back. I remember literally nothing other than "pretty decent LOTR rip off". Never read anything more.

Decided to give this show a shot based on both this thread and what a friend was saying. First episode seemed pretty solid, for a TV fantasy series. Special effects surprisingly decent. Teen romance crap is crap, but whatever, I'll just check out how hot the chicks are. Storyline seems solid.

I will ignore all spoiler stuff (very rare for me), and see how the show goes. Need something to replace Person of Interest in my house anyway, as they keep delaying that show, and it's obvious this will be its last season.

I watched yesterday as well, and I really enjoyed it. I'm definitely looking forward to more. Only thing I don't like about it is the typical fantasy geography crap.

They can like journey across the kingdom in a matter of hours, evidently. Or, alternately, it might take days.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by frankotank

I read the books so long ago that I pretty much remember...well nothing....

but one thing that REALLY gripes me is the kings stupid douche bag son. he's all....magic is dumb and fake....and he's a frigging ELF. lol just dumb.....

You'd think that the future king would be educated by his father to understand what is really at stake with that tree.

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by NewChief

They can like journey across the kingdom in a matter of hours, evidently. Or, alternately, it might take days.

That's actually an issue in the books as well. There is no sense of scale as it takes very little time to get from one location to another. Allanon is forever popping off to Paranor or the Hadeshorn and back in an afternoon. Brooks gets around it later in the series by inventing airships.

Of course, the flipside is tedious. Dennis L. McKiernan, for example, writes his characters' travels in real time. A good half the book will be nothing but an uneventful journey for a group of characters or army. It's boring, so I will take the quick trips in Shannara.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by NewChief

I watched yesterday as well, and I really enjoyed it. I'm definitely looking forward to more. Only thing I don't like about it is the typical fantasy geography crap.

They can like journey across the kingdom in a matter of hours, evidently. Or, alternately, it might take days.

Yes, agreed. I write it off to "they skip the boring days in between where they travel and nothign happens except eating berries, hunting animals, and wiping their ass with leaves".

Once you just sort of accept that, it's easier not to say "wait, he went from the middle of a seemingly gigantic, beautiful forest full of elves to this desolate, abandoned, ruined palace. How long did that take for chrissakes?!? Do they teleport?!?"

Meh. Just gotta deal with it. Like guns that never need more bullets and all the other stuff that are baked into movies without a second thought.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by patteeu

You'd think that the future king would be educated by his father to understand what is really at stake with that tree.

Seems the king stopped believing himself, to some extent, despite presumably having SEEN magic.

After all, "it's just at tree". These elves clearly aren't LOTR elves. They don't live forever. And 300 years is 1716 in our time. If someone told you that George Washington's GRANDFATHER said this tree protected you from demons (which nobody has ever seen), would you believe it all those years later?

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by Frosty

That's actually an issue in the books as well. There is no sense of scale as it takes very little time to get from one location to another. Allanon is forever popping off to Paranor or the Hadeshorn and back in an afternoon. Brooks gets around it later in the series by inventing airships.

Of course, the flipside is tedious. Dennis L. McKiernan, for example, writes his characters' travels in real time. A good half the book will be nothing but an uneventful journey for a group of characters or army. It's boring, so I will take the quick trips in Shannara.

****ing Wheel of Time.

Or Frodo and Sam trudging across Mordor.

Yeah, travel time isn't terribly interesting. I hate having NO sense of scale, however. Did a week or six months pass between the beginning and end of that first episode (the only one I have seen)? Not a ****ing clue.