The Wheel of Time (Amazon)

[leftyjace]

So... for those that don't know, there's an epic fantasy TV series that debuts in November, titled The Wheel of Time. It is based on the seminal book series by Robert Jordan (and Brandon Sanderson).

Today is a big day for fans of the books, because it was announced this morning that the first Teaser Trailer for the series will debut tomorrow.

For those of you unfamiliar with the books... I'll say this in my best Fezzy voice from the Princess Bride..."Tolkein? George R.R. Martin? Morons." This TV series is going to be incredibly epic, the next big thing, and will garner as huge of a fandom/level of excitement as Game of Thrones did, if not more hugerer. Even knowing that it is an adaptation and won't be able to follow the books verbatim any more than the Game of Thrones series did, the amount of excitement amongst Robert Jordan fans is rabid, with many frothing at the mouth about this.

Anyway... I also fully expect that the series will become a topic of conversation amongst people on this board just as much as Westworld and Game of Thrones has/had in the past. Perhaps this thread will serve to be that discussion? Who knows.

Regardless, here are some "resources" for some peeps:

Tweet that announces the trailer coming out tomorrow:


The first still pictures from the series:


Showrunner Rafe Judkins's panel from the recent Comic-Con on the series:


A fun article about the series:
Entertainment Weekly Article

And if you want to see a crazy active (and excited) online community, check out the #TwitterOfTime and #WOTWednesday hashtags on Twitter.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

Interesting. I tried reading when I was a kid, but didn't get too far. At two different times in my adult life I've tried getting in to the series again based on good friends who recommended it. I was never able to get too far. I guess I'm just not in to fantasy.

I'll definitely check out the TV series though. My wife is a huge fantasy fan, and I find I often enjoy the movies better than the books.

 

[fishonjazz]

I didn't like the books. I tried hard to like them. Read the first 6 iirc but got tired of how cliche/predictable/stereotypical the characters were written.

 

[leftyjace]

I didn't like the books. I tried hard to like them. Read the first 6 iirc but got tired of how cliche/predictable/stereotypical the characters were written.

Honestly? I can't say I blame you or SoberasHotRod.

Funny thing is, though, if you stuck it out until about Book 10 (I know, I know) you were HUGELY rewarded. The final 4 books of the series were unreal, and the last book... never read anything like it.

Books 6 (or 7) through 10 are considered "The Slog" because they're hard to get through. On rereads, they're not that hard as there are things you pick up in them that are important that you wouldn't recognize if you didn't see where things were headed in the end. But ya, first time through it it was hard.

But I can't stress enough that the final books are amazing, and the final book of the series is something I have never experienced before in my life. So far, the only thing I can find that rivals it is how good the Stormlight Archive series is from Brandon Sanderson (Ironic, as he was the guy that finished the series after Robert Jordan passed away).

 

[gandalfe]

I am more interested in the Foundation series that's coming, even if it's from Apple. And if the Three Body Problem ever actually gets off the ground...

 

[gandalfe]

But, yes, I am interested in this, even tho I also never got that into the books. I THINK I read the first few when I was in High School, back in the 80s.

 

[fishonjazz]

Honestly? I can't say I blame you or SoberasHotRod.

Funny thing is, though, if you stuck it out until about Book 10 (I know, I know) you were HUGELY rewarded. The final 4 books of the series were unreal, and the last book... never read anything like it.

Books 6 (or 7) through 10 are considered "The Slog" because they're hard to get through. On rereads, they're not that hard as there are things you pick up in them that are important that you wouldn't recognize if you didn't see where things were headed in the end. But ya, first time through it it was hard.

But I can't stress enough that the final books are amazing, and the final book of the series is something I have never experienced before in my life. So far, the only thing I can find that rivals it is how good the Stormlight Archive series is from Brandon Sanderson (Ironic, as he was the guy that finished the series after Robert Jordan passed away).

I have heard from a lot of people that sanderson is a much better writer than jordan.

 

[Hekate]

I kept pushing this one in the back of my mind and now that I have seen how close this is, I can't keep still. Thank you. It's going to be a restless month, lol.

I get the feel they are going to do the books justice.

 

[Keefe]

Know nothing about the books but Rosamund Pike as the lead and five kids who look like your typical Netflix “stars” makes me think this is gonna be utter trash.

 

[leftyjace]

But, yes, I am interested in this, even tho I also never got that into the books. I THINK I read the first few when I was in High School, back in the 80s.

Came out in 1990! I was on the edge of my seat from that year forward...

And I am ALSO very interested in the Foundation series. Should be epic (hopefully)!

 

[leftyjace]

I have heard from a lot of people that sanderson is a much better writer than jordan.

Honestly? I echo that opinion.
He's a pretty special talent.
If you haven't tried reading the Stormlight Archive stuff, I highly recommend it. Each book's ending just knocks your socks off. It's almost silly.

 

[leftyjace]

I kept pushing this one in the back of my mind and now that I have seen how close this is, I can't keep still. Thank you. It's going to be a restless month, lol.

I get the feel they are going to do the books justice.

I agree, they should.
Rafe Judkins is a HUGE WoT fan. Kind of like how Peter Jackson was such a huge fan of LotR. So you just know that he's going to kill it!

 

[leftyjace]

Know nothing about the books but Rosamund Pike as the lead and five kids who look like your typical Netflix “stars” makes me think this is gonna be utter trash.

Time will tell.
My suspicion is it won't be. They're not doing it like the Shannara series, their goal is to do it better than the GoT series.

 

[fishonjazz]

Honestly? I echo that opinion.
He's a pretty special talent.
If you haven't tried reading the Stormlight Archive stuff, I highly recommend it. Each book's ending just knocks your socks off. It's almost silly.

Do you need to read the Stormlight books in order? (my library app has some of them but not all of them so Im not sure I can start at book 1 and go in order)

 

[JazzGal]

I read the first seven books one summer in the 90s, but then never finished the series. Someday. I'm interested in the series, though.

Sent from my moto z3 using JazzFanz mobile app

 

[TheGoldStandard]

I have heard from a lot of people that sanderson is a much better writer than jordan.

Unfortunately true, the Sanderson contributions were the best in the series. But the series as a whole was not great compared to many other series. It was one of those things where I read so much, may as well finish them all, but I ended up speed reading a lot because they simply aren't good stories.

Unfortunately, my two favorite series in the genre GOT (don't care much now that the tv series is done) and the Kingkiller Chronicles, will likely remain incomplete.

The WOT tv series does not interest me at all.

 

[LogGrad98]

I kept pushing this one in the back of my mind and now that I have seen how close this is, I can't keep still. Thank you. It's going to be a restless month, lol.

I get the feel they are going to do the books justice.

Remember the Khaleesi.

Anything and everything can be ****ed up. Count on it being ****ed up and you won't be disappointed. GoT started so strong, then for 2 seasons just completely **** the bed.

 

[LogGrad98]

Unfortunately true, the Sanderson contributions were the best in the series. But the series as a whole was not great compared to many other series. It was one of those things where I read so much, may as well finish them all, but I ended up speed reading a lot because they simply aren't good stories.

Unfortunately, my two favorite series in the genre GOT (don't care much now that the tv series is done) and the Kingkiller Chronicles, will likely remain incomplete.

The WOT tv series does not interest me at all.

Agreed on the Kingkiller Chronicle. Rothfuss manages to make a tired genre and story fresh even while using almost all the cliches of the genre. But I've seen him involved in a lot of things other than finishing and there was an article a while back where he went all philosophical and esoteric talking about not finishing as the best ending he could provide because it leaves it open to the readers imagination or some such ********. Pretty sure he meant it tongue in cheek but so far he has made good on that promise.

He also once said he had like a dozen sub-plots he had to rework and that the would only publish when he had a perfect work to give to the readers. So often perfection is the enemy of excellence. That appears to be the case here too.

But I hope both of those get finished. But both authors have made it clear they don't really care about finishing them, if not in word then in action. That's just weird to me. But I can't do much about it.

But I did manage to get a Tak boardgame early on. It is a beautiful game.

 

[LogGrad98]

Came out in 1990! I was on the edge of my seat from that year forward...

And I am ALSO very interested in the Foundation series. Should be epic (hopefully)!

Are you saying they are adapting Asimov's Foundation series into a show? Absolutely no idea how they pull that off.

 

[leftyjace]

Do you need to read the Stormlight books in order? (my library app has some of them but not all of them so Im not sure I can start at book 1 and go in order)

Definitely need to read them in order.