Despite getting better and better with each season, Prime Video ultimately cancelled The Wheel of Time — and we’re still angry over it.
The wheel of time is my all-time favorite book series. That show was a travesty, and I’m deeply saddened that we probably won’t get another adaptation in my lifetime. I place the blame with the show runner Rafe Judkin’s because he thought he could write a better story than what already existed in the books. The show was only loosely based on the source material. Everything from the writing, to the set building, to the costumes all looked so cheap, like leftovers from a spirit Halloween day after sale. Rafe was responsible for all of these as show runner.
LOOK AT WHAT THEY DID TO MY BOY LOIAL HE DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER THAN THIS.
Anyone who was interested in the series I implore you to check out the books. It’s a long series but the payoffs are some of the best in all of fantasy writing.
Dear God. I’m so grateful that I stopped watching after 30 min of episode one. That is one unsettling screenshot. How could they butcher that so fucking bad? Fucking carrottop? Realy?
It could have been so easy to just bring the books to life. I understand some things do not translate from the page to the screen, but that should be the exception and not the rule.
Even before before coming out, the gender essentialism in these books made me uncomfortable.
What is gender essentialism?
Men be like X, women be like Y, and there’s no nuance or middle ground.
In The Wheel of Time, only women are able to safely practice magic. Some men can get the ability, but if men use magic, they go insane. It’s just how the magic works.
I have read all the books and even wrote a thesis on it when I was in a Masters program. I tried watching the show and it was almost as awful as the Shannara Chronicles.
Shannara is another travesty of adaptations, right alongside the WOT AND Sword of Truth tv show travesties.
I’ve not read the books, but I did not care for the series. I only got 2 episodes in.
I wish someone would make a good high budget Earthsea series.
The books good but not great. Cool ideas but the writing could be better. My friend read a lot more of them than I did and after the original author died another guy picked up where he left off and those ones are apparently better.
You should just read the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind though. Disney tried to make a TV series about it and they fucked it up real bad.
Edit: wow people are really offended by my opinions of some fantasy novels. Sorry, everyone.
Sword of Truth started okay, but I felt it quickly became a tract for Goodkind’s libertarianism, fascism, racism, and misogyny.
Huh, I did not pick up on that. Sword of Truth is better-written than the Wheel of Time imo.
Not only is it not better written, it’s notorious for literally stealing things from The Wheel of Time straight up. It’s some of the most blatant plagiarism I’ve ever seen in my life.
Also I refuse to believe you didn’t pick up on the libertarianism. He literally dedicated one of the books to Ayn Rand. The Sword of Truth is the worst book series I’ve ever read my life.
it’s notorious for literally stealing things from The Wheel of Time straight up.
I don’t disagree. I read SoT first and am aware it was written after WoT. That sucks but I had a hard time getting through WoT due to the writing style.
I refuse to believe you didn’t pick up on the libertarianism. He literally dedicated one of the books to Ayn Rand.
I listened to the audiobooks, mostly while driving. They don’t read who it was dedicated to, IIRC. I’ll have to check that out. I did pick up on some general philosophy that I disagree with on more than a few of the books, but it’s fantasy, it didn’t really bother me.
I also listened to WoT audiobooks, and the narrator makes a huge difference. In SoT they had this narrator, Sam Tsoutsouvas, who is just incredible.
Well I’m with you on the Wheel of Time audiobook narrators. I’ve never liked them at all.
Yeah the whole old empire thing was basically a giant socialism strawman (including equal distribution of sex from pretty women, lol) that he totally destroys by showing everyone by example how to pick yourself up by your bootstraps. And his author blurb says he a member of the Ayn Rand society or something like that. That shit didn’t start creeping in in a big way until the later books though (correction: it started early, I didn’t know he wrote 26 of the things). It was enough to put me off his follow-up series.
Edit: Shit, apparently he wrote 15 more after I stopped with book eleven, which really felt like a complete end to me, I was surprised way back then that there were any more. I don’t know how he managed to milk it that much.
He definitely milked it too much. In the later books he brought back some of the things from some of the early books which was frustrating.
Undoubtedly, at least until Brandon Sanderson took over. I enjoyed the last few books so much more due to the significantly better writing quality, but felt bad because Sanderson only took over because Robert Jordan died.
It’s also worth noting that the guy who picked it up was chosen by the previous guys editor (and wife), and was a consultant for at least the first season of the show… and while he offered some pointers, he ultimately thought the showrunners went in a direction he didn’t think was the best.
He’s also Brandon Sanderson, who’s known now for his connected universe works spearheaded by Mistborn and The Stormlight Archives.
I’m probably in the minority, but i liked the Sword of Truth TV series more than the books.
I thought the series (of books) was great. The only complaint I had at the time was I thought 2-3 books around the start of the second half should have been condensed into one. But if I was reading it now with them all out it might not bother me. At the time I would be pretty annoyed that the main plot didn’t move much and now I had to wait for the next one.
…Was the last season any good?
I quit halfway though season 1, but pike was charismatic. She basically carried the show from what I saw.
It got really good by the time they cancelled it. Haven’t read books but my gf did and according to her while there were major changes to the original it was still quite enjoyable. I enjoyed it for what it was.
Sad…
TBH having a bad first season is a huge hit to a show these days. That’ll turn away the vast majority of streams.
I’ve read them multiple times and agree with your gf. They’re two different things with the same characters. I liked the show less than the books but I still liked the show and I’m sad it’s gone.
I think part of the problem is that they deviated way too far from the source material so fan favorites never really got their time on screen. Add to that some things they had to do due to covid and losing a great actor (at least my favorite of the EF5) before season 1 episode 8 and having to scramble to fix that mess and they lost a lot of people who would have been their biggest cheerleaders.
These are not complaints of mine, just some observations outside the racist and sexist bullshit rhetoric that surrounded parts of the show fandom.
racist and sexist bullshit rhetoric that surrounded parts of the show fandom.
…dare I ask what this was about?
I don’t know anything about the books, but what could it possibly be?
They had brown people for the Emond’s Field folks. A group didn’t like that. The women were competent in the show (and more competent than the dudes) than in the books (aes sedai notwithstanding). A group didn’t like that. Twice a woman did something seemingly impossible based on the rules set forth in the books. I actually agree that one of them was problematic, but not because it was a woman. My issue with it was that it was just a senseless and unnecessary change. But I didn’t run to the Internet to talk about how it ruined the show, the world, my faith in humanity, and how it’s the worst thing that ever happened to anyone ever.
So there was a split between people who read the books. People who enjoyed it overall (me), people who didn’t enjoy it because it changed too much from the source material (a valid stance and I see why they felt that way), and a persistent and loud group who were mad about brown people and women (shitbags).
I thought the last season was great, though I have no idea how faithful it was to the source material since I haven’t gotten that far in the books. However, the show is what recently got me to start reading the books, so say what you will about it, but I think the show at least had that positive outcome me.
I stopped when Rand went to Tar Valon almost at once and met Loial, and Loial failed to give the traditional aiel greeting when believing Rand to be aiel… I just turned it off mid episode
I hate watched it to the end of S1 but it was clear in the first couple episodes they were going to destroy the book narrative and replace it with a vastly inferior one, meaning i would never get to see the wheel of time on screen, which is the only reason I watched it in the first place.
The show was trash, she was great in it.
My biggest problem was it being on Amazon prime. Sure I’ll sail the seas to watch it on day, but that doesn’t help it keep getting made and I’m sure as heck not giving Bezos money if I can help it
I heard a rumour that the choice of show was between Wheel Of Time and Julian May’s Saga Of Pliocene Exile (my favourite sci-fi / fantasy series). At the time I was gutted we missed out but, seeing what Amazon did with WOT, I think we dodged a bullet.
I’ll try to upload a photo by Nick Dudman who was commissioned to make some artwork for the proposed SPE show (Felice at the Ship’s grave).
Im not. This is what happens when you eff with the source material.
This show was utter trash from the start. It’s scores are bought. There’s no way season 3 gets a legit 97%. All cap.
I’m delighted this nightmare of an adaptation is dead.
I liked it and I’m sad it’s gone. So there.
I also liked the books.
So it’s your fault, then.
I agree. Clearly that guy’s fault.
They ruined it for all of us!
Haven’t seen season 3 but I’ve been enjoying the show. I stopped in book 5 and started rereading the Sword of Truth and couldn’t go back.
… I don’t know if I’ve ever been more offended by a comment in my life.
Agreed. SOT is a preachy capitalist charade that never fully delivers on the fantasy it teases. I did enjoy it up to like, faith of the fallen. WOT is a vastly better epic fantasy.
I tried to get into it a few times but it felt like it was all over the place both with character introductions and plots. Figured it was made for people who read the books.
Exact opposite really.
