# Wheel of Time coming November 2021 to Amazon!



## Bren G (Aug 26, 2021)

Was amazed to see this today, WOT will be released in Nov! Never thought I'd see it happen. Also, says Rosamund Pike will play Moiraine!  

Anyone else looking forward to it?









						Amazon finally gets the fantasy wheel rolling with first look at epic 'Wheel of Time' series
					

Get your very first look at Amazon's epic 'Wheel of Time' adaptation — premiering November 2021.




					www.syfy.com


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## BAYLOR (Aug 26, 2021)

Bren G said:


> Was amazed to see this today, WOT will be released in Nov! Never thought I'd see it happen. Also, says Rosamund Pike will play Moiraine!
> 
> Anyone else looking forward to it?
> 
> ...


This one has been off and on for years.


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## Vince W (Aug 27, 2021)

I'll give this a try. It would be nice if it was great because that would give me hope for the Middle-Earth series. It would also make me sad since Amazon gave up on Consider Phlebas.


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## hitmouse (Aug 30, 2021)

Hopefully it will be a bit better than the books.


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## svalbard (Sep 1, 2021)

hitmouse said:


> Hopefully it will be a bit better than the books.



Hopefully a lot better than the books.


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## Bren G (Sep 2, 2021)

@hitmouse and @svalbard - am just curious as to why you didn't like the series?


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## hitmouse (Sep 2, 2021)

Bren G said:


> @hitmouse and @svalbard - am just curious as to why you didn't like the series?


I read the first novel by chance when I found myself snowed in in a mountain cabin and there was no other diversion apart from eating my left leg. I spotted the book in the kindling basket.

I felt it was classic low-grade EFP: derivative, cliche-ridden, and really irritating, and when the road finally opened I hopped out and never had any urge to read subsequent volumes. If those are literary masterpieces then I am prepared to re-evaluate. Based on the book  I read, I am curious how this series rose to prominence above the huge morass of disposable adolescent fantasy.


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## svalbard (Sep 2, 2021)

hitmouse said:


> I read the first novel by chance when I found myself snowed in in a mountain cabin and there was no other diversion apart from eating my left leg. I spotted the book in the kindling basket.
> 
> I felt it was classic low-grade EFP: derivative, cliche-ridden, and really irritating, and when the road finally opened I hopped out and never had any urge to read subsequent volumes. If those are literary masterpieces then I am prepared to re-evaluate. Based on the book  I read, I am curious how this series rose to prominence above the huge morass of disposable adolescent fantasy.



I went a bit further and read the first five books and found myself getting frustrated as each book went on. Maybe it was the fact that back in the 90s trilogies were the norm instead of multi volumed series. I can only think of the Belgariad as another long series and that was just as tiresome. Maybe as I grew older the actions of the characters made less and less sense. I do know my tastes in fantasy changed in the course of those years. 

That said I can see the allure for other readers and there is no denying it's success. Each to their own. I will be watching the series and the I must say the trailer that just dropped looks good.


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## BAYLOR (Sep 2, 2021)

svalbard said:


> I went a bit further and read the first five books and found myself getting frustrated as each book went on. Maybe it was the fact that back in the 90s trilogies were the norm instead of multi volumed series. I can only think of the Belgariad as another long series and that was just as tiresome. Maybe as I grew older the actions of the characters made less and less sense. I do know my tastes in fantasy changed in the course of those years.
> 
> That said I can see the allure for other readers and there is no denying it's success. Each to their own. I will be watching the series and the I must say the trailer that just dropped looks good.



There is a Trailer for the seres , i saw it on the  Dark Horizons Website.


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## Bren G (Sep 3, 2021)

@hitmouse and @svalbard - thanks for sharing. It's so very interesting how someone likes some art and others do not. I happen to be in the 'love it' camp,  but to each his own, and that's a good thing. If we all loved the same art, it'd be a monochromatic world wouldn't it?  I reread the EOTW every five years or so. I suspect I didn't find it derivative since I hadn't read Tolkien prior and most of my fantasy reading up till then was Terry Brooks and Piers Anthony. I loved them both of course but neither had the layers and complexities when compared to Jordan. So under these circumstances I found EOTW to be very original. Funny though, I had a similar reaction when I watched the Game of Thrones series as there are many obvious similarities to EOTW, and while I enjoyed GOT, it did feel quite derivative to me for this reason. Also, I found books 4+ of EOTW frustrating as well. It seemed to me like the story was being dragged out, well beyond what was necessary.


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## HareBrain (Sep 3, 2021)

BAYLOR said:


> There is a Trailer for the seres


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## svalbard (Oct 29, 2021)

The official trailer looks like nonesense. Good looking, well produced nonesense, , but nonesense all the same.


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## Valtharius (Oct 29, 2021)

svalbard said:


> The official trailer looks like nonesense. Good looking, well produced nonesense, , but nonesense all the same.


Are we surprised?


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## BAYLOR (Nov 6, 2021)

svalbard said:


> The official trailer looks like nonesense. Good looking, well produced nonesense, , but nonesense all the same.





Valtharius said:


> Are we surprised?



I found it a bit lacking .


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## Brian G Turner (Nov 18, 2021)

Am I the only one who watched the trailer and felt like he was watching something for a fan film rather than a big studio production?


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## Teresa Edgerton (Nov 19, 2021)

I wasn't impressed at all by the trailer, either.  But I read a good review of the series in the newspaper and I thought I might watch a few episodes and see if I like it.  After all, it's free. 

So this morning I watched episode one.  It didn't impress me either, but it wasn't as bad as I feared from the trailer, so I may give it another episode or two to catch my interest.   Since I never read the books, at least I won't be distracted by how faithful it is or isn't to the source.


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## Tirellan (Nov 19, 2021)

Watched epi 1. It was OK, been a long long time since I read teh books but I will watch epi 2


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## svalbard (Nov 19, 2021)

svalbard said:


> The official trailer looks like nonesense. Good looking, well produced nonesense, , but nonesense all the same.



I was wrong it is just awful.


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## Teresa Edgerton (Nov 19, 2021)

Turns out the first three episodes were available.  (Henceforth it will be one episode a week.)

In my opinion, it lacks a certain spark.  I could see how the first episode had to be a little slow in order to introduce all the main characters.  But the second and third have also been a bit plodding.  It seems like somebody spent a lot of money on this series in order to produce a rather mediocre result.


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## The Big Peat (Nov 20, 2021)

I was tentatively interested then I read a couple of spoilers, in particular



Spoiler



Perrin now having a dead wife he killed in a rage - a wife we never see no less



And I'm just pretty much out. My strong preference is for faithful adaptations, but I get feeling the need to change things, particularly with a story this big - but to change them like that? No no no. I don't think I've ever lost faith in a creative vision so quickly.

For what it's worth I'm a fan of the book series, and doing a re-read now is turning me into more of one. There's a strong Tolkien resemblance in the beginning because that's what publishers pushed then, but if you look for the differences there's a huge amount, and I love the way it focuses on people under intense stress without getting edge *glares at the spoiler*


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## svalbard (Nov 20, 2021)

If my memory serves correctly Mat was also extremely lucky at games of chance. It was his gift.


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## HareBrain (Nov 20, 2021)

I have no stake in this, but the small sniggering boy in me loved this bit of review by Hugo Rifkind:

"The more witchy humans are called Channelers and have a skill called "listening to the wind", which leaves me helplessly imagining somebody putting their ear to a bottom. Do this particularly well, worse luck, and you end up "touching the source". Whatever world this is, I suspect they don't have _Viz_."

(For non-Brits, _Viz _is an adult comic whose humour relies on childish rudeness.)


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## Judderman (Nov 20, 2021)

Does anyone pull their braids yet?


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## svalbard (Nov 20, 2021)

Judderman said:


> Does anyone pull their braids yet?



Braids get a mention in first episode. I think that is a nod for the book fans. Have to say 2nd episode is an improvement. Rosamund Pike and Daniel Henney, as Morainne and Lan are carrying the show so far.


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## hitmouse (Nov 21, 2021)

I watched the first episode and a half. Not impressed. I had forlornly hoped this would be an improvement on the book itself. 
Lucy Mangan’s review in The Guardian pretty much sums up my thoughts.


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## Judderman (Nov 21, 2021)

It seems they have a more modern take on womens roles, and various background changes. Interesting discussion here;








						Andrew and Lee dissect The Wheel of Time’s television premiere
					

Amazon's new series premiered last night, and there's a whole lot to talk about.




					arstechnica.com


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## Bagpuss (Nov 21, 2021)

The Big Peat said:


> I was tentatively interested then I read a couple of spoilers, in particular
> 
> 
> 
> ...



In terms of the spoiler (and I'll put this in a spoiler tags) it's not a massive creative change.



Spoiler: Book vs TV show: Perrin



Is Perrin a killer? Absolutely he is. Perrin is a killer in the first book. He kills two Whitecloaks and is sentenced by Geofram Bornhald to hang in Amador. He murders the Whitecloaks in a rage after they kill Hopper. In the tv show he kills his wife in an accident in the middle of combat. In either case, Perrin killing someone else informs and influences his character. So, I can see why they kept him killing someone. Equally, I can see why they changed the circumstances of who he killed. And that's possibly going to have implications down the road.


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## The Big Peat (Nov 22, 2021)

Bagpuss said:


> In terms of the spoiler (and I'll put this in a spoiler tags) it's not a massive creative change.
> 
> 
> 
> ...





Spoiler



Killing an enemy who's just killed a friend and killing your own wife are miles, miles apart on the trauma hit for such actions. It's about as big a change as possible in this regard.

Moreover,  the impact on Perrin isn't the most important part here. It's the completely unnecessary continuation of the use of women, and violence to women, simply as a minor dramatic device in a man's story. It's crass and lazy at very best.


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## Stephen Palmer (Nov 26, 2021)

Have seen all three episodes.
Not bad, but riddled with cliche (as were the books apparently - haven't read 'em.) e.g. the Standard Fantasy Tavern.
I thought Rosamund Pike and her protector were excellent.
Stunning production values.


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## therapist (Nov 27, 2021)

Stephen Palmer said:


> I thought Rosamund Pike and her protector were excellent.


I was pretty excited seeing Rosamund Pike as Moraine. Especially because of her role in Gone Girl. I think the casting is pretty en pointe. Moraine and Lan are both perfect. As are Perrin and Mat. Feels a bit weird that Mat's actor pulled out/ got fired (after s1) not sure what happened there.

Will not be a good show if you dislike standard fantasy troupes, as i'm pretty sure Robert Jordan set out to write a LotR-esque story. For me it's good enough to keep me watching, but not enjoying it as much as I enjoyed the first GoT season. Both seem like fair comparisons to me as I watched both after reading the book.


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## Stephen Palmer (Dec 5, 2021)

Pretty good episode 4. Gonna watch episode 5 in a moment, with macaroni cheese accompaniment...


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## svalbard (Dec 5, 2021)

Episode 5 also very good. I like that they have mixed the books up. It is making for a better story. The production values are really good. Tar Valon is a sight to behold.


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## G.T. (Dec 14, 2021)

The only complaint I have about the series so far is that every scene feels really short before they move to another. I read a review where someone said it was like watching a show created from a series of tweets and I have to agree.

I really want to see good fantasy on TV and this does have a fairly high production value, but there is something lacking. I read some of the books more than 20 years ago but can't really remember much of anything so I'm not a fan to be worried about faithful adaptation, but for me there is something missing from this series.

If season one of Game of Thrones was a 9/10 then this is a 6, maybe a 7.


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## rscottb (Dec 25, 2021)

They’ve changed just enough around to “give more insight to a viewer that hasn’t read the books or a reader who wondered about characters backstories” (like I don’t create that all in my head as I go or don’t care about it) that it makes wonder at times why I don’t remember reading what I’m seeing. Episode 8 had me on the edge of my seat during the show and then frustrated afterwards when I realized that was the end of season 1 and season 2 is rumored to probably start late 2022 (even though 1/2 of the seasons episodes have already been filmed.)
The thing I appreciate the most are the shows producers not resorting to gratuitous sex and nudity like Game of Thrones. Neither story needs it or is improved by it.


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