Like most who read the Sword of Truth books I eagerly awaited seeing what the series treatment would make of it. But you have to keep in mind that no film/series/miniseries is ever exactly the same as its source material.
When the first episode began, I scratched my head as to why Dennee (Kahlan's adoptive sister) was A. alive, and B. riding with Kahlan to find Richard, as the book starts with her having already been killed. But it was interesting to see someone else's vision of the story I'd all but lived (as books tend to do that), and what the people in it looked like.
It became a bit of a novelty at first; to see the changes, the visualisation of worlds, peoples, and situations (nevermind swords and magic *wink* *wink*). And while some things bugged me; Kahlan being pronounced Kaylan, as the 'H' in her name would flatten the 'A' so that it sounded like the 'A' in "apple", rather than the 'A' in "sway" - other things did make me smile and take note, as it was interesting to see characters reference people and places and things that readers of the book would know intimately (it was kind of a wink to us who had stayed with it all this time).
WHAT YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER IS THIS: what has been created on screen is not the books, but rather one interpretation of them. It feels like I'm peering into another dimension that runs parallel to the books, where the characters in both had roughly the same starting point but are making their way down the road at a different pace, and stopping to see different sights.
In all honesty, you cannot with the mindset: "This had better be just like the books or else".
Personally, I really enjoyed the story of the books, but I'm also enjoying the series as it comes out, and I find myself checking for when the next episode is on.
The story in itself is timeless because a lot of the themes are ones that have been with us forever, and I feel a lot of the same spirit exists in the series as in the books.
What's been done has been done to bring it to a larger audience (and in some cases a younger one), and while it sometimes gets to me that the fights are done like the movie "300", or that a wounded enemy will fall down and have no wound whatsoever when he hits the ground, the series was never intended to be the books. To have tried to make it exactly so would have been foolish as not only are the mediums so different, but the audiences as well.
Any reader who picks up Wizard's First Rule is probably already a fantasy reader, where as people can and probably will enjoy the series as a more light thing than sitting down to read a novel.
So the facts are this: The books are so well known because they are THAT good for what they do, but the series is also top notch by a fantasy series standard (nevermind a Disney standard - as Disney standard its far more intelligent and grown up than you'd expect). The series, like the books, will not suit everyone, so its time to stop protesting its existence because it isn't exactly what you may have read. Those who watch it as they're first introduction to the Sword of Truth world will get a kick out of it for the same reasons we all did reading the books.
So if you haven't seen it, give it a go, but don't expect it to be the books. And if you're just interested in a fantasy TV series or a fun series for the family or for whatever reason, you'll probably have a blast.
Seriously, I wish it had been around when I was a kid, it would have slotted right in next to Thundercats and Dungeons & Dragons, and I would have been well-pleased.
The fact is, if Terry Goodkind can still remain a driving force behind the writing of the series, and remain happy with what's going out, why can't you? WE may have visited the world, but its creator had to live in it, and breath in and out with every creature in that world, feeling every inch of that reality. It would have been the hardest thing for him to let go of, but if he's still as happy as he is with what his baby is growing up to be... maybe it deserves a little pause for thought.
When the first episode began, I scratched my head as to why Dennee (Kahlan's adoptive sister) was A. alive, and B. riding with Kahlan to find Richard, as the book starts with her having already been killed. But it was interesting to see someone else's vision of the story I'd all but lived (as books tend to do that), and what the people in it looked like.
It became a bit of a novelty at first; to see the changes, the visualisation of worlds, peoples, and situations (nevermind swords and magic *wink* *wink*). And while some things bugged me; Kahlan being pronounced Kaylan, as the 'H' in her name would flatten the 'A' so that it sounded like the 'A' in "apple", rather than the 'A' in "sway" - other things did make me smile and take note, as it was interesting to see characters reference people and places and things that readers of the book would know intimately (it was kind of a wink to us who had stayed with it all this time).
WHAT YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER IS THIS: what has been created on screen is not the books, but rather one interpretation of them. It feels like I'm peering into another dimension that runs parallel to the books, where the characters in both had roughly the same starting point but are making their way down the road at a different pace, and stopping to see different sights.
In all honesty, you cannot with the mindset: "This had better be just like the books or else".
Personally, I really enjoyed the story of the books, but I'm also enjoying the series as it comes out, and I find myself checking for when the next episode is on.
The story in itself is timeless because a lot of the themes are ones that have been with us forever, and I feel a lot of the same spirit exists in the series as in the books.
What's been done has been done to bring it to a larger audience (and in some cases a younger one), and while it sometimes gets to me that the fights are done like the movie "300", or that a wounded enemy will fall down and have no wound whatsoever when he hits the ground, the series was never intended to be the books. To have tried to make it exactly so would have been foolish as not only are the mediums so different, but the audiences as well.
Any reader who picks up Wizard's First Rule is probably already a fantasy reader, where as people can and probably will enjoy the series as a more light thing than sitting down to read a novel.
So the facts are this: The books are so well known because they are THAT good for what they do, but the series is also top notch by a fantasy series standard (nevermind a Disney standard - as Disney standard its far more intelligent and grown up than you'd expect). The series, like the books, will not suit everyone, so its time to stop protesting its existence because it isn't exactly what you may have read. Those who watch it as they're first introduction to the Sword of Truth world will get a kick out of it for the same reasons we all did reading the books.
So if you haven't seen it, give it a go, but don't expect it to be the books. And if you're just interested in a fantasy TV series or a fun series for the family or for whatever reason, you'll probably have a blast.
Seriously, I wish it had been around when I was a kid, it would have slotted right in next to Thundercats and Dungeons & Dragons, and I would have been well-pleased.
The fact is, if Terry Goodkind can still remain a driving force behind the writing of the series, and remain happy with what's going out, why can't you? WE may have visited the world, but its creator had to live in it, and breath in and out with every creature in that world, feeling every inch of that reality. It would have been the hardest thing for him to let go of, but if he's still as happy as he is with what his baby is growing up to be... maybe it deserves a little pause for thought.