The Shannara Chronicles

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Lucifer
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The Shannara Chronicles

Post by Lucifer »

Surely somebody here has read a few Shannara books, and noticed that MTV has been making a series based on them.

Anybody? Thoughts?

My family has never heard of these books, and, well, I read a few of them back in middle/high school, and I'm decidedly a Terry Brooks fan and *not* a JRR Tolkien fan. So I've got nobody to talk to about them.

But we're within 2 weeks of the finale that ends the Elfstones of Shannara story. I know how the book ends, so.....

Anybody actually watching this? I hate heroic fantasy, so the fact that I'm watching it ought to mean *something*....
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Re: The Shannara Chronicles

Post by Light »

Not that I've given it a try, but a friend at work has read the books and is quite excited about the show. It has also been renewed for another season. For a person that has never read the books, would it be worth a watch? Maybe you have a show to compare it to?
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Re: The Shannara Chronicles

Post by Lucifer »

Well, I haven't seen Game of Thrones, but I've read reviews comparing it as a Teen Drama version of that show.

It's a slow-moving heroic fantasy show similar to Lord of the Rings, but without all the pretension. You also have to keep in mind that Terry Brooks originally set out to write a modernized heroic fantasy novel that aggregated many cliches and stuff hung around a largely original story. At least, that was with the first book. Elfstones is, of course, the second book of the series.

I think you'll like it, if you're in to heroic fantasy. It's got humor that's sorely lacking from the other heroic fantasy stuff I've seen (except Willow, it's more drama than Willow).

As far as the universe, there's no middle earth crap in it. It's post-apocalypse, taking place thousands of years after a nuclear war that destroyed modern civilization. Except for the elves, all the non-human races evolved as a result of their circumstances after the war. Dwarves evolved from the humans who took up residence in shelters and lived underground, Trolls, gnomes, and humans stayed topside and are the result of how close they were to heavy fallout areas (with humans surviving mostly intact by staying away from radiation areas), etc. The Four Lands are located smack on top of the continental United States (with significant geological changes as a result of the war and time), and there's modern technology strewn around, neglected and unused, and has made its way into local cultures in much the same way that we modern types imitate ancient cultures with no real understanding. So, the world is unique in heroic fantasy, and they did a fantastic job capturing that uniqueness.

I hadn't heard they were renewed for a second season, so that's exciting. I was sorely disappointed with how it ended because they did, in fact, screw up the book ending, which was actually one of the great plot twist endings that M Shyamalan Night wishes he could come up with but couldn't. I'll watch the second season, though. I hope they hurry up and get into the third book, because of the three originals, THAT's the one I wanted to see in live action form. Although Elfstones was a fine choice, of course.

If you like it, I definitely recommend you read the book, even though you'll know the plot twist ending. The book is still way better than the show, even the show did a surprisingly good take on it.
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Re: The Shannara Chronicles

Post by Light »

I lost interest in GoT after like 2 seasons, so we can hope it's more closely related to LotR than that. :P From your description, it sounds like it could be pretty good, though I'm assuming the pictures in my head are pretty far off of what's going to show. I might give it a chance if I get some time to binge a season.
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Re: The Shannara Chronicles

Post by Bytes »

I read them a while back, all focus on that warlock guy, right? Or at least someone who's always travelling with him. From what I remember the books were like a nicer to read Lord of the Rings, yeah. I'll have to check the show out, is it under the same name?
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Re: The Shannara Chronicles

Post by Light »

Bytes wrote:I'll have to check the show out, is it under the same name?
Yep, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1051220/.
If you're in need of a place to watch it, feel free to throw me a PM. Just not gonna post links in public.
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