'Wizard's First Rule' changes names at Comic-Con

A show of hands at the panel for Wizard's First Rule illustrated just how well read Comic-Con fans are. Nearly everyone had read one or more of Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth novels, which are being adapted into a weekly TV series set to debut on Nov. 1.

The series, however, will now be called Legend of the Seeker, not the Sword of Truth because, as Goodkind himself put it, "The Sword of Truth is about a sword, and this is about an individual, it's about the Seeker. I think it's more important to understand the individual and his journey and his growth as an individual."

There was lots of love between Goodkind and executive producer Sam Raimi, and lots of talk about integrity, but really the fans just wanted to know more about the physical manifestation of what they had been reading. A sneak peek gave us just a taste of what was to come, and it looks awesome on an epic scale:

There's swordplay a-plenty, breathtaking vistas (it's shot in New Zealand), heroic posturing and stunts and magical special FX. Suffice to say that the quality of the production exceeded my expectations. I'll certainly be tuning in (or at least DVR-ing) on Saturday nights.

Also announced were new cast members, to join the previously cast Craig Horner (as Richard Cypher) and Bridget Regan (as Kahlan Amnell). They were: Bruce Spence as Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander aka Zedd, Jay Laga'aia as Dell "Chase" Brandstone and Craig Parker as Darken Rahl.

The only sour note occurred when one "fan" approached the microphone and claimed that Goodkind had said "rape was not a crime" at the last Dragon-Con. Goodkind vehemently denied saying anything of the kind, and as the outraged questioner continued to talk, his mic was cut off as the crowd booed. Afterwards, Raimi chimed in: "I know Terry Goodkind and I don't believe he had ever said something like that."

Things resumed normalcy quickly, and the author was in such a good mood later, he decided to share some news with the crowd. When a fan asked if Goodkind was planning on writing additional books set in the Sword of Truth world, specifically about the Great Wizard War, the author revealed that he was writing a trilogy of contemporary novels:

"I'm actually doing something that's a helluva lot more exciting than that. I just recently made a deal with Putnam, the publishers of the bestsellers for the past 20 years straight, to write three contemporary novels. The goal is to scare the hell out of our world for a change. I'll give you the first line of the second novel just to give you an idea of what I'm writing about. The opening of the second book is: 'For the past three weeks, John Allen Bishop had been keeping the devil chained in his basement.'"

Are you fans of the novels? Looking forward to the series?

Comments

Well, I got a very different impression of this show from the panel. As a longtime fan and attendee of this panel, I spent most of it with my head in my hands. To hear Terry and Sam talk about how right the other person was for the project at the beginning was very heartening, but then they started getting into specifics:

•Changing the name from something distinctive to something very generic.

•Clinging to the syndicated format that Raimi and Tapert were comfortable with in the 90's with Hercules and Xena, but has since died out in favor of various cable networks.

•Listening to them talk about how the show had changed from a 22-episode adaptation of the first book in the series to a "jump in at any point" show that will try to hit the "high points" of the first book along the way.

•Hearing the moderator ask about the budget for the show and listening to Sam ramble on about how awesome the characters in the story are for 5 minutes instead. Perfect indication that your show has no money: when a question about money leads to an answer about characterization.

•And, worst of all, hearing Raimi, Tapert, and Goodkind talk about "the demands of this market (syndication) indicate that serialized storytelling is not the way to go. Each episode needs to be a self-contained story that people can just jump into and understand what's going on." And then going next door to HBO's "True Blood" panel (also an adaptation of the first of a series of novels) right afterward and hearing creator Alan Ball answer the question, "So will people be able to jump in on, say episode 7 and know what's happening?" with "I'd say that people should start at the beginning. We're going for a pretty strict adaptation of the first novel and you're going to be lost if you start in the middle."

The difference between syndication and a supportive cable network, laid out back-to-back right there. It's sad that such a great book series is likely going to be getting such a mediocre adaptation. But I'll still be setting my DVR and at least giving it a chance when it comes out.

Chris | Jul 30, 2008 10:28:36 AM | #

---

@ Chris,

Hmmm, while I can see you have many concerns, I guess I'm just philosophical about what necessary changes an adaptation requires. I've definitely hated many adaptations of my favorite books (the Dresden Files definitely comes to mind!). Perhaps it's better then that they DID change the title to Legend of the Seeker. As Terry said, that gives it its own identity, and the books will always be the books.

To my mind, Sword of Truth sounds just as generic as Legend of the Seeker. Frankly, all of Mr. Goodkind's book titles have a generic fantasy feel to me. That's why I always have to consult a list to see which came first.

From the few clips, which I acknowledge aren't representative of the show's overall quality, I did feel like the budget helps. And at some point Sam did address budget because he was saying how it helped to create a more filmic look than what they could achieve previously.

I'm just happy that some high fantasy will be back on TV. Gonna set my DVR for it though too. It might be better to watch it in mini-marathons.

Hanh | Jul 30, 2008 10:47:07 AM | #

---

Goodkind repeatedly beat home his ideas on religion throughout the final few books of the series stating that there is no afterlife repeatedly.... Just a question, how in the heck can his characters speak to the dead if there is no afterlife? Goodkind almost seemed as if he changed from being a religious man to being an atheist about half way through the series.. He never really tied up those loose ends though. He never explained how you can communicate with the dead and the dead can virtually come back to life.. but there's no afterlife? Very odd

Lyle M | Sep 22, 2008 8:57:19 PM | #

---

Post a comment

Name:
Email Address:	optional
URL:	optional
Comments: