Sword of Shannara - MTV greenlights TV series based on the books

[NewJeffCT]

Interesting - MTV getting into epic fantasy. I loved the original few books when they came out in the late 70s, but I was 11-13 years old at the time.

MTV is moving forward with its ambitious high fantasy show. In a quest to find its own Game of Thrones, the cable network has greenlit to series Shannara, based on a series of popular novels by Terry Brooks. Ten episode have been ordered.

The story is set in our world, but thousands of years after the destruction of civilization. The tale is centered on the Shannara family, whose descendants are empowered with ancient magic and whose adventures continuously reshape the future of the world.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/07/11/mtv-shannara-fantasy-series/

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. I read the first one, and thought it was really mediocre

Cliched, and an amateur writing style. I was amazed it spawned what looked like an endless number of sequels. I didn't realise it first came out in 1977 - I only saw in in the early 80s. Still, it is possible for adaptations to be far better than originals.

[NewJeffCT]

2. Looking back

at least the first few books were pretty mediocre. However, as I said above, I was really young & loved the books at the time, as I had probably recently read Lord of the Rings & Chronicles of Narnia.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. I was very familiar with Lord of the Rings, and that was probably the problem

I would have been about 14, I guess. "Sword of Shannara" just seemed a rip-off. And other sequences, like Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant books, at least had some originality, even if parts of the plot were rip-offs too. Or David Eddings' Belgariad books, which I tired of eventually, at least seemed written by someone whose prose style kept the story moving along nicely.

[CBGLuthier]

3. If it can be as good as Korgoth of Barbaria, maybe.

Similar concept. Post apocalyptic.