What if other adaptations got the "hobbit" treatment?

[Dannyalcatraz]

Pern would work well. So would:

Harry Turtledove's Darkness series

CJ Cherryh's Foreigner and Sabis books

Hambly's The Dark novels

Ben Bova's Grand Tour

Gentle's Ash

Lieber's Fafhrd & Grey Mouser stories...though that might have to be on HBO.

Moorcock's Eternal Champion cycle...probably broken up into discrete series.

Terry Brooks Shanarrah series

Terry Pratchett's Diskworld

Glen Cook's Garret PI and Black Company novels

David Drakes Northworld and Hammer's Slammers books

Kristine Rusch's Retrieval Artist novels

...and so, so many more.

 

[Meatboy]

The dwarves in The Hobbit are supposed to be badasses. Many of them are veterans of the War of Dwarves and Orcs, and Thorin got his second name, Oakenshield, from taking up a tree branch to fight with after his shield was broken in battle.

I must have missed the part where they said something along those lines. Thorin is definately a badass, there is another dwarf who is pretty awesome too (can't remember his name right now, the one who does the majority of the scouting) They were good. The majority of the dwarves though seemed to mostly be comic relief.

 

[Meatboy]

That was because in the book, they never mention bringing any weapons, but the gave paragraphs on their musical instruments. Maybe it should have done as a musical?

Sure they mention weapons IIRC when they go up against the goblins they are said to only have tool types, knives, hachets and what not (except for Thorin and Bilbo) and in Mirkwood it also mentions that they have bows for hunting.

 

[Meatboy]

Another I would like to see adapted (although it will NEVER happen) is the "Wheel of Time" series, but much like "Harry Potter" you had best get a cast that's in it for the long haul up front and then sign a 13 year TV license so you can do one book a year as a running TV serial - BBC probably has the best chance to pull this one off. Of course, most of the production money would have to go casting, which would be another problem, who plays who?

I would love to see the Wheel of Time. I actually think it might work as an animation, but I will be more than pleased if I just get to finish reading the thing. It shouldn't be too bad I actually think they can pull a reverse Hobbit and condense several of the books (ei: anything that happens in Ebou Dar) and I wouldn't complain.

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

I'm certain that some of what I remember is in supplemental materials. I am a big Tolkien fan and it's sometimes hard to separate.

 

[Quickleaf]

The Princess Bride. With the kissing scene. And the two unpublished sequels.

 

[Thunderfoot]

<SNIP>
Lieber's Fafhrd & Grey Mouser stories...though that might have to be on HBO.

Might - we would be lucky if it didn't go straight to Skinamax. There may be sex and death in "The Game of Thrones", but nothing like some of the stuff in the F&GM series - I'm thinking the mermaids in particular.

Terry Brooks Shanarrah series.

How could I forget this, Brooks is one of my favorite authors... D'OH!

Another that came to mind is the "Sanctuary" series edited by Robert Lynn Asprin. Each story done by a different author, plugged together in a running serial of books - it just screams made for TV. Again, probably pay cable; the sex is one thing, sex with an alien magic-user is probably something else.

And speaking of Asprin the "M.Y.T.H. Inc." and "Phule's Company" series would be a good if somewhat comical franchise worth mining.

 

[Thunderfoot]

I would love to see the Wheel of Time. I actually think it might work as an animation <SNIP>

Well you lost me there, the animation adaption of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" was passable, but patently bad. And with the modern fascination with Japanime, I would fear we would end up with "Dragon Ball Z" meets "Star Wars: The Clone Wars"...

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Another that came to mind is the "Sanctuary" series edited by Robert Lynn Asprin. Each story done by a different author, plugged together in a running serial of books - it just screams made for TV. Again, probably pay cable; the sex is one thing, sex with an alien magic-user is probably something else.

Another D'OH! back at ya!

That series is actually a repackaged version of the Thieves' World Anthologies, which I had intended to include in my list, but forgot.

 

[Nellisir]

CJ Cherryh's Foreigner and Sabis books

I love Cherryh's SF, but it's usually so psychologically convoluted, I can see it becoming garbage quite easily.

I would like to see some of the Chanur books on screen, though.

I think it's really a question of story arcs. Can you break the Hobbit into several story arcs? Jackson obviously thinks so, and I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. Length of story has nothing to do with it. Lots of short stories are successfully translated into movies.