Parmandur
Book-Friend
Yup, artificially engineered with black magic and mad science. Ut in the books, they do spell out "these guys won't cross a river" so it's not a question left hanging.
Wheel of Time Discussion - Spoilers(with book spoilers)
Maxperson
Morkus from Orkus
Yep. And very rarely one is born different. That's where the Fades(white faced guys with no eyes) come from.
Parmandur
Book-Friend
Just checked the book, and Lan spells out the plan for why they are racing to cross the river ahead of time because of the Shadowspawn's aversion to water and inability to swim. So the characters and readers understand the plan exactly.
Mercurius
Legend
I think approaching a series like Wheel of Time in the hopes that it will accurately model the books is just asking to be disappointed. I think the key for maximal enjoyment--if you're a reader of the books--is focusing on whether or not it is in the spirit of the books, if it does a good job depicting the feel of the world, and reducing the elements of the story in a way that keeps as much of what is essential as it possibly can, given the more limited nature of a film series (If you didn't read the books, then you can just enjoy the series for what it is, without expectations).
The LotR films were loved by almost everyone, at least all but perhaps the most staunch Tolkienistas. Why? Because Peter Jackson did a good job honoring the spirit of Tolkien, and the feeling of Middle-earth--especially as expressed over many decades by its most well known artists, John Howe and Alan Lee. We can bemoan the lack of Tom Bombadil or various other things, but the total result was about as good as anyone could possibly expect, given the nature of film (We won't go into the Hobbit films). But even then, the LotR films are probably better seen not as "accurate translations of the book to film," but rather "cinematic homages to the books."
Game of Thrones had an advantage over both LotR and Wheel of Time in that the author was (is) not only alive, but actively part of production and with experience in screen-writing. I know Brandon Sanderson is around, but he's not Robert Jordan, nor does he have George RR Martin's brilliance with dialogue and characters, which is part of the reason GoT was so good.
The LotR films were loved by almost everyone, at least all but perhaps the most staunch Tolkienistas. Why? Because Peter Jackson did a good job honoring the spirit of Tolkien, and the feeling of Middle-earth--especially as expressed over many decades by its most well known artists, John Howe and Alan Lee. We can bemoan the lack of Tom Bombadil or various other things, but the total result was about as good as anyone could possibly expect, given the nature of film (We won't go into the Hobbit films). But even then, the LotR films are probably better seen not as "accurate translations of the book to film," but rather "cinematic homages to the books."
Game of Thrones had an advantage over both LotR and Wheel of Time in that the author was (is) not only alive, but actively part of production and with experience in screen-writing. I know Brandon Sanderson is around, but he's not Robert Jordan, nor does he have George RR Martin's brilliance with dialogue and characters, which is part of the reason GoT was so good.
Maxperson
Morkus from Orkus
I agree that the spirit of the books should be what the show is shooting for. I think that it messed up quite a bit of that in episode 1, but better recovered it in episodes 2 and 3.
Jackson got a lot of the feel right, but mess up on a good amount of it as well.
Sanderson spent a lot of time sitting with Jordan and going over the books and what Jordan's vision was. He has probably the best understanding of anyone alive. And I disagree with you on his characters. He MIGHT be just shy of George RR Martin with characters, but even if he is, he's still very, very good. I don't know if you've read the Stormlight archive, but if you haven't, you should.
Demetrios1453
Hero
LOL you can definitely say that. How many books has Martin published in the last decade, and how many has Sanderson?
Demetrios1453
Hero
The showrunner says he has an 8-season run outlined. And the good thing is that the third 25% of the books were noticeably drawn out, and could use some substantial trimming, so cutting down things down for them shouldn't be an issue.
(And beyond hoping it's received well enough to get all 8 seasons, hopefully it does well enough to get 10 episodes instead of 8 a season. That would help the pacing and condensing issues substantially...)
Mercurius
Legend
I started Stormlight and got about halfway through the first book, mostly enjoyed it, but didn't love it and, for reasons I can't remember, never went back to it. That's been the case with several of his books; the only one I finished was Elantris, way back when it came out. My impression of Sanderson--both from reading Elantris and parts of several other books--is that he is an excellent world-builder, but his characters and dialogue are more workmanlike; solid, but nothing special. Where he shines--in addition to his worldbuilding--is a rather astonishing work ethic, that has seen him churn out an uncanny number of books in a relatively short period of time.
Mercurius
Legend
And throw in Rothfuss, aka "Baby Martin." Name of the Wind in 2007, Wise Man's Fear in 2011, and a few odds and ends since, but no major publications (novels) in 10 years.
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