Holy crap. Elfstones of Shannara coming to TV. MTV that is.

Jag · Post by **Jag** » Fri Dec 06, 2013 6:21 pm

Very strange, but I loved the series when I was a kid.

Why Shannara on MTV is a good thing

Dear Readers,

You cannot imagine how difficult it has been waiting for this morning’s announcement about the endeavor to turn the Shannara books into a TV series, starting with Elfstones of Shannara. Really, it has been very hard not to talk about it. I’ve known about the particulars of this effort for some time. I’m very excited about Miles Millar and Al Gough writing and Jon Favreau directing. I am also very excited about MTV’s strong passion for the project and I am very confident they will be a great home for it.

Apparently Sword of Shannara was too LOTR like (no kidding) and didn't have enough female leads.

bb2112 · Post by **bb2112** » Fri Dec 06, 2013 6:37 pm

Jag wrote:Very strange, but I loved the series when I was a kid.

Why Shannara on MTV is a good thing

Dear Readers,

You cannot imagine how difficult it has been waiting for this morning’s announcement about the endeavor to turn the Shannara books into a TV series, starting with Elfstones of Shannara. Really, it has been very hard not to talk about it. I’ve known about the particulars of this effort for some time. I’m very excited about Miles Millar and Al Gough writing and Jon Favreau directing. I am also very excited about MTV’s strong passion for the project and I am very confident they will be a great home for it.
Apparently Sword of Shannara was too LOTR like (no kidding) and didn't have enough female leads.

Although I like the idea, I am skeptical about MTV being the right vehicle. I also wish they would have started with Sword of Shannara. It is the better story.

TheMix · Post by **TheMix** » Fri Dec 06, 2013 6:59 pm

bb2112 wrote:Although I like the idea, I am skeptical about MTV being the right vehicle. I also wish they would have started with Sword of Shannara. It is the better story.

This. I agree with all points.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Fri Dec 06, 2013 7:01 pm

I thought Sword was the worst of the series. It was dull, heartless, and almost made me stop reading the series.

TheMix · Post by **TheMix** » Fri Dec 06, 2013 7:14 pm

Hmmm... wonder if it depends on when you read them (i.e. how old you were).

I guess Sword is probably the most memorable for me because of the weapons master. I loved the idea of the final fight. The rest of the book is pretty blurry. But then so are the others...

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Fri Dec 06, 2013 7:21 pm

I read it when I was 17, at a time when I thought Dragonlance was the height of fantasy literature. The problems I had with it were first, that it was Lord of the Rings, an almost chapter-by-chapter recreation of it. Second, nothing in it made me care about characters. I get attached to characters. He killed one partway through the book, and I didn't care in the least. They were so flat that I never felt connection to any of them.

After Sword, though, Brooks started writing his own books, and the series got pretty good.

DD* · Post by DD* » Fri Dec 06, 2013 7:23 pm

Gym-Tan-Elfstones FTW!

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Fri Dec 06, 2013 7:25 pm

Sword of Shannara was the first book I ever threw at a wall. I was disgusted by the blatant ripoffiness of it.

Of course I was 13 at the time and felt these things too deeply. I probably bonfired my copy. I don't think I ever forgave the Brothers Hildebrandt either.

Jag · Post by **Jag** » Fri Dec 06, 2013 8:11 pm

DD* wrote:Gym Tan Elfstones FTW!

I had a little pouch of dragon dice that I pretended were my Elfstones. I was such a geek

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Fri Dec 06, 2013 8:21 pm

I enjoyed Sword of Shannara, but I recognize the whole LotR thing. Elfstones was fun too as I recall.

With Jon Favreau writing, I think the concerns about MTV are overblown. MTV is looking for their Breaking Bad/Mad Men series...

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Fri Dec 06, 2013 9:59 pm

bb2112 wrote:Although I like the idea, I am skeptical about MTV being the right vehicle. I also wish they would have started with Sword of Shannara. It is the better story.

We already have Lord of the Rings...why would we need it again?

Redfive · Post by **Redfive** » Fri Dec 06, 2013 10:27 pm

I liked Sword even if it was a bit of a ripoff. Nothing was more of a LotR ripoff than the Silver Call duology by Dennis McTiernan.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Fri Dec 06, 2013 10:31 pm

I wonder if they'll use a live audience or just go with canned laughter? Personally I think laugh tracks rarely work well.

TheMix · Post by **TheMix** » Fri Dec 06, 2013 10:41 pm

Redfive wrote:I liked Sword even if it was a bit of a ripoff. Nothing was more of a LotR ripoff than the Silver Call duology by Dennis McTiernan.

I was trying to remember the name (without going and checking my books). But, yeah, if you want a ... tribute... to LotR, that's the one that comes to mind. I actually don't even recall Sword being a ripoff. But it's also possible that I read it first. I do have the urge now to dig it out and see what's what.

The thing to realize about Silver Call, though, is that it's not exactly a ripoff. At least not in the usual sense. He intentionally wrote it as a tribute. The forward in the book explicitly states that (at least my copy). When I think "ripoff", I think of someone who takes someone else's ideas, etc., and then tries to pretend that they didn't. <cough>Vanilla Ice</cough>

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri Dec 06, 2013 11:13 pm

Reading Sword after reading LotR made me sure to not pick up another book. Perhaps I was done a disservice in my order choice there, but there it is.

And it's MTV. Can we expect some of the characters to be played by teen mothers?

sgoldj · Post by **sgoldj** » Sat Dec 07, 2013 12:37 am

I agree about being too Lord of the Rings. Maybe they will emphasize the future aspect of Shannara.

I wish someone would do the first couple of Landover books instead. That would have Fantasy and be different enough.

Jag · Post by **Jag** » Sat Dec 07, 2013 11:51 am

According to the full press release '

If MTV likes the script, it is expected to give the project a straight-to-series order. Shannara reunites Gough and Millar with Daniels, who developed and put Smallville on the air while she was entertainment president at the WB. “I am thrilled to be working with the Smallville creators Al and Miles again along with the amazingly talented Jon Favreau,” Daniels said. “We feel that the Shannara novels are a perfect fit for MTV as this type of fantasy genre has continuously proved to resonate with our audience.”

Shannara is set in our world, thousands of years after the destruction of our civilization. The story is centered on the Shannara family, whose descendants are empowered with ancient magic and whose adventures continuously reshape the future of the world. The first season of the potential series will be based on The Elfstones Of Shannara, the second title in the series — a fan favorite accredited with cementing the series place in the fantasy world. The book series features plenty of young-adult adventure and romance to suit MTV’s target demographic. Shannara also would be compatible with MTV’s only successful drama series so far, Teen Wolf, which also has supernatural elements.

I didn't know this, which I found surprising.

Brooks is the second-biggest-selling living fantasy book writer, after Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, with the Shannara books estimated to be the highest-selling fantasy book series in the world that is yet to get a screen adaptation. The first book in the series came out in 1977, the two most recent were published this year, and two more are scheduled for 2014. “The adaptation of these books is very important to me, and I believe we are on the right track in our endeavor to create an epic television series that both new and old fans of the books will love,” Brooks said.

I'm guessing it's going to be like the Sword of Truth series which had two amazingly gorgeous women on it.

sgoldj · Post by **sgoldj** » Sat Dec 07, 2013 1:21 pm

A long time ago, before the web when we were on service like GEnie, Terry Brooks took part in a round table discussion about his Shannara Books. I think this was after Landover got started,but long before the Nest Freeman books. I asked if Shannara took place in the past or future since I thought the early books were ambiguous on that point. I sort of thought they were future, but he refused to answer back then. I remember asking what was his intent and him telling me intent was a legal term and he is no longer did legal stuff.

Jag · Post by **Jag** » Sat Dec 07, 2013 3:44 pm

I always thought it was pretty clear that it was a future world of ours. I don't remember why, but there were indications.

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Sat Dec 07, 2013 3:45 pm

The robots and skyscraper ruins

sgoldj · Post by **sgoldj** » Sun Dec 08, 2013 3:54 pm

IceBear wrote:The robots and skyscraper ruins

I was like 17 when I read the Sword and Elfstones. So I remember thinking ancient civilization? Lemuria? Atlantis?

Says more about my reading habits and my perceptions at the time.

DD* · Post by DD* » Sun Dec 08, 2013 7:10 pm

Definitely future - has something of a "Dark Tower" vibe, especially in the latter books.

JonathanStrange · Post by **JonathanStrange** » Mon Jul 06, 2015 9:36 pm

APPEARS this month, The Shannara Chronicles (based on bk 2, The Elfstones of Shannara) will finally premiere.

I read the The Sword of Shannara Trilogy ages ago [in the Lost Years when I was a feral bookworm] but I wasn't a big fan - although later, I did enjoy Brooks' other Shannara-related series (especially 'The Word And The Void Trilogy' and 'The Genesis of Shannara Trilogy' - both trilogies being pre-Shannara background).

So, anticipating the MTV series debut, I re-read The Sword of Shannara and Elfstones. I still feel Brooks' is a bit wordy (too much trivial detail) and derivative but the books were interesting reads regardless.

I'm surprised how little I really remembered from my earlier reading of either book - I only had a faint recollection of much of the plot. Aside from recalling how many Tolkien parallels there were and the opening scene wherein that major jerk Allanon introduces himself to Flick (iirc) - it was all new to me.

Anyhow, I hope the tv series doesn't disappoint completely.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 2:00 am

Isgrimnur wrote:Reading Sword after reading LotR made me sure to not pick up another book. Perhaps I was done a disservice in my order choice there, but there it is.

And it's MTV. Can we expect some of the characters to be played by teen mothers?

Real Elves: Shannara

tru1cy · Post by **tru1cy** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 6:26 am

If it's out this month they haven't shown any trailers which can't be good as they have been spamming trailers of their Scream reboot since late April

DD* · Post by DD* » Tue Jul 07, 2015 8:17 am

I am willing to be surprised, but I predict disaster.

Hamlet3145 · Post by **Hamlet3145** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 10:50 am

Um. Look who they cast as Allanon:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1051220/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_3

Guess that's one way not to confuse him with Gandalf.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 10:58 am

I look forward to him counseling friends and family about a major character's drinking problem.

Jag · Post by **Jag** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 11:48 am

Isgrimnur wrote:I look forward to him counseling friends and family about a major character's drinking problem.

I think he's going to stab Wil Ohmsford and say "Sorry kid".

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 11:49 am

I don't get it.

Jag · Post by **Jag** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 11:51 am

Isgrimnur wrote:I don't get it.

I figured you for an Arrow watcher. Manu Bennet is a major character.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 11:53 am

Ah. I'm like eight episodes into season 1, and it's been a couple months since that.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 12:09 pm

Jag wrote:
and Jon Favreau directing.

From the original post, Is Favreau still attached to the project? He's pretty good, although the source material in this case is questionable.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 12:41 pm

IMDB lists him as EP for the pilot.

IGN

However, scheduling conflicts have taken Favreau out of the director's chair and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Jonathan Liebesman will be directing the first two episodes - and then staying aboard with an executive producer credit.

Favreau will still remain on as an executive producer.

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 1:18 pm

hepcat wrote:I wonder if they'll use a live audience or just go with canned laughter? Personally I think laugh tracks rarely work well.

I wonder how they will work kicking someone off the show every week and how they will manage to put pregnant teenage moms in it.

DD* · Post by DD* » Tue Jul 07, 2015 2:07 pm

Road Rules in Eastland is going to rock. Can you say emo Gnomes? Winar!

Redfive · Post by **Redfive** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 2:43 pm

Jag wrote:
Isgrimnur wrote:I look forward to him counseling friends and family about a major character's drinking problem.
I think he's going to stab Wil Ohmsford and say "Sorry kid".

Never watched Arrow. I figured he'd see a troll and say 'Jupiter's C*ck those guys are big'

Jag · Post by **Jag** » Fri Jul 10, 2015 5:43 pm

First trailer released for Comic-Con. Man it looks good.

Redfive · Post by **Redfive** » Fri Jul 10, 2015 6:33 pm

Jag wrote:First trailer released for Comic-Con. Man it looks good.

Wow.

What a pleasant surprise. Fantasy IMO is hard to pull off without being totally cheesy and that trailer looked great.

DD* · Post by DD* » Fri Jul 10, 2015 10:14 pm

Piqued my interest - I like how they incorporated old world relics in the scenery. Not sure about the "metal lightsaber" sword though. Definitely on my radar now...