The Shannara series is officially coming to TV! MTV has picked up a full 10-episode season based on Terry Brooks’ 1983 classic, The Elfstones of Shannara. Miles Millar and Al Gough are writing the show, and Terry Brooks took to his site to praise their adaptation, saying that he “really couldn’t be happier with how it’s all coming together, and I am very much involved in the process.” Jon Favreau, who was initially slated to direct, is staying on as executive producer. The first two episodes will now be directed by Jonathan Liebesman, currently in post-production on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. We look forward to the day when we complain that “MTV doesn’t even play epic fantasy series anymore, man.”
Thank goodness they are doing Elfstones and not Sword. But I still wonder how well this will be received. Fantasy has evolved a lot since those novels. Indeed, both Jordan and GRRM rose to prominence because their works were a reaction (in different ways) to the fantasy of the 80s.
I hope it captures the feel of the book, Elfstones is still one of my favorite fantasy novels so I’ll watch it
Sorry I’m having a BSOD on “MTV”. I just… what?
Well, here’s hoping it’s good. I think I remember reading those books way back when.
Elfstones was my introduction to Shannara, and I think is still far and away the best and most creative of Terry Brooks. So…cool!
I haven’t read it in years, but it was always far and away my favorite of the Shannara books. I hope the adaptation does it justice.
I actually haven’t read them yet, although they’ve been on my list for years. Maybe things will come full circle and they’ll now be considered subversive of the established tropes ;)
Oh man. I loved Elfstones. As others have said, the best book in the series.
Brooks is kind of charmingly hokey these days, and his character names are terrible. But his stories do have an interesting ethos. He’s gotten more ruthless about his characters as time wears on, but not in a cynical way; instead, self-sacrifice is sometimes simply the price to doing the right thing. Power and heroism both always have costs.
Love those early books. My fav was “The Druid of Shannara”
Odly enough I read that one first then whent back to “First King”
I for one Can not wait to see how the screenplay works out. Keep us all updated Please!
Druid was second in a four-part series in the late 80s and early 90s. First King came after that series in 1996. It’s only “back” in the sense that it takes place earlier. It was written and published later.
Very excited about this. can’t wait to see it.
@9
Druid was an early book? Get off my lawn, you young whippersnapper.
Terrier for many years. Would love to see amazing things for this series. I literally had a book report due when I picked up S0S in 1988 as my
first introduction to Terry Brooks in high school. Liked the artwork,
so I took it home. Couldn’t put it down. I remember reading Elfstones in 1989 and thought it was just the most amazing thing I had ever read. Over the years I grabbed everything I could get my hands on as a young adult. I found out quickly that there were other books by Terry (Heritage series) and Wishsong. After a few years of plowing through all his available material I finally had an opportunity to attend an event in Las Vegas with Terry. Wound up spending the weekend shooting photos and talking to Judine. Since then, Terry & I have become friends, and when he’s in the area, it’s always nice to hear from him.
Point being, Terry is every bit as cool in real life as his books are. He’s an amazing guy and obviously an amazing writer. I would hate to see any Shannara book treated like Xena or Hercules on the screen. The stories are dark, and characters need enough emotional latitude to hold you to the screen. (ex. series LOST)
I’m not half as excited in a TV series as I would be a big-budget film. Although I like the idea of developing the story and arc over a longer period of time. Terry’s books are so full of “other-worldly” imagery, that it will be extremely tempting to either leave out all the nuances, or bury them in frosting. I can only tell MTV to take a lesson from Star Wars… the originals versus the new movies. You don’t need tons of CGI to make a good story. You need solid writing, solid acting, solid music, and locations that let your imagination run wild. If MTV can make us fall in love with the characters, they’ll likely be able to skimp on some of the details. Emma Watson for Amberle. That’s my take.
Are you crazy?!? The Changeling in the Reaper are really cool names and characters, just like the Dagda Mor… reread it again lol I can’t wait to see what they’re gonna do with the Changeling. I started on Elfstones, too :-) and then the Sword and everything after, I’m up to the Jerle series in hardback for now
I picked up the Ohmsfords in high school, mid-’80’s, and stayed caught up, as fast as Mr. Brooks could turn a book out.
I’ve enjoyed all of his stories… frankly, I never saw Sword as being all that derivative of Tolkien, just more as fitting the fantasy genre. Perhaps playing a definitive role in that; even with Sword, there are themes that I felt made it (and the writer) one of a kind.
I also feel that the big screen might give the Shannara franchise more justice, but let’s face it: if successful, there’s nearly unlimited source material there to be worked into the show.
Elfstones is a great place to start, and I truly hope they give the series the diligence that Terry has to his fans.
Like many posters have said, skipping Sword entirely is the first good decision these writers have made. Even if it’s fun-derivative rather than gag-worthy-derivative, that is just not going to work onscreen. Elfstones is original and scary, and the Ellcrys is, hands down, Brooks’ best concept ever (though I wonder how GoT fans will take it when they realized that the weirwoods are all really obvious homages to the Ellcrys–will they assume MTV is the derivative one?) I think the other absolutely essential element they need is a great art director. This could still feel like old news if the world looks like Middle-Earth, or if it isn’t absolutely clear that Brooks’ Elves are very different from Tolkien’s Elves. If we could just get a really creative Arborlon that doesn’t look like a Rivendell ripoff, we might be able to get somewhere. Throwing in some hints from Sword that the world is postapocalyptic might be a nice disambiguation touch too.
@@@@@ MutantAlbinoCrocodile 16: I don’t really buy any weirwoods=Ellcrys connection. Yes, they have special powers, but they aren’t holding back an army of cosmic horrors. I always thought they came from the various german pagan cultures who revered trees.
As for postapocalyptic, I always imagined the Bloodfire place as being some kind of old bunker, what with the glass doors and such, so hopefully that will still be in there.
Um, Sword is definitely derivative of LOTR. I’m pretty sure Terry Brooks has admitted this himself. It’s what the publisher was asking him for–airport novel LOTR. In its trappings and its plot points, it’s pretty obvious.
The main difference is the interpretation of heroism. In Tolkien the goals and the sacrifices are clear from the start. Frodo knows what he must do and that it is going to be nearly impossible; his trials are primarily spiritual. The Ohmsfords are generally in the dark about the true nature of their quests, or what sacrifices they are going to have to make. That was there from the first.
So when’s there going to be a Magic Kingdom For Sale: Sold series? That’s what I’d like to see. :)
This was the first book I ever bought, however, I was a tad too young to be able to read a book of this size (I think I was 7) and the bit in the 2nd chapter where everyone gets murdered put me off (the delicate child I was back then). I even remember pretending that no one had actually been killed.
Perhaps 32 years later I should read it.
I tried to start the series three times with Sword because it was given to me as a gift. I will take everyone’s advice to skip to Elfstones.
what 2 characters from the book are not going to be in the series?