Legend of the Seeker - Das Schwert der Wahrheit

Filming of Wizard's First Rule, the first book in Terry Goodkind's popular The Sword of Truth books began this week.

But the 22-episode series has been renamed Legend of the Seeker - apparently to avoid religious concerns among American audiences about scorcery.

Executive producers Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert told a comics and fantasy convention of the name change, and announced the New Zealand actors, Entertainment Weekly reported.

The syndicated series from Disney-ABC Domestic Television and ABC Studios, will premiere in the United States on the weekend of November 1. The series marks ABC Studios' first foray into broadcast syndication, and has already been sold into stations covering 95 percent of the American market, according to TV Week.com.

Each one hour episode will have a New Zealand director and the series will be shot in the Auckland region over 36 months. One of the episodes will be directed by New Zealand actor Michael Hurst who starred in the original Hercules TV series.

The series is based around a backwoods guide, Richard - played by Australian actor Craig Horner - in Westland, the only part of the world which contains no magic. While investigating the mysterious murder of his father he rescues a woman, Kahlan Amnell, (played by American actress Bridget Regan) who has crossed over from the "magic" side of the world, and does battle with an evil dictator.

Raimi said Australian actor Bruce Spence will play Richard's best friend Zedd, Jay Laga'aia will play a boundary warden Chase, and Craig Parker will play the series' villain, Darken Rahl.

Parker spent four years on Shortland Street after being cast as Guy Warner in 1992, and won international attention after being cast as Haldir, one of Lothlorien's elves in the first two parts of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Laga'aia played David Silesi in four series of the television drama Street Legal and Captain Typho, in two Star Wars films, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.

Tapert, who filmed Hercules and Xena, Warrior Princess in New Zealand and married his star, Lucy Lawless, in 1998 showed people at the convention a clip from the show's filming around Auckland.

I bought Wizard's First Rule the day it was released in 1994, simply because of the great cover art and my love for new, good fantasy books. What I got was my favorite fantasy series of all time, including Tolkien and Jordan. I am a published author myself, as well as having a profile on this website. I am an avid reader of classic literature since 1975, especially fantasy. So, written above, is my claim to believability.

This series is terrific. The camera work and ambiance is smooth and satisfying for the fantasy genre of swordplay, magic and high adventure on an epic scale. The story is changed a bit, especially the time line, but that is expected to keep it exciting and suspenseful for a TV audience, which it is. Can you imagine tuning into a show about a book you've never heard of and watching a woods guide walking around the forest for 2 hours? Of course not. It amazes me how many people complain about the series without doing a bit of research, making common errors. Terry Goodkind IS involved, intimately, with the story flow of the show and to keep his characters as close to his creations as possible, allowing only changes needed for TV adaption. You can read a letter about the series, directly from Terry to his readers, on his official website TerryGoodkind.com. It explains everything. Go read it to keep this review shorter after you've finished here.

Some people are comparing this series to the Lord of the Rings movies, and, in the same breath, complaining about the changes made for this TV series from the Wizard's First Rule book. Yeah, like they never had to cut anything out of LOTR movies. That book was only about the size of the bible. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE LOTR; books and movies. It's my second-favorite fantasy series of all time. The only reason I like Goodkind better is deeper characters more easily related to. As for the changes in the "Legend" series, as you will read in Terry's letter, they are mainly ADDITIONS to use up all the time they are afforded in a full TV series. People seem to be uninformed of this and are making snap judgments. Now, I don't know about you, but I can't think of anything better than watching my favorite book series in live action with even MORE content and background, from, and approved by, Terry himself. I'm beside myself with happiness at this and hope everyone tunes in and avoids the uninformed negativity, and that it runs for 11 seasons to tell the expanded stories of every single book in The Sword of Truth series.

Some are also comparing this to Hercules and Xena simply because some of the same people happen to be working on it. Hercules and Xena this is not. Those shows were entertaining in their own right. I enjoyed the episodes that I saw. However, they were mainly a bunch of campy, individual fantasy-based shows that happened to form a series. They were meant to be that way for people who enjoyed that type of show, and I don't fault them for that, at all. Legend of the Seeker is a continuing story of amazing vision, that of Terry Goodkind's first book, "Wizard's First Rule." If you enjoy epic fantasy, trust me, keep watching.

I hope you found this helpful.

...I'm actually really enjoying this series (as of episode 4). I started watching Legend of the Seeker knowing that I was signing up for extreme fantasy, and must say it's very entertaining. It is a huge call to pay off a story of this scale every week without looking embarrassingly cheap, especially with all the special effects required. To the show's credit, it embraces what it is and delivers an unusually high standard for television.

I find the action sequences gripping. They have put a lot of effort into stylizing the fights, and as someone who generally finds hand-to-hand a bit dull because it's all cut-cut-cut to hide inconsistencies and build pace, Legend of the Seeker has some wonderful stunt work and detailed action. The slow-mos are fantastic; it is great to see the detail and be able to understand the complexity of choreography instead of it being hidden under choppy editing.

I will agree that Craig Horner is almost too pretty for this role, but it compliments the style the directors have taken; just look at the effort that's been put into delivering beautiful cinematography. It is not surprising they have chosen to cast equally beautiful leads to give the show a holistically beautiful appeal. And let there be no doubt: this show's cinematography coupled with New Zealand's breathtaking topography makes for a very pretty show.

The angry and negative reactions of the book fans has been pretty overwhelming, and a bit disappointing to read. But on the bright side, this show has encouraged me to pick up the books. So it's not all lose/lose for fans of the books, as the show is garnering new readers for the novels.

OK here is the bottom line: Wizard's First Rule is a mature adventure filled with both intense violence and extreme sexual content. To put this miniseries on a channel other than HBO or other unedited station would be compromising the original drama and story line of WFR. If this show is put on a channel where it will not be able to show the Demmin Nass content, the sexual scenes between Richard and Kahlan, and the gore of the seeker's battles, then it should not be created in the first place. If you do not agree with what I am saying. then you obviously and sadly do not fully appreciate the artistic beauty of what Goodkind writes. A great deal of drama and feeling cannot be portrayed within WFR without the mature content. But then again, it will still never compare to actually reading the novel.

I loved this show, I catch is by chance on the CW this past Sunday (saw the third and forth episodes) and was instantly hooked. I missed having a great adventure, swords blazing, fantasy including and hero adoring show on TV. I immediately looked up the first two episodes that I missed online and watched them.

I loved the fire that lingers between Richard and Kahlan, the Confessor (I love that title/name). Zed is perfect, he adds that hint of humor while still maintaining his powerful presence. Now the action....it was great and captivating. I am a fan of taking bits of slow downed fighting snips within a fight that just make the scene grander (alla 300), and I adore me some sword play. I think people who liked Lord of the Rings, Zena, and just plain fantasy adventure stories will love this series.

I personally have read the books but never became an obsessed fan (I have enough obsessions) and I have been reading a lot of hating from fans of the book , saying that the show gets away from the books' story line and that Richard's character has been dumped down a little and he is also physically smaller. Both these things I do not have an issue with. I to thought he was stupid at times in the first two episode, but I think that they did that to show character progression and growth. He will learn in his journey (by the fourth he already seems much wiser). I like him smaller as well because is makes him a character to root for even harder, he may not look like a all menacing warrior ( alla Hercules) but don't underestimate him. He comes off more as a young man that destiny has chosen to become a hero but a hero that was bond to have a great destiny.

Although, as an obsessed fan of other books that have been adapted I understand the fans feelings, but I am also one that lets things go. When adaptations are not all I imagined, I take it as a separate thing. The show is just inspired by the novels and does plan on keeping the main story line. However, it is not a movie or a mini series but a TV series it will not follow the book to note and can not be expected too.

All and all I thought it was a great action adventure show to satisfy the fantasy lovers in all of us, just enjoy it. I recommend people to go watch and see if you'll loved it like I did. Additionally, Craig Horner and Bridget Regan are great eye candy and welding swords and kicking butts just makes them hotter.