La spada della verità

So how is the Legend of the Seeker? What do people think so far? Looking at the comments we get a load of onestars from people saying it doesn't follow the books to the letter, people that can't understand how Goodkind could "sell his soul to Hollywood" (really... wow), and people that make untrue claims about inaccuracies in the TV-series apparently without having watched it themselves.

So is the Legend of the Seeker that awful? Nah, not really. It's a fun series, a bit heavy on the comedy on some occasions, and it's taken a while to get the story rolling, but its good fun to watch, beautiful scenery, good main actors that feel believable. It doesn't take itself too seriously and in my opinion, neither should the viewers.

In conclusion: The naysayers say, No! Horrible! Goodkind sells his soul to mammon! But I'm sure after an honest viewing without preconceptions most will agree that its a nice example of a good, old-fashioned fantasy story with all the sword slashing, magicking, and vanilla romance to make it a recurring theme in the rss-downloader.

Legend of the Seeker is action packed, there is romance, magic, stunning locations, great cast and movie quality special effects. This is the best show on TV. If it is given proper promotion and permanent time slot it will be a huge hit!!! So many people are just finding out about the show and are falling in love with it. I just happened to run across it one Saturday afternoon by chance during season 1 and was immediately hooked. It is now the only "must watch" on TV for me. I bought Season 1 as soon as it came out and have ordered Season 2. This show is epic and deserves to go on. I have read the books and love the series. I know it doesn't follow the books exactly, however I have yet to see ANY book brought to the screen (big or small) that does. I am not a fan of the so-called "reality" shows. I have enough reality in my own reality. Give me Fantasy and take me away for awhile. This show is perfect. We need to have Seasons 3,4,5...

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.

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.