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Sci Fi Channel Plans 'Earthsea' Miniseries
Gumpy writes "The Sci-Fi Channel has started producing a TV miniseries based on the first two books of Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea series. The Earthsea miniseries is supposed to start on the Sci Fi Channel in December 2004."
Ursula LeGuin's Magical World of Earthsea
Aren't SCI-Fi ever going to continue with the Riverworld books, or was the response to that too disapointing?
Why don't you embrace your slashbotness instead of living in a dreamworld?
I meant to watch The Lathe of Heaven when Sci-Fi aired that a few years back, but missed it, so I'm whether or not to have my hopes up or not. I was sort of impartial to their interpretation of Dune, but then again I only saw the first miniseries. A Wizard of Earthsea wasn't the most "dense" of LeGuinn's novels, so hopefully Sci-Fi won't be able to mangle it too bad. This should be sort of interesting to check out; I might be actually excited. Heh...
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Is it me, or did it just get fatter in here?
More than most fantasy, the Earthsea books spend time on internal character development. They can make you think. Their plots, frankly, are nothing to write home about - in my opinion, at least. Unless this is going to be an "adaptation" along the lines of Starship Troopers, I can't see it doing very well. But, who knows - I'd love to be wrong about that...
You're special forces then? That's great! I just love your olympics!
Not sure why. I like the Lathe of Heaven and think The Ones Who Walk Away from Oomlas is one of the best short stories ever written. If I had cable, I'd probably watch it out of curiosity. But since I don't ... oh well.
Anonymous Kev
Proudly posting as AC since 1997
(Finally got a dang account in 2004)
from this Feb. here.
Time to put the asbestous suit.
Hate to say it. It is likely to be a flop. Compared to Earthsea the Lord of the Rings is simple. I(very biased)MO this is the second most impossible movie after the Lord of Light. The reason is that you have both an extremely complex, logical and well described world along with a complex story line and complex characters.
I love the rings, but the rings characters are like cartoons compared to the Earthsea (or nearly any Ursula Le Guin book).
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The Wizard of Earthsea series is one of the most underread fantasy series I know of. It isn't the best fantasy out there (that's reserved for Paula Volsky -- try Illusion and see what you think), but it's very good, and very different from most fantasy.
I'd read the first book before anything else. I was kind of disappointed with The Tombs of Atuan book 2), which was very different from the first book. The third book was okay, but not as good as the first -- sort of the Dune syndrome.
The setting is different from most fantasy -- a bunch of islands, lots of emphasis on sailing around. There are not a lot of epic things going on -- there's lots of pragmatic, down-to-earth people.
May we never see th
Earthsea world is a fun world to game in despite the difficulties thrown in by the latter stories.
I wonder will they remake the lathe of heaven, and I'd love to see "The word for world is forest" or even "Rocannon's World"!
Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
Considering the uhmmm, "quality" of most SciFi Channel productions, I'm not exactly jumping up and down over this one. The Earthsea books aren't likely to translate well to TV even in the best of hands.
I'd love to see a big-screen version, though. I think there would be a better chance of getting it right in the larger format. Not because of "action" scenes or dramatic landscapes or any of the usual things people want to see in a movie, but because to do these books justice, you really would need to immerse the audience in the film in a way that isn't possible on a typical 29" screen.
The Earthsea series is one of the defining series of fantasy. It is a classic in every sense of he word. The Dragonlance series is mildly entertaining escapist fiction with stock characters and a predictable plot. A Dragonlance movie or series might be amusing, but it wouldn't be near as significant an event.
"The legitimate powers of government extend only to such acts as are injurious to others." Thomas Jefferson.
I'm not suggesting that the books are about to disappear. Nor am I implying that the TV series will be terrible. I have no idea how well the product will turn out, and the books will be as available after as they are before.
No, what I'm saying is that pretty soon this series will influence your view of things, whether you want it to or not. I'm seeing this with my nephews, who are reading Lord of the Rings directly after seeing the films. They're seeing the book as much more action-packed than I did, and I'm sure that this is due to expectation after watching the films.
So read them now, and then watch with interest. You're going to be influenced - can't help but be, but at least you'll have your own ideas in place beforehand.
Cheers,
Ian
Everytime I speed-read miniseries, it looks like miseries.
I think I preferred the low-budget version on PBS they aired in the 70's. It seemed to have more heart, plus I missed the aliens at the end.
They are wonderful novels, and I'd love to see them adapted but... so completely not suited for the SciFi style of miniseries making. They need almost nothing in the way of special effects, and a proper adaption would depend on really strong actors who can bring out the inner development. This is especially true of Tombs of Atuan, where a large part of the story involves the main characters wandering around underground.
It's truly a pity that the BBC never picked up an option -- that have been a perfect combination.
I'd personally rather see a DragonLance miniseries.
What a bizarre non-sequitur.
Earthsea is widely regarded as a classic, and not just within the genre. Dragonlance is somebody's D&D campaign written up with pedestrian prose, shallow characterisation and a corny plot.
Though I admit Ged doesn't roll nearly as many natural 20s as whoever those PCs were.
OK, Maybe it was originally a trilogy:
Wizard of Earthsea
Tombs of Autan
The Farthest Shore
But in 2001 Leguin published Tehanu. The earthsea trilogy is now called the Earthsea Cycle. Of all of The Earthsea cycle books, Tehanu really showcases LeGuin's political and feminist slants. (This is a good thing I believe). Tombs of Autan had some and the other two books required a little more digging to get into her philosophy.
If you want to read some great LeGuin I would reccomend: Always coming home and The Dispossessed. Both of these books are very thought provoking and well worth the time to read. There was an edition of Always coming home publihsed with a cassette tape of the music and poetry that was created by the societies described in the book. Wonderul stuff.
"Grain grows best in shit" Ursula K LeGuin
(Tinyurl links got to amazon Please use fewer 'junk' characters.
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-- The Doctor, "Doctor
Ever read George MacDonalds the "The Princess and the Goblin"?
This seminal work was read by both Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, and its impact on their work is clear. Especially the "I am not gonna explain Magic to you, dumbshit, it's Magic!" attitude they all share.
Written in the 19th century, it runs in the same vein as Alice and Kipling's works. The english is chewy at times, and can get down right sloggy.
Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
Heh. I agree with you.
I tried re-reading the Belgariad just recently, nearly twenty years after I initially read it.
I loved it when I was a pre-teen; now it just gets up my nose. All the twee repartee, the fantasy cliches piled on top of each other, the utter lack of anything approaching suspense in the plot... taken all together, the books are just unbearable.
I always thought the Miles Vorkorsigan books would make a fantastic miniseries. So much material to work from and a lot of blanks to fill in for new stories.
Space combat, political intrigue, charismatic lead character.. how can you go wrong?
Unless Disney got a hold of it, of course.
"I drank what?" - Socrates
If only we could discover the true NAME of the series, we could control how it turns out. Anyone?
What Would Sutekh Do?
Why can't they [SciFi] put the funds to good use, like co-financing the Beeb's revival of "Doctor Who" slated for 2005? SciFi would be a better outlet in the States for it than BBC America...and reach a larger potential audience since SciFi is a basic cable channel and BBC America is usually treated as something reserved for digital cable packages. Yep, load up 10 Spanish-speaking stations in basic cable, but make the Beeb a premium cultural channel. Nope, that's not discrimination at all! Damn you to hell, Comcast!
"Right now, somewhere in this world, Scott Baio is plowing a woman he doesn't love," - Peter Griffin, *Family Guy*
Escapist fiction is writing with no other pretense than to entertain. It's meant to distract you from your day to day existence. It doesn't attempt to address any issues; it doesn't attempt to teach any lessons; it has no theme or moral; it says absolutely nothing about the human condition. It's simply fun to read.
The Chronicles of Narnia are children's literature but they are most definitely literature. They address and examine a number of moral and ethical issues. Their purpose is to teach children WHILE they entertain, not just to while away some time.
"The legitimate powers of government extend only to such acts as are injurious to others." Thomas Jefferson.
Maybe in 25 years we'll get Harry Potter miniseries done by some sort of children's network, and the plots and characters won't feel like they're being crammed inside of three hours to cash in at the box office.
In 25 years, no one below the age of 30 will know what Harry Potter is. (Kid living with mean family discovers he has magic powers, secret history. It's been done better before, and it will be done better again. Don't get me wrong -- I liked [most of] the books -- but don't confuse them for something they aren't.)
hey, what a good idea! let's trash a book we've never read!
i heard that wizard of earthsea has a wizard in it that fights dragons! that sounds a lot like the hobbit! tolkien's estate should sue!
it's great that you recommend that parents have their children read earthsea; it's a great book that's perfect for readers from curious pre-teens to fantasy-minded adults. but rowling writes some fine fiction for children, and for you to discount it without reading it is pretty lame.
here's a tip--try not to be so pretentious.