Steven Mather

I am old enough to have started reading 'The Wheel of Time' since the release of the first book. I started watching the series and only watched the first two episodes. First, it's no secret that any Hollywood scripted version of a novel - fiction or non-fiction as in documentary - will on rare occasion eclipse the book, but the vast majority don't. It's a matter of translation and commercialization. I can produce a better movie in my head than Hollywood can ever produce on (was going to say film, but it's the digital age). Anyway, back to the review. Reading any further may be a spoiler, so sorry. After 14 thick novels that all started out with the same words about the wheel of time, Robert Jordan did the damnedest thing, he went and died without finishing the - what is a trilogy times 5? - hopefully last one. I say hopefully, because while the series was great fantasy it became very apparent that Robert Jordan was more than just a misogynist, he was a closet rapist/serial killer/etc. of women. I'm a man and it became very apparent that he spent a lot of time envisioning ways to hurt females. Now, since it appears that the series - so far - is getting great reviews I may watch it and hope that Hollywood does what it does best; spit out a film adaptation of a book and completely misses the mark. Let me refer you to any adaptation of a Stephen King novel, or better yet, the off the charts enthusiasm for HBO's version of George R. R. Martin's 'Game of Thrones' series. It is quite obvious that the popcorn munchin' cable streamers never read a single book of the series. What is on paper is an incredible tapestry of writing. What was on the TV screen was so anemic it wasn't worth watching. I'm hoping they did the same with 'Wheel of Time', because while it was great reading at the time, there is no way they can capture that much with 1's and 0's. For that alone, at this point, I can only give it 3 stars, but may be surprised. If you are really into Fantasy I suggest reading 'The Chronicles of Tomas Covenant'.