Plus: TV Shows Based Off Books
I absolutely LOVE watching shows and movies- when I'm doing mindless homework, I'd see if I could fit in a few Disney movies here or there, and during school breaks, I'd go through an entire season (like Merlin, my all-time favourite). At the time of writing this post, I only have 6 episodes left of the entire 9-season cartoon of Smurfs! After that...well, something new.
So, I figured, why not write a post on the topic of TV shows based off books?
This year there were two shows that started in January: The first one I watched was The Shannara Chronicles, a show I had (thankfully) accidentally stumbled upon, when I was too lazy to go upstairs and finish a chapter on Wattpad. The second is Shadowhunters, something I had actually known about for quite a long time, based off The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare (Judith Rumelt). I can't say I was looking forward to that show, not quite, but I did reread the books in honour of the television series. The last show I mentioned above: BBC's Merlin, even though it started years ago and ended years ago. It's super-loosely based off King Arthur, but since I loved it so much I can't help but mention it here :)
The Shannara Chronicles
The Shannara Chronicles is based off the books by Terry Brooks: The Sword of Shannara, etc. This show is more particularly based off The Elfstones of Shannara, and after reading a few reviews on Goodreads, I found out that the books were very similar in description and writing style to The Lord of the Rings (my all-time favourite, I might add). It's on my TBR, but I haven't gotten my hands on a copy. Yet.
The Shannara Chronicles centres around a few main characters and a plot: Wil, Princess Amberle Elessedil, and a rover girl named Eritria (while I do love these names, they are Really. Annoying. To. Spell.) In a few words, the Ellcrys tree is dying, and each leaf that falls off leads to one more demon. Then there's Allanon, the Chosen, and more depth to the plot- I know I'm doing a bad job of explaining, but you really have to watch it to find out.
I thought all the characters were pretty cool but at the same time it gave me that 'done before' feel...it wasn't cliché, not to that extent, but well enough that it was predictable- but since I have a love for all fantasy worlds, I loved it anyways. My mom, who was watching it with me, and never read any similar shows or fantasy books to The Shannara Chronicles, thought it was great :) BUT STILL PREDICTABLE.
What I loved: Costumes, characters, settings, casting choices.
What could have been done better: It's pretty predictable, and so far, there isn't a feature that I find outstanding or that makes it 'different'. Also, there's a palace for a reason. Don't make it so damn easy to break into.
I thought all the characters were pretty cool but at the same time it gave me that 'done before' feel...it wasn't cliché, not to that extent, but well enough that it was predictable- but since I have a love for all fantasy worlds, I loved it anyways. My mom, who was watching it with me, and never read any similar shows or fantasy books to The Shannara Chronicles, thought it was great :) BUT STILL PREDICTABLE.
What I loved: Costumes, characters, settings, casting choices.
What could have been done better: It's pretty predictable, and so far, there isn't a feature that I find outstanding or that makes it 'different'. Also, there's a palace for a reason. Don't make it so damn easy to break into.
From left to right: Amberle, Will, and Eritria.
Shadowhunters
Ughhh...I had such high hopes for Shadowhunters. I read the first two books before- but they didn't really capture my interest. It's not that I found City of Ashes bad, but it just wasn't spectacular enough for me to keep on reading. I had every intention too, honestly, but I got sidetracked with The Book Thief and really good Fan Fiction instead.
Shadowhunters is the same. It somewhat followed the books (at least, better than the movie did) but I didn't like the casting choices as much and there were certain points in each episode when I was like 'I'm wasting my time. Why am I watching this'. It was just that the show was boring. Nothing surprising or new happened in the episodes, and now at this point, I'm continuing on to Season 2 just because it's so bad that it's funny.
By the way, does anyone like the old covers better? Everyone's obsessing over the new covers for TMI, but is it just me who thinks the old ones were better? The illustrations were really cool- I love art on book covers rather than photographs.
Shadowhunters is the same. It somewhat followed the books (at least, better than the movie did) but I didn't like the casting choices as much and there were certain points in each episode when I was like 'I'm wasting my time. Why am I watching this'. It was just that the show was boring. Nothing surprising or new happened in the episodes, and now at this point, I'm continuing on to Season 2 just because it's so bad that it's funny.
By the way, does anyone like the old covers better? Everyone's obsessing over the new covers for TMI, but is it just me who thinks the old ones were better? The illustrations were really cool- I love art on book covers rather than photographs.
Merlin
MERLIN DESERVES SPECIAL ATTENTION. Like honestly Sherlock and Doctor Who are super popular (I see why) but I find Merlin amazing, and not as many people know about. It's medieval, Merlin and Arthur are really funny, Morgana is like my FAVOURITE even though she's an antagonist, and basically all things awesome. I started watching this in fourth grade. I still love it.
The television show for Merlin is pretty far off from the books, but I don't mind, because it's unique and I don't know what would happen :D
Conclusion
The television show for Merlin is pretty far off from the books, but I don't mind, because it's unique and I don't know what would happen :D
Pfffttt.....I thought you were better than this. WHY ARE YOU STILL READING GO WATCH MERLIN RIGHT NOW.
I really loved The Elfstones of Shannara book (It's the only Shannara Chronicles book I could get in to), it's actually quite a scary book, which is why I loved it so much.
ReplyDeleteI've only watched a few of the episodes of the TV show (Which was filmed in New Zealand by the way and has quite a few NZ actors, wooo!) so far and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. I wish it were scarier to be honest, I wish Wil wasn't so naive and I'm not a fan of the romance aspect.
I hated the Mortal Instrument series so much, it was incredibly painful for me to read. I found it really boring and hated most of the charters to be honest. But I actually enjoyed The City of Bones movie, it was okay. Shadowhunters though? Wow. So cheesy, cliche and boring... Clary? So fast to trust! And there is absolutely ZERO chemistry between her and Jace. Which is a shame because the actor who plays Jace is pretty cute. However, Jace as a character in the show is incredibly annoying. I was disappointed as well! I was hoping the TV show would put a spin on the story and make it interesting.
Jordon @ Simply Adrift
Haha then that's all the more reason to read the book! And New Zealand thanks for that info- since The Lord of the Rings movies were filmed in NZ that makes me feel happier :)
DeleteI love Merlin too! It is a great TV show. I was so sad at the ending though! I never expected that to happen! But when I read more about Arthurian legends online, I realised the BBC kept to the real ending. I didn't know that! But anyways, I agree with you 100% - Merlin is the best. So, the Shadowhunter series isn't worth it? I was kind of skeptical about the new casting, since Clary doesn't seem like Clary (Lily Collins was better). Hm, I might only watch it for the Malec scenes. What do you suggest?
ReplyDeleteCloe @ <a href="http://morningsandepilogues.blogspot.hk/>Mornings and Epilogues</a>
Yesssss Merlin!!! I cried a bunch of times in the ending (little emotional 10-year-old me) but I just LOVE when movies or shows stay true to the actual story- although Disney's Into the Woods didn't have such a great rating, I thought it was amazing because they followed the story through with the more gruesome parts.
DeleteAs for Shadowhunters, it wasn't really worth it and I wasn't that fond of the casting choice either. The Malec scenes were okay, but not amazing or worth my time over.
If/when you watch it, I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Hi Anna, thanks for following me. Love your blog!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, and thanks!
DeleteI still haven't read or watched The Shannara Chronicles yet, but it looks good. As far as the Shadowhunters show goes, I'm still up in the air on that one. I watched the first few episodes, but I haven't gone back yet because I was a bit underwhelmed. I agree with you on that one, my hopes were really high for it. :/
ReplyDeleteOh, you SHOULD watch The Shannara Chronicles. Reminds me a bit of Lord of the Rings, which is great because after the last Hobbit movie, I was devastated since it was the last one. And Shadowhunters is pretty dull, especially the first few episodes :(
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