I really liked the books, so I was very much looking forward to the series. Even after the first few episodes, I continued to try to give it a chance. I did my best to forget about the books and view the series on its own merits. But the sad fact of the matter is that the series just isn't very good.
As is so often the case in book adaptations, the screenwriters decided to completely dispose of major plot elements and substitute their own "vision." This can be a good thing, just look at The Expanse.
Here, though, it's mostly just sad and perhaps a bit pathetic.
Spoilers (for those who read the books):
In a pointless added subplot involving Moraine helping the red ajah and others bring Logain to the White Tower (and completely abandoning to their own devices the people she had just spent twenty years searching for, penniless people who had never been out of their small, isolated village), there was a bit of dialogue about how men who can channel can't see the weaves of female Aes Sedai and vice versa (which is true to the books). However, a few minutes later, Logain shielded his eyes from the brightness of a woman channeling. There are a couple of other scenes where it appears that people who shouldn't be able to see weaves, do. Do the showrunners not have access to continuity proof readers? Oh, and they added the Logain scenes instead of having Rand meet Min in Baerlon and Elayne, Elaida and Gawyn in Caemlyn and having Perrin meet Elyas. Major plot elements cut out for drek.
In the books, Mat was a trickster archetype, mischievous but with a code of honor. In the series, he's a low life thief who would look right at home in a trailer park inhabited solely by meth addicts.
In the books, it was abundantly clear that no one who didn't directly serve the dark one would intentionally do harm to an Aes Sedai. It wasn't just out of fear, but out of respect for the three oaths and the political influence of the White Tower. Even White Cloaks didn't dare hurt one. In the series, the White Cloaks burn Aes Sedai at the stake with impunity, and despite a scene in which a small group of Aes Sedai blow up an army, the Aes Sedai do nothing about it, directly, politically or otherwise.
In the books, the way gates were grown by Ogier using an artifact given to them by the male Aes Sedai during the Breaking (but before those men went completely mad). The gates looked like a wall of plants made of stone and could be opened by anyone who twisted the right leaf. In the series, Moraine asks Loial, an Ogier, to guide them through the Ways, showing that the series creators still intend to have the Ogier connected with the way gates. But the way gate looked like a pair of obelisks built by amateur masons, and Moraine opened it with the power. Ogier can't channel. Having them connected with way gates that require channeling to use is just dumb.
In the books, both the foretelling that started Moraine and the Amyrlin looking for the Dragon Reborn (which was something along the lines of "He is reborn! He is reborn at the foot of Dragon Mount! He lies in the snow and cries like the thunder! He burns like the sun!"), and the Prophecies of the Dragon were gender specific. This was rather crucial to the plot for a number of reasons, for example one of the big obstacles the Dragon Reborn faced was that everyone feared him because they believed he was doomed to eventually go mad and break the world again. This fear wouldn't apply to a woman, as women can channel without going insane.
I rather like the idea that Egwene could be the Dragon Reborn, but given the foretelling and the prophecies, Moraine thinking a woman (or anyone a few years older or younger than Mat/Rand/Perrin) was the Dragon Reborn doesn't really make any sense.
Thom doesn't play nearly as big of a role in the early part of the series as he did in the books. He didn't even get a chance to teach Rand to play the flute and Mat to juggle. But hey - we got a couple of silly Logain and Whitecloak scenes and a few additional characters who died before they could be developed, so who needs important characters like Thom, Min, Elyas, Elayne, Elaida and Gawyn? Also, even with a limited presence, I would have thought that they would have cast someone who can sing in the role of a bard. While on the subject of Thom - a guitar? Really?
One tiny thing that bothers me way more than it should is that I always pictured the Aes Sedai rings as simple, elegant circles shaped like a serpent eating its own tail. The ones in the series are gaudy baubles that look like something a ten year old might have bought at Claire's Boutique back in the 80's.
I don't even want to talk about what the series did to poor Perrin.
This has become more of a complaint than a review, so I'll stop now.
There are things that are well done. I love the way that channeling looks, and how the taint on the male half of the one power is portrayed. The fades are scary looking. Other than a Thom who can't sing and meth head Mat, the casting was well done. The huge number of spankings that occurred in the books have thankfully been removed. The Traveling Folk scenes were excellent, and the way of the leaf was explained better in the series than in the books.
But the dialogue, particularly in the parts the screenwriters made up, is mediocre at best and tedious at worst. So much of the plot from the books has been removed that what is left doesn't make a lot of sense. Modern swear words don't fit the setting. The scenery is rather low rent despite the big budget.
All in all, the series is a prime example of film makers doing what they seem to do best -- taking something loved by millions and then crapping all over it.
As is so often the case in book adaptations, the screenwriters decided to completely dispose of major plot elements and substitute their own "vision." This can be a good thing, just look at The Expanse.
Here, though, it's mostly just sad and perhaps a bit pathetic.
Spoilers (for those who read the books):
In a pointless added subplot involving Moraine helping the red ajah and others bring Logain to the White Tower (and completely abandoning to their own devices the people she had just spent twenty years searching for, penniless people who had never been out of their small, isolated village), there was a bit of dialogue about how men who can channel can't see the weaves of female Aes Sedai and vice versa (which is true to the books). However, a few minutes later, Logain shielded his eyes from the brightness of a woman channeling. There are a couple of other scenes where it appears that people who shouldn't be able to see weaves, do. Do the showrunners not have access to continuity proof readers? Oh, and they added the Logain scenes instead of having Rand meet Min in Baerlon and Elayne, Elaida and Gawyn in Caemlyn and having Perrin meet Elyas. Major plot elements cut out for drek.
In the books, Mat was a trickster archetype, mischievous but with a code of honor. In the series, he's a low life thief who would look right at home in a trailer park inhabited solely by meth addicts.
In the books, it was abundantly clear that no one who didn't directly serve the dark one would intentionally do harm to an Aes Sedai. It wasn't just out of fear, but out of respect for the three oaths and the political influence of the White Tower. Even White Cloaks didn't dare hurt one. In the series, the White Cloaks burn Aes Sedai at the stake with impunity, and despite a scene in which a small group of Aes Sedai blow up an army, the Aes Sedai do nothing about it, directly, politically or otherwise.
In the books, the way gates were grown by Ogier using an artifact given to them by the male Aes Sedai during the Breaking (but before those men went completely mad). The gates looked like a wall of plants made of stone and could be opened by anyone who twisted the right leaf. In the series, Moraine asks Loial, an Ogier, to guide them through the Ways, showing that the series creators still intend to have the Ogier connected with the way gates. But the way gate looked like a pair of obelisks built by amateur masons, and Moraine opened it with the power. Ogier can't channel. Having them connected with way gates that require channeling to use is just dumb.
In the books, both the foretelling that started Moraine and the Amyrlin looking for the Dragon Reborn (which was something along the lines of "He is reborn! He is reborn at the foot of Dragon Mount! He lies in the snow and cries like the thunder! He burns like the sun!"), and the Prophecies of the Dragon were gender specific. This was rather crucial to the plot for a number of reasons, for example one of the big obstacles the Dragon Reborn faced was that everyone feared him because they believed he was doomed to eventually go mad and break the world again. This fear wouldn't apply to a woman, as women can channel without going insane.
I rather like the idea that Egwene could be the Dragon Reborn, but given the foretelling and the prophecies, Moraine thinking a woman (or anyone a few years older or younger than Mat/Rand/Perrin) was the Dragon Reborn doesn't really make any sense.
Thom doesn't play nearly as big of a role in the early part of the series as he did in the books. He didn't even get a chance to teach Rand to play the flute and Mat to juggle. But hey - we got a couple of silly Logain and Whitecloak scenes and a few additional characters who died before they could be developed, so who needs important characters like Thom, Min, Elyas, Elayne, Elaida and Gawyn? Also, even with a limited presence, I would have thought that they would have cast someone who can sing in the role of a bard. While on the subject of Thom - a guitar? Really?
One tiny thing that bothers me way more than it should is that I always pictured the Aes Sedai rings as simple, elegant circles shaped like a serpent eating its own tail. The ones in the series are gaudy baubles that look like something a ten year old might have bought at Claire's Boutique back in the 80's.
I don't even want to talk about what the series did to poor Perrin.
This has become more of a complaint than a review, so I'll stop now.
There are things that are well done. I love the way that channeling looks, and how the taint on the male half of the one power is portrayed. The fades are scary looking. Other than a Thom who can't sing and meth head Mat, the casting was well done. The huge number of spankings that occurred in the books have thankfully been removed. The Traveling Folk scenes were excellent, and the way of the leaf was explained better in the series than in the books.
But the dialogue, particularly in the parts the screenwriters made up, is mediocre at best and tedious at worst. So much of the plot from the books has been removed that what is left doesn't make a lot of sense. Modern swear words don't fit the setting. The scenery is rather low rent despite the big budget.
All in all, the series is a prime example of film makers doing what they seem to do best -- taking something loved by millions and then crapping all over it.