The Shannara Chronicles • Non-Gaming • TV • Eurogamer.net

YenRug 13 Aug 2015 10:49:24 4,553 posts
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Surprisingly, coming from MTV, January 2016.

Never read the books, had always assumed they were just set in some standard fantasy world, hadn't realised it's a post-apocalypse Earth.

Nemesis 13 Aug 2015 11:03:24 20,312 posts
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Cool; elf stones!

The apocalypse is touched upon in sections of Sword, but not overly. It should be taken as a straight fantasy series IMO. The Genesis books (which I've not read) link Word & Void and Shannara together, which is neat.

Elf stones of Shannara is up there with some of the best fantasy books; bloody epic book even now.

Menace 6 Jan 2016 18:01:19 5,887 posts
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Halfway through the first episode.. ZZZzzzZzsnorefest.

Pretty young people that can't act. Np suspense, no drama. I'm a sucker for fantasy but alas this is not for me.

Goban 6 Jan 2016 18:07:34 10,121 posts
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Sounds like the books, enjoyed them when I was 14, in retrospect they're pretty juvenile.

frightlever 7 Jan 2016 11:04:19 1,524 posts
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I think it's okay. Saved by a sneering Manu Bennett for the most part. The dialogue is very dumbed down. It actually feels kinda old-fashioned.

Disclaimer: I do like a few of the CW shows and am looking forward to the return of "The 100".

AceGrace 7 Jan 2016 11:27:26 3,464 posts
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That reminds me. I wrote an adventure game for the speccy, amstrad and BBC B based on the first book using GAC.

wobbly_Bob 8 Jan 2016 18:41:20 5,162 posts
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The Elf Stones was the first fantasy book i ever read as a you a young teenager, loved it. It led me onto things like the Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, and beyond.

I haven't been too impressed with what i have read about the rv show and I'm afraid it's going to rape my childhood.

Edited by wobbly_Bob at 20:29:51 08-01-2016

oldskooldeano 12 Apr 2016 18:26:50 3,496 posts
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So is anybody watching this? It's become my guilty pleasure. I actually have a reason to change the channel to 5 Star!

It's no Game of Thrones by any stretch, but it's surprisingly gory in places and the FX budget just about covers the demons and magic that fill the screen from time to time.

The books were quite important at the time. When D&D was huge and it taught us that there was an alternative to Tolkien or Lord Dunsany Fantasy. It made Half-Elves an actual thing! I'm sure the characters informed many a players character sheet back in the day.

Plus it's got some of the hottest elves around!!

Give it a go if you don't mind a bit of good looking trash every now and then. Good advice for life generally actually. ;-)

frightlever 12 Apr 2016 19:08:04 1,524 posts
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riz23 wrote:

The books were quite important at the time. When D&D was huge and it taught us that there was an alternative to Tolkien or Lord Dunsany Fantasy. It made Half-Elves an actual thing! I'm sure the characters informed many a players character sheet back in the day.

The first book in the series basically WAS Lord of the Rings, and Tolkien also had Half-Elves, as did Dunsany before him and folklore before all of them.

As you'll see I was prepared to give the show a chance but it turned into a bucket of turds, with one group of characters being perpetually captured by another group of characters while a bunch of other dumb shit happened that didn't matter. Sorry, I should have put that in spoiler tags.

Looking forward to season two.

frightlever 12 Apr 2016 19:10:49 1,524 posts
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Also, Casualty is surprisingly gory and has some of the hottest scrubs around.

oldskooldeano 13 Apr 2016 03:09:06 3,496 posts
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My comment about half-elves was meant in that the Shannara books actually brought that to life, explained better what they were. I don't recall any in a Dunsany story and although of course Tolkien had the Peredhel (sp?), most famously of all, Elrond, they always seemed lofty and imperious, indistinguishable from other elven kindren. The Shannara half elf seemed more human if you get my meaning.
Anyway, nice snarky response, top marks.

frightlever 13 Apr 2016 10:13:36 1,524 posts
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It's a terrible show.

"The King of Elfland's Daughter" is, I believe, the first "modern" book to tackle human-elf hybrids, but no, not as a main character.

All Shannara characters are "human", even the elves, who are the only non-"human" characters, but they just act like more humans. It's human piled upon human, all the way down. Horses? Human. Are you sure you even read the books?

oldskooldeano 13 Apr 2016 10:25:02 3,496 posts
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@frightlever lets just leave it as you think it's a terrible show and avoid the personal attacks yeah? I don't really post here for those. Cheers.

Goban 13 Apr 2016 10:29:26 10,121 posts
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It is truly rubbish on so many levels, oddly enough I'm quite enjoying it.

nickthegun 13 Apr 2016 10:40:06 87,711 posts
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Yeah, it's weird. It's shit but I find the 'after the end' setting quite interesting (even if they aren't really making enough of it).

But, for fucks sake, I think boy elf has been drugged or knocked out cold in every episode. Sort your life out, son.

Also, when anyone says the name of the wizard guy, it makes me think of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Goban 13 Apr 2016 11:08:01 10,121 posts
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They're all pretty inept considering what's supposedly at stake.

nickthegun 13 Apr 2016 11:11:12 87,711 posts
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Yeah, they aren't exactly Gandalf, gimli, legolas and Aragon.

You've got hostage, dumbass, rapist and friendzoned with literally the only useful character poncing about in the castle or getting stabbed.

Goban 13 Apr 2016 11:14:41 10,121 posts
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I think that might be why I like it, a bunch of ill prepared numpties bumbling about. I'm assuming they'll get a bit more savvy as things progress, probably lose interest by that stage.

frightlever 14 Apr 2016 09:56:55 1,524 posts
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riz23 wrote:
@frightlever lets just leave it as you think it's a terrible show and avoid the personal attacks yeah? I don't really post here for those. Cheers.

As I said, I'm looking forward to the second season (in the unlikely event that it happens) because it's unintentionally hilarious. I'm not actually aware of me making any personal attacks against you. Perhaps you could point those out so I can avoid upsetting you in future. What I have done is point out that a show you like is tripe. That's a criticism of the show, and strongly implies you have terrible taste in television, but I wouldn't call it an attack.

If you do think that criticising your taste in TV shows is an attack, then I'm also going to have to call into question your ability to identify attacks. Which is also not an a personal attack. It's a jocular observation. Which you'd have realised, if you were better at recognising jokes.

I don't want to make a big deal about this, and you clearly have a lot of personal development to work on, so don't feel the need to reply.

frightlever 14 Apr 2016 09:57:24 1,524 posts
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nickthegun wrote:
You've got hostage, dumbass, rapist and friendzoned with literally the only useful character poncing about in the castle or getting stabbed.

That should be the IMDB description.