The Shannara Chronicles Review

i watched S1 just to see what the hell it would be like. i never read the books and i am glad i did not because, from what i have been told, i'd be really pissed about the tv show!

to me the books sound interesting, i have been told, here, that the series does not resemble the books, even though Brooks stands by the show

i am sure it is in his contract to do so

the reason the books are intriguing to me,and maybe i will read them sometime-is because it seems that Brooks is not merely 'copying' ideas from Tolkien but that his world exists in our future and could easily fit into the whole theme of Tolkien's elves having been "in hiding" during the age of man

so, Brooks' work, could be seen as an extension of Tolkien's though I believe that was not his intention

The first book he wrote, The Sword of Shannara, was his version of LOTR basically. He fobs it off as being an homage of sorts because the similarities are obvious as hell and he has no choice but to admit it. The following books in the first trilogy deviate a little bit from the LOTR meme but they are still very "sword & sorcery" in terms of style. They are nothing like the TV show, which supposedly is based on that first trilogy. (If you like LOTR type books the first Shannara trilogy is worth a read.)

The TV show is a complete cock-up though. The only thing recognizable from the books within the TV show are the names of characters and places they travel to, that's it. How the characters act and the way the story plays out is nothing like in the books. And worse, the characters aren't likable. It's tedious to watch them move from scene to scene, spouting inane dialogue that is devoid of substance. (The scenes with Cogline and Eritrea are particularly bad in this regard. They are completely worthless in terms of advancing the story. The two characters repeatedly have short, extremely vapid conversations that amount to nothing. It's obvious that the writers just decided that they needed the two characters in the same scenes to burn up screen time.)

I can't help but see similarities between Shannara and STD in the way they are both playing out. Shannara started out heavily flawed, just like STD, and was heavily shilled, just like STD. Anyone criticizing the first season of Shannara was shouted down by the paid shills and fanbois, just like is happening with STD right now. But it's obvious that the Shannara folks couldn't keep up the pretense as proven by the failure of season 2. Granted, STD has a much bigger "machine" behind its promotion but still, I don't see it doing well come season 2. The story and characters are too repugnant to be redeemed and viewers know that.

The only thing it has going for STD at this point is the fact that it's not being televised on a ratings-based service. It's surviving solely because the ratings tabulation for streaming services are in their infancy and are heavily flawed and malleable. Once a more accurate way of tabulating ratings for streaming services becomes the industry standard then shows like STD will die a much quicker death.
 

YJ02

Well Known GateFan
The Sword of Shannara, was his version of LOTR basically

i was thinking more in total of all of tolkien's stuff, like the SIMARILLION and in the PEOPLES OF MIDDLE EARTH (both completed /assembled by his son from his notes and unfinished stuff) where it is basically alluded to that the elves were too always be in this world, but hidden and would remain so until the 'final battle' too take place of the age of man.

yes. his world is just a re-imaging of our world but includes geologic change --so 'middle earth', valinor and the outer sea have been reshaped over time.

a lot of ppl think that LOTR's /Tolkien's world is another place like in GOT, but it is supposed to be Earth, just a diff evolution

this shannara story--the book--could fit in roughly to that scheme, but in our future instead of our past
 
Interesting that you seem to care enough about the show to visit the reddit forum. ;)

So I should just comment on something without researching it first? That may be how they do things over in Europistan there buddy, but we do things differently here in the good ol's You-Ess-of-Aay!

Seriously though, I've only checked out the Reddit forum twice -- once for the first season and now to see what is going on with the second season. The difference was shocking really. It just goes to prove how badly paid shills infect that place.
 

Lord Ba'al

Well Known GateFan
Perhaps I should check out the second season for myself some day.
 

YJ02

Well Known GateFan
Interesting that you seem to care enough about the show to visit the reddit forum. ;)
well
i could give 2 shits less about STD, yet i read news stories on it, watch YT critic vids and come to the thread here on it

its that whole 'train wreck' thing
 
I only watched a handful of eps of episode 1 then left it on the backburner but sounds like I made the right choice of just plain forgettin to watch it .
;)

It's really, really, really bad. Seriously, it's painful to watch. The writing is terrible. The acting is terrible. The production is terrible. It's so terrible that it's not even fun to mock, that's how bad it is.

One example of how bad it is came when they ordered the execution of the Queen of Leah. (Leah doesn't have a queen btw.) The bad guy orders every citizen of Leah, a HUGE kingdom, to be in attendance at the execution. When they get to that scene though there is only about twelve people standing there, that's it. And a good chunk of those people are bad guys, not citizens of Leah. The producers didn't even bother to make the scene match what the writers had written. That's just one example, out of countless others, of just how bad this show is.

The one thing they did in the second season is tone down the bed-hopping and overt sex. I honestly don't know why they bothered because they didn't bother fixing anything else in the show.

*Manu Bennett is the only good thing about this show. He is perfectly cast as Allanon. It's a shame he's being wasted in such a lousy vehicle.
 
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Okay, I think this show is over for good. I watched the final episode out of curiosity. It was incredibly bad, and not in an entertaining way. They actually had the balls to leave it with a possibility for another season but I think the lousy ratings will prevent that from happening. This ratings chart is shocking. The %million change from season 1 to season two is -72.37. That's how much viewership dropped between seasons. And the season 2 average for viewers was a paltry 0.246.

https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/shannara-chronicles-season-two-ratings/

Ultimately it's just really, really sad. The writers raped and perverted the books and gave us a story that was complete gibberish and didn't make sense. Then they got defensive and mocked the book fans and basically told us to get lost, so we did, and here is the result. Again, it's just sad. They could have made a really cool show if they had just followed the books more closely. But now we'll never know because I can't see anyone bankrolling another attempt at bringing Shannara back to the screen.

*One thing that bugs me is how when Will stabbed the Warlock Lord with the sword of Shannara the evil druid disintegrated. But when his father, Shea, originally stabbed the Warlock Lord it left his skull and heart intact. That makes no sense. Also, they showed the Warlock Lord suddenly had a book in his hands when he got to Heaven's Well (the Illdytch?) but then it disappeared a moment later. Where did it come from? Where did it go? He wasn't carrying a purse or a backpack or anything. Did he pull it from his ass the way the writers pulled this story from their asses? I guess we'll never know. :moody:

shannara-chronicles-spike-season-2-ratings.jpg
 

Rac80

The Belle of the Ball
i watched S1 just to see what the hell it would be like. i never read the books and i am glad i did not because, from what i have been told, i'd be really pissed about the tv show!

to me the books sound interesting, i have been told, here, that the series does not resemble the books, even though Brooks stands by the show

i am sure it is in his contract to do so

the reason the books are intriguing to me,and maybe i will read them sometime-is because it seems that Brooks is not merely 'copying' ideas from Tolkien but that his world exists in our future and could easily fit into the whole theme of Tolkien's elves having been "in hiding" during the age of man

so, Brooks' work, could be seen as an extension of Tolkien's though I believe that was not his intention
actually it may have not been his original intention but he worked his Knight of the word series into the Armageddon's children series into the genesis of Shannara series. now they admit it happens here.
 
actually it may have not been his original intention but he worked his Knight of the word series into the Armageddon's children series into the genesis of Shannara series. now they admit it happens here.

Did you watch the 2nd season of this turd? The big showdown between Allanon and the Warlock Lord (both played by Manu Bennett) takes place in a parking garage replete with burnt out cars. The Warlock Lord even throws a car at Allanon at one point. :facepalm:
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
Perhaps I should check out the second season for myself some day.

If you read the books, you won't be able to finish Season 1, let alone want to see Season 2.
 
If you read the books, you won't be able to finish Season 1, let alone want to see Season 2.

This whole show is incredibly perplexing. I'm not exaggerating or making a joke when I say it's like the TV show writers were on an acid trip when they developed this thing. The only thing the book and the show have in common are the names used for characters and locations, that's it. It's obvious that the people in charge of converting this story from book to TV screen have never actually read the books. They're just going on some sort of synopsis that was given to them.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
This whole show is incredibly perplexing. I'm not exaggerating or making a joke when I say it's like the TV show writers were on an acid trip when they developed this thing. The only thing the book and the show have in common are the names used for characters and locations, that's it. It's obvious that the people in charge of converting this story from book to TV screen have never actually read the books. They're just going on some sort of synopsis that was given to them.

They tried to do the "re-imagined" thing, but there were not enough similarities to tie the book TV story together.
 

Rac80

The Belle of the Ball
Did you watch the 2nd season of this turd? The big showdown between Allanon and the Warlock Lord (both played by Manu Bennett) takes place in a parking garage replete with burnt out cars. The Warlock Lord even throws a car at Allanon at one point. :facepalm:
nope didn't watch turd part II and it sounds like I am glad I didn't. the post apocalyptic setting would have worked for Armageddon's Children not the first Shannara trilogy! :P
 
nope didn't watch turd part II and it sounds like I am glad I didn't. the post apocalyptic setting would have worked for Armageddon's Children not the first Shannara trilogy! :P

If you develop a morbid curiosity to see season 2 you can stream it directly from the Spike TV site. Be prepared to roll your eyes and groan a lot and even turn off your TV in disgust. It's that bad, and not in a "so bad it's good" kind of way.
 

Rac80

The Belle of the Ball
LOl not going to happen, as I said earlier I stopped watching season one only to watch the finale and they couldn't even turn Amberle into a tree the right way! :P THHBBBT I'm done with them! :anim_17:
 
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