Uh? I would say it’s lower fantasy than LOTR. While in one hand it focuses more on magic, on the other hand it focuses less in fantasy creatures (hobbits, elves, orcs, dwarves, dragons, giant spiders…) and more on human conflict as the different nations and people have to act as the Dragon Reborn presents himself, causing civil unrest, wars, political maneuvering, etc.
There aren’t that many fantastic beings in LOTR and there are at least as many in WoT plus way more magic, higher powered magic, and magical artifacts, all of which are huge parts of the plot. LOTR’s premise is that the fantastic elements of the world are on the way out, and the biggest artifact in the setting pretty much only ever makes the wearer invisible. (I assume it could do way more, but we never see it in the hands of someone who knows how to use it.)
Also, to be clear, I specifically mean LOTR and not other Middle-Earth books, some of which are indeed quite fantastical.
This. But moreso.
In the first book Moiraine is running around and tossing fireballs like she’s the cheesiest designed blasty Sorceress from 3e and getting totally and ridiculously boosted by her boyfriend the GM. She’s healing wounds and creating other pretty spectacular effects (the gigantic wall of flame). The effects sequence of the confrontation at the Eye (featuring quite a few interesting new uses of saidin and saidir, Shomestu, and then the vision of the battle between Rand and “Balza’amon” in the sky) alone is far more spectacular for this kind of thing than anything in LotR. Because as you note the third age is one where the world is in transition and magic, and things like it, are going to sleep/going away/etc.
By the time we hit the halfway point of WoT we’ve got multiple factions with ready access to “teleport anywhere, any time” and large grounds of Aes Sedai (or their equivalents) openly engaging on the field of battle and doing absurd and spectacular things like “rolling wall of fire and flame” which kills thousands and thousands at Dumai’s Wells in mere seconds.
They’re both High Fantasy, in their own ways. Tolkien’s world is one moving away from that, but ultimately that fate hinges on the outcome of where the ring winds up (since Sauron put most of his power in the ring so it could survive into the 4th age). Where as Martin’s world, diminished though it is from the Time of Legends, opens featuring: easily healed wounds, all manner of fantastic and powerful uses of channeling, travel between parallel realities, and parts of the world overrun with terrible creatures, and ancient foes (trollocs and fades) stirring and in greater numbers than have been seen in a thousand years.
I assume you mean Jordan? Otherwise I REALLY gotta take a look at Game of Thrones again, since I seem to have forgotten a lot shit!
Don’t forget braid tugging, which has long been a hallmark of high fantasy.
I’m kidding…both series can be considered high fantasy as both feature alternative world settings, prominent use of magic, non-human creatures and a good (the heroes) vs. greater evil (usually in the form of an ultimate bad guy) theme. All hallmarks of high fantasy.
Yeah, neither of these is exactly Joe Abercrombie.
Speaking of which, I hope Amazon develops his stuff, too! And I want a pony (not really).
This one always strikes me in LotR. Apart from the titular ring, there’s not a lot of spellcasting going on through most of the books. For a long while, it looks like the sum total of Gandalf’s powers include operating a flashlight from his staff and being weirdly decent with a sword. The magic of Tolkien is often in relics, artifacts, and subtle demonstrations of power (e.g., the magical “auras” of Elvish demesnes).
So, it looks like this project is still alive and chugging along. Deadline just reported that the series “has gone to order”.
Amazon has given a series order to an adaptation of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time – marking a long and curious journey to the screen for the fantasy epic.
Amazon Prime Video will launch the one-hour series in over 200 countries and territories with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and Chuck writer Rafe Judkins, who first found fame as a contestant on Survivor , adapting.
Quite a few websites are pushing the female angle in their reporting, eg Variety’s headline: “Amazon Orders Female-Driven Fantasy Series ‘The Wheel of Time’”. True the Aes Sedai are powerful, but the lead characters are still male…
Weird Amazon is doing this after the bank they already dropped on LoTR.
WoT is really an ensemble experience, and many of them are female. And of course, it all depends how you adapt it.
Yes, but unless they make the Dragon Reborn a female, the lead character is still a male.
True, but he may not get much airtime.
wait wut
Not so much I think. The shift to on-demand streaming all-drop-at-a-time availability makes for multiple competing products where you don’t have to worry about conflicting time slots and lots of other programming issues that are inflicted on traditional broadcast companies and mediums. Amazon is looking at long-term year-long viewership for its series and evidently sees good viewership outside of the initial release week or month, so I think they just see this as another long-term investment and book property they can take advantage of in multiple angles.
— Alan
With the amount of braid tugging and skirt smoothing required, of course it is going to be a heavily female cast. They’ll probably do it with Faile as the main character.
Or worse Morgase. I lost count of how many different men raped or abused her.
Well, the articles imply that Moiraine is the lead character, which is a bit puzzling since she doesn’t feature in half the books (trying to stay vague here for spoiler reasons).
🤔
I can actually see this kinda working if they start off with the Moirane / Lan prequel. It sets her up as a true hero. And it’ll be a Game of Thrones-esque shocker for non-readers when she “sacrifices” herself taking Lanfear into the ter’angreal.
It was implied that Sean Bean was playing the lead character in Game of Thrones too…
It has three main male characters, but with Elayne / Egwene / Nynaeve chapters + many pov of secondary female characters, I think in the end there are more pages seen from a woman perspective.