Shannara books coming to TV!

I’ve been looking around and seeing what new sci-fi and fantasy shows are coming up. You know what bothers me? There are so many great shows coming up, but you have to have cable, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Yahoo, PS4 stuff, and all kinds of crazy things to watch all of the shows. It’s exhausting!

When did watching TV become so hard and over priced? Some can argue it’s because we can now skip commercials . . . but that’s bull. You pay for the DVRs, you’re paying for Netflix and Amazon. Those two are the only ones I know that actually let you leave commercials behind, but you’re paying. Hulu doesn’t get rid of commercials even if you do pay. ABC makes you wait one week on Hulu to watch the latest episode, and if you go to their site you have to have some kind of subscription to view any content!

Sorry, I’m annoyed with how hard it is to keep up with shows you want to watch. Especially since I still have FREE TV, and refuse to pay unless I’m buying the DVDs.

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Now that my rant is over with . . .

That’s right! Terry Brook’s Shannara books are coming to TV. MTV. Part of me shakes in fear that it’s going to be as lame as Legend of the Seeker TV show. Or with MTV backing it there’s a chance it can be as epic as Game of Thrones. Just with more good guys winning.

After that thought process some of my excitement just shrivels up. Why? Because the Shannara books (Amazon | Goodreads) are dry, predictable, and very low on strong female leads/characters. Don’t get me wrong I used to be a die hard fan of the series. Really.

However, I discovered better writing, plots, and decent female leads. Not sure how much the series has developed from the 90s, but I’ve never felt drawn to go back to that world.

Now that I’ve had another rant . . . yeah it’s one of those days. Let’s get down to the facts about the series.

• It is confirmed to be a TV series,
• Smallville creators Al Gough and Miles Miller, plus Iron Man director Jon Favreau.
• The first season actually starts with The Elfstone of Shannara (Amazon | Goodreads). (Which I think is a pretty good starting place.)
• Warner Brothers actually bought the rights first for movies, but didn’t do anything.
• The show was originally supposed to air last year, but is now supposed to be airing 2015 now.
• Official blurb: An Elvish tree, known as the Ellcrys, is dying. The bad news is that the tree has been the only piece of magic that protects the Four Lands from the Demon World. Amberle Elessedil is the only one who can save the tree. But she has to unlock magic that the Elves haven't used in thousands of years. With the help of Wil Ohmsford, she travels to find the lost magic. But it won't be an easy task.

Now that all the information is there . . . I’m wondering if this is really going to get off the ground. There has been very little buzz made about the project or when it’s ever to release. The IMDb page is barren of anything but the most basic of information.

At least there’s a cast.

Normally I don’t put this much work into a “maybe” book to TV adaptation. But the Shannara books are where Tolkien fans go next. The series help shaped the genre. Even of I’ve left it behind and banished all the books from my shelves it’s exciting. It’s a classic and this is the most information that’s been out there about what is going on with it since WB bought the rights.

So what do you think? (Besides that I’m crazy.) Are you excited for the show? Do you thing Shannara will finally debut to some kind of screen?