We heard just yesterday that Netflix has landed a major deal in the popular TV fantasy space by securing the rights to C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia series. It represents Netflix’s biggest investment in the fantasy genre and should provide some decent competition to Amazon’s highly anticipated and expensive Lord of the Rings series that is currently in development. However, it appears Amazon is not looking for a one trick pony to dominate the fantasy space as it was revealed yesterday that the online shopping and hardware giant will also be creating a new series based on Robert Jordan’s classic fantasy series Wheel of Time.
The Wheel of Time series was first published back in 1990 and has sold over 90 million books worldwide, making it easily one of the biggest fantasy franchises of all time and a good property to be turned into a TV series. The best part for Amazon with this project is that considering that there are 14 books in the series, there is already a wealth of material to fill many seasons worth of content, which will hopefully make the adaptation journey a little easier than their Lord of The Rings series which will see them creating some new stories within Tolkien’s universe.
Another plus which The Wheel of Time offers is that it’s female characters that hold the most power, as they are the only ones that can use magic in that world, which is nice change from many of the other series of its type and should appeal to a large number of people as a result.
The book series follows the story of Moiraine, a member of the shadowy and influential all-female organization called the ‘Aes Sedai’ as she embarks on a dangerous, world-spanning journey with five young men and women. Moiraine’s interested in these five because she believes one of them might be the reincarnation of an incredibly powerful individual, whom prophecies say will either save humanity or destroy it. The series draws on numerous elements of European and Asian culture and philosophy, most notably the cyclical nature of time found in Buddhism and Hinduism.
The Wheel of Time will consist of hour long episodes and will be produced by Sony Pictures Television and Amazon Studios with Rafe Judkins (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Chuck) serving as executive producer and showrunner:
For so many people, including me, this book series has served as a world to escape to, to lose yourself in, to devour and inhabit completely. And I couldn’t be more honoured to be the one finally bringing that world to life on screen, for old fans to lose themselves in all over again and new fans to discover for the very first time.
Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios also shared her excitement for the planned series and how they hope it really going to appeal to fans (Thanks Deadline):
The Wheel of Time is endlessly fascinating and resonates hugely with fans as one of the best-selling global properties, and we were drawn to its timely narrative featuring powerful women at the core. We’re thrilled to extend our relationship with devotees who’ve found the book series transformative and welcome new ones by bringing it to life on Prime Video for viewers worldwide.
Unfortunately, I haven’t had the time to read much of Jordan’s iconic series, having only encountered the first book, but even from that short experience I can tell that there is lot of rich lore to be explored and with some exciting characters already created, I think this is going to make a great new TV series. With Amazon, Netflix and Disney all producing great new shows it looks like it’s going to be really difficult to choose between the companies and we’ll probably need to subscribe to all of them if we want to watch the latest and greatest shows on the market.
Oh, my bleeding wallet.
Last Updated: October 5, 2018
Guz
October 5, 2018 at 08:51
o/ great way to start the morning, read these as a youngster, the last few that Jordan wrote got a bit tedious but when B. Sanderson(my favorite author BTW) took over they finished strong.
I was really worried at a stage that I wouldn’t get an end to the series that I’d invested so much time into after Jordan pasted.
The Wheel of Time turns, and ages come and pass…….
miaau
October 5, 2018 at 09:21
That is true, especially the last books, way stronger. Jordan sort of lost his own plot a bit, I think.
Original Heretic
October 5, 2018 at 09:32
Brandon Sanderson finished them off beautifully.
miaau
October 5, 2018 at 09:21
Too much lore….. Way…. too much
“Another plus which The Wheel of Time offers is that it’s female characters that hold the most power, as they are the only ones that can use magic in that world” Ignoring, of course, the main Character, who is not really Moiraine. and some of the other characters, of course. And the blatant, overt and sometimes over the top sexism those woman display to men, cause plot points.
Original Heretic
October 5, 2018 at 09:36
Yeah, very Lore heavy series. A painstakingly created world.
And yah, Moiraine is NOT the main character.
Original Heretic
October 5, 2018 at 09:33
This story synopsis makes it seem as if Moiraine is the main character.
geel slang
October 5, 2018 at 09:56
Thought the same thing. Got to book 8 about 15 years ago and thats not what I remember.
G8crasha
October 8, 2018 at 08:33
Good luck to the showrunner! This series is so complex and drawn out, but it is a good read. Tolkien’s work was piled high with action over a few books – The Wheel of Time has action that is so spread across the books, there will be a lot to remove between the parts if they intend to keep the viewers interested.