Anyone checking this out? I was a huge fan of the books by Robert Jordan at least until about book 10 when things just got super convoluted.

Watched the first ep and the effects and battle scene was impressive, plus they definitely jacked the pace of the books ahead several notches. There's a lot to pack into a short space and I think they did a decent job. Rumours are that they are looking to make this several seasons long and the budget is high.

First three episodes are up on Amazon Prime.

I've read all the books, and watched the first two episodes. Wasn't overly impressed by the previews, but so far I'm liking it a lot. Pretty faithful to the books.

I actually read the 1st 4 books this summer, not because of the show just filling time waiting for Winds of Winter. I quit though because I can’t stand one of the characters

Watched the 1st and 2nd episode and they were okay. I’m not sure if this will catch on with the general public

4th episode was better than the first three, though that isn't saying a lot...

Also, re: quitting the books because of one of the characters. It is normal to skip chapters centred on the women: Jordan's writing of them is universally horrible. It gets better when Sanderson takes over though.

The first episode was bog-standard, B-grade fantasy bollocks. Not utterly dire, nut nothing to get too excited about. The eps have slowly improved since then.

Honestly kind of surprised they spent so much time on Logain for a whole episode. Makes me wonder if they are going to somehow filter him into the story in a different way than the books.

I like the changes they've made and the pacing change from the books. Important characters are going to be introduced at different times, from what I've read, and they've included the chance a girl could be the dragon reborn. Pretty excited to see where this goes, and I really hope they get the chance to tell their whole story. That will obviously be quite the undertaking though.

If the 4th was better than the 3rd, they're going to need a similar jump in quality for every remaining episode of the season if they're going to be allowed to finish the story I think.

Haven't read the books so went in blind and watched the first four episodes. Was quite indifferent after the first episode, but it gets better with each episode and hooked after the fourth one, especially the Aes Sedai stuff. There are definitely things that could be improved upon though. Some of the VFX is shoddy, especially the channeling shots in the first episode. Also, some of the acting is pretty wooden, especially the kids, but it's somewhat understandable as they cast young and inexperienced actors in these roles.

One thing that triggers me, however, is the inconsistencies in the day-night cycle. It was especially apparent in the second episode when they were traveling and it was switching between daytime and nighttime pretty often, but it definitely didn't seem time was passing that quick story-wise.

Also, apparently the actor that plays Mat is being replaced in the second season. I wonder what happened there as they usually don't switch out main role actors in series they are obviously trying to turn into the next big thing willy-nilly.

Nope, it was rubbish. Amazon, you've ****ed up.

Kind of a weird episode that time, focusing way too much on the Warders IMO. Loial seems to be great although I expected him to be bigger. And finally the wolves came into play.

Still, not 100% sold on the flow and wondering what direction they are heading in. Right now it's kind of all over the place. I'm sure they are losing viewers.

Agree that this week's episode was definitely weaker than the one before it. Like, I get what they were trying to do with Stepin's storyline, but couldn't get invested into it at all. Probably because the character was introduced just a week before. The other storylines also fell quite flat, especially the Rand & Mat one. Moiraine told that she has people who let her know if the candidates enter the city, which doesn't happen, but is to a degree understandable. But then Nynaeve stumbles upon them completely randomly without seemingly knowing anything about the place. That makes absolutely no sense.

I don't know how noticeable it is in the books, but one thing that kind of sucks about the show is how hard it is telegraphing who the Dragon Reborn is. Nynaeve is an obvious red herring, Egwene is the love interest, Mat is the loose cannon, Perrin is the guy who has some specific quality to him that comes handy every once in a while but is otherwise quite useless. And then there is Rand who looks like a lead out of a young adult novel movie adaptation. It doesn't take IQ of 150 to figure out who the series actually revolves around.

They need to replace the Ryan Phillipe lookalike who plays Rand. He is stultifyingly bland.

At this stage in the first book, it's clear who the dragon is if you pay attention to the clues. But... They left those clues out of the TV show.

In Game of Thrones, the books have moments of incredible dialogue, and the TV show could fall back on them once or twice an episode. In Wheel of Time, what makes the books work is the scope and the worldbuilding - the dialogue is often very not good.

The TV show doesn't do anything to make up for it, and indeed is mediocre in almost every way. Plus the only good actor in it appears to be Rosamund Pike.

Yeah, poor dialogue and bland acting. I guessed who the dragon was from the start since it seemed pretty obvious. Hadn't read the books at all. Still watching it since it seems to be getting a little more interesting storywise, and for the special effects, and the Croatian landscape shots are spectacular. Not expecting a lot here though.

Binged this the other day since I was a bit sick. It's pretty meh.

A final episode that aims for thrills but misses badly. It’s going to be a serious ongoing problem for this show that the most important character is played by such a bland actor. All tension and drama in Rand’s confrontation with the Dark one was sucked out by his lousy acting. His is not the only weak performance though. The guy playing Perrin mostly lurks around with his mouth hanging open looking perplexed and being useless.

The closing scenes do a poor job of setting up the next season. It’s not at all clear where this show is heading, and I’m not sure I care.

Yeah I have to say that this is legit poor effort. They didn't need to deviate from the source material as much as they did. The guy who plays Rand is like Hayden Christensen in Star Wars bad. Even the first appearance of the Dark One was totally underwhelming and cheesy.

I had super high hopes after episode 1. I agree that much of the acting is bland, but I still think the series is quite good, one of the best fantasy shows I've ever seen. Although, I have just started "The Witcher" which is clearly superior.

I noticed they are replacing the actor that plays "Mat" which is interesting because I thought he was one of the better actors.

Watched E1 and E2..it's fine. I'll probably stick with it mostly because there isn't a ton to choose from ATM

Read the books. This was solid but not a HR. Disappointed that we didn’t get a full prologue/flashback with Lews Therin like the opening of the book.