While some broadcasters have been trying to find \u201cthe next Game of Thrones\u201d, Amazon has gone one better by throwing millions of dollars at two fantasy adventures \u2013 the much-heralded Lord of the Rings prequel series and this new release based on the hefty Wheel of Time<\/a> books by the late Robert Jordan.<\/p>\n Whether either will actually reach the global heights of Thrones remains to be seen, but it does The Wheel of Time a disservice to only look at it in terms of George RR Martin\u2019s Westerosi world. Not only because Jordan\u2019s series is actually older than Martin\u2019s, and inspired much of what would become Game of Thrones (check the dates), but also because this is an accomplished, gripping story in its own right that lovingly adapts \u2013 and updates \u2013 the book series.<\/p> But first, introductions. Put simply, the series takes place in a quasi-medieval world where magic is real, but can only be used by women. These sorceresses \u2013 known as Aes Sedai \u2013 have established a powerful matriarchal order concerned with subtly controlling various rival kingdoms and protecting the world, and de-powering (or \u201cgentling\u201d) any unlucky men who have the ability to access magic (called \u2018channeling the One Power\u2019).<\/p>\n You see, long ago, a fiendish being called the Dark One poisoned the male half of the One Power, rendering any man who tries to draw from it mad and liable to committing great violence. The last great male user of the One Power, a man known as The Dragon, still managed to seal the Dark One in a prison \u2013 but thousands of years later, evil is spreading over the land, and the Dragon has been reborn to face the Dark One once more.<\/p>\n That\u2019s where series lead Moiraine, played by Rosamund Pike, comes in. An Aes Sedai determined to track down the Dragon Reborn, she and faithful bodyguard\/Warder Lan (Daniel Henney) arrive in the remote, mountainous village of the Two Rivers where the trail stops. Within the village are a group of young people who could<\/em> be the Dragon \u2013 but she can\u2019t tell which one is just yet.<\/p>\n Saying too much more might constitute a spoiler (albeit one revealed in the books decades ago), but the Two Rivers residents joining Moiraine and Lan are: stubborn village healer\/Wisdom Nynaeve (Zo\u00eb Robins), brooding blacksmith Perrin (Marcus Rutherford), romantic shepherd Rand (Josha Stradowski), the wily Mat (Barney Harris, already mysteriously recast for season two) and the sweet, inquisitive Egwene (Madeleine Madden). All five are dragged from their village as dark forces attack, and go on a long journey that will reveal their true natures, abilities and potential over the ensuing eight episodes and beyond (season two is already filming).<\/p>\n Phew! OK, enough plot. It\u2019s fair to say that Wheel of Time has always been a fairly complex story (the finished saga stands at 14 volumes, plus a prequel), but showrunner Rafe Judkins does well to keep everything accessible while still weaving in more dense backstory that will come into play later.<\/p>\n Will every casual viewer want to hear about the history of Manetheren or the Tinkers? Maybe not \u2013 but even if that washes over you, the engaging young leads, exciting action and central mystery will drag viewers along through the epic, sprawling story. There are also quite a few surprises for book readers \u2013 some things don\u2019t happen exactly as they do on the page, or in a different order.<\/p>\n Watch out for new characters who help fill in backstory, as well as a scrapping of the book series\u2019 slightly dated sexual politics that became infamous over the years (basically, in the novels every so often our heroes stop the battle against evil to go \u201cTchah, women\u2026 can\u2019t live with \u2019em, can\u2019t live without \u2019em!\u201d and then carry on).<\/p>\n Conversely, Judkins also holds back on a few key concepts from the books including the separate \u201chalves\u201d of the One Power known as saidar\/saidin, and the status of our heroes as probability-bending Ta\u2019veren (though this is mentioned once, it\u2019s not fully explained in the episodes I watched). While some fans might riot at even this omission, it seems clear the series intends to pick up these threads later \u2013 various pieces of worldbuilding from the books aren\u2019t ruled out, just left for later (just like a few key characters, already confirmed for season two).<\/p>\n And it\u2019s hard to complain about a few changes when the heart of Jordan\u2019s work is so lovingly brought to life here. The cast are universally impressive, and retain the core of the characters on the page even if their circumstances are slightly changed. Pike particularly stands out as the battle-weary, poised Moiraine, and later on Sophie Okonedo steals the show as the Aes Sedai leader Siuan Sanche. Crucially, they all feel<\/em> like the book characters \u2013 and because that story with those characters worked well, it\u2019s the same in this adaptation.<\/p>\n The sheer scale of the world Jordan created is also apparent \u2013 towering cities, terrifying monsters and regular use of special effects show every single penny of the rumoured $10 million-per-episode budget was well spent. It\u2019s all helped along by the seriously beautiful natural scenery of the Czech Republic and Slovenia (where the series was filmed), providing a genuinely stunning backdrop to the early episodes. I\u2019d go to the Two Rivers on holiday, Trolloc attacks and all.<\/p>\n The series only falters when it loses faith in those watching. Unlike the confident opening of Game of Thrones first episode (the Night\u2019s Watch face White Walkers beyond the Wall!), The Wheel of Time starts with an awkward, expository voiceover from Pike that rather clubs audiences over the head with lore before they\u2019ve seen any of the characters or action.<\/p>\n Long, dreary scenes of series lore also sometimes kill the pace more than they would written on the page, and it\u2019s hard not to find yourself tapping your foot, hoping they\u2019ll get back to the main story. But these are minor quibbles for a series that has done the impossible in translating a fairly complex fantasy tale to screen, and still kept the story compelling enough that I binged the episodes I was given almost immediately.<\/p>\n Overall, I\u2019m calling this adaptation a success. Once upon a time, Game of Thrones was the young upstart and Wheel of Time was the one to beat \u2013 now, it seems things have turned around in a circularity worthy of the Great Wheel itself. But even if it doesn\u2019t hit the insane heights of Thrones (what could?), Amazon can still pat themselves on the back. Wheel of Time is a great adaptation, and I hope it\u2019ll find an audience worthy of that (though the Wheel weaves as the Wheel will).<\/p>\n Still, one note \u2013 season two definitely needs more sniffs, braid tugs and arms crossed below\u2026 well, you get the idea.<\/p>\n The Wheel of Time launches with three episodes on Amazon Prime Video<\/a> on Friday 19th November. For more, check out our dedicated Fantasy<\/a> page or our full TV Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By Huw Fullerton Published: Tuesday, 16 November 2021 at 12:00 am 4.0 out of 5 star rating While some broadcasters have been trying to find \u201cthe next Game of Thrones\u201d, Amazon has gone one better by throwing millions of dollars at two fantasy adventures \u2013 the much-heralded Lord of the Rings prequel series and this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":7278,"template":"","categories":[5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/11\/the-wheel-of-time-review-superior-fantasy-storytelling-scaled.jpg",2560,1705,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/11\/the-wheel-of-time-review-superior-fantasy-storytelling-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/11\/the-wheel-of-time-review-superior-fantasy-storytelling-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/11\/the-wheel-of-time-review-superior-fantasy-storytelling-768x511.jpg",768,511,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/11\/the-wheel-of-time-review-superior-fantasy-storytelling-1024x682.jpg",800,533,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/11\/the-wheel-of-time-review-superior-fantasy-storytelling-1536x1023.jpg",1536,1023,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/11\/the-wheel-of-time-review-superior-fantasy-storytelling-2048x1364.jpg",2048,1364,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Huw Fullerton Published: Tuesday, 16 November 2021 at 12:00 am 4.0 out of 5 star rating While some broadcasters have been trying to find \u201cthe next Game of Thrones\u201d, Amazon has gone one better by throwing millions of dollars at two fantasy adventures \u2013 the much-heralded Lord of the Rings prequel series and this…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/7277"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\""The\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2021\/10\/wheel_of_time_cast-1-d10a111.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"wheel_of_time_cast\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> ![\""Rosamund\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2021\/10\/wheel_of_time_rosamund_pike_cropped-4ab5678.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"wheel_of_time_rosamund_pike_cropped\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>![\""The\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2021\/10\/wheel_of_time_amazon-1-4c72dec.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"wheel_of_time_amazon\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"