Perhaps you were too busy with your preparations for Halloween or the presidential election to notice the debut of the new Disney/ABC Domestic Television series "The Legend of the Seeker".based on Terry Goodkind's epic fantasy series, "The Sword of Truth"
Executive producers Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert certainly have the necessary experience to bring this series to the small screen, having collaborated on "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" and "Xena: Warrior Princess". (Both are available from Anchor Bay Entertainment.) The wild New Zealand locations are, as always, perfect for the genre.
Goodkind has resisted selling the screen rights to the "Sword of Truth" franchise in the past, but agreed to the ABC/Disney deal because he was convinced that their treatment would be true to the original characters and stories. That is not to say that the TV series is a direct retelling of the stories in the books, so reading them will not necessarily "spoil" the television experience.
These twelve books in the Sword of Truth series are also available as mass-market paperbacks:
- Wizard's First Rule
- Stone of Tears
- Blood of the Fold
- Temple of the Winds
- Soul of the Fire
- Faith of the Fallen
- The Pillars of Creation
- Naked Empire
- Chainfire (Chainfire Trilogy Book 1)
- Phantom (Chainfire Trilogy Book 2)
- Confessor (Chainfire Trilogy Book 3)
- Debt of Bones (Sword of Truth Prequel)
One of the challenges of adapting a story into a television series is to create reasonably complete story lines for each episode while continuing to advance the plot of the overall saga. ABC has provided some help here by making full versions of the first season episodes available online as well as a documentary Legend of the Seeker: A First Look as a free download on iTunes
Here are links to the first nine Legend of the Seeker installments with a very brief synopsis just to remind you of which one goes with which title:
- Prophecy/Destiny
Episodes 1 & 2 are combined, perhaps because they introduce the premise for the series. Simple woodsman Richard Cypher learns that it has been prophesied theat he will become The Seeker, "a hero who arises in the times of trouble and suffering and seeks out evil." We meet Kahlan Amnell, a sort of beneficent priestess or Confessor sworn to protect the Seeker, and Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander, a powerful wizard who is secretly Richard's real grandfather.
- Bounty
Evil D'Haran Emperor Darken Rahl puts a price on Richard's head and magical maps that track his location are distributed.
- Brennidon
Richard's birthplace is captured by Darken Rahl's D'Haran hoardes, and his supposed mother held captive.
- Listener
Our heroes save a boy named Renn from Rahl who naturally wants to use the boy's psychic abilities for evil.
- Elixir
When their horses are stolen, Zedd must defeat his former student, Jeziah.
- Identity
After having a vision of Richard's death, the sorceress Shota magically exchanges his identity and that of a merchant's son, Gryff.
- Denna
We learn of Denna and her Mord'Sith sisters -- a cult of evil dominatrices who are apparently Darken Rahl's answer to the Confessors. Richard kills Denna, but she'll be back.
- Puppeteer
Zedd poses as a puppeteer to obtain the third Box of Orden, one of a set of magical items Rahl desperately desires to posesss.
- Sacrifice
Well, well. Kahlan's sister isn't dead after all, and she's at least eight months pregnant. This can't be good.
- Confession
Somebody's using a magical orb to cover up the murder of members of the D'Haran resistance.
- Home
Release Date: 21 February 2009
- Revenant
Release Date: 28 February 2009
- Hartland
Release Date: 7 March 2009
- Conversion
Release Date: 14 March 2009
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