Firstly, I should say that Wheel of Time is my all-time favorite book series, so I'll perhaps be a little biased with my review.
Let's get the obvious out of the way...the Two Rivers is a town in the middle of nowhere and is rarely visited, so it makes absolutely zero sense for the people to be multicultural. With that being said, I don't care if every person in the Two Rivers is pink, orange, blue, black, white, green, yellow, or purple...cultural identity should at least be consistent. There's a reason why the Wildlings and Dothraki (and other races) in Game of Thrones have unique cultural identities, and it is no different in Robert Jordan's world. I know we live in a clown world where gender and diversity quotas are at the forefront, but creating a multicultural word to appease the PC brigade just detracts from the story, especially later on when politics becomes an integral part of the story.
Anyway, moving on to more important things. Politics aside, they generally got the casting right. Rand, Perrin, Moraine, Egwene, Lan, Nynaeve, Thom, and others...mostly spot on. The only casting choice that doesn't seem to fit is Mat (who has already been recast, thankfully) because the actor lacks natural energy and playful humour. I'm not 100% sold on Perrin either because the actor is a bit gormless and in the books Perrin is an absolute beast of a man (physically), contrary to the actor who plays him.
Fellow book fans will probably agree with me when I say the first book (which the entire first season is based on I believe) has pacing issues and is a very slow burner at times, although it does a great job of world-building, fleshing out the characters and creating a foundation to build from. My initial concerns with the TV show were 'how are they going to translate the first book into a watchable series that an average viewer (who hasn't read the books) will enjoy?'. Thankfully, and impressively, they've done a great job of this (based on the first 3 episodes anyway).
There are some pacing issues at times but they definitely get in enough action to appease the casual viewers, while also doing a great job of fleshing out character stories and adhering to lore from the books. Truly, it is very impressive so far and it should give books fans the hope that this show won't be a one or two-season wonder (like the awful 'Legend of the Seeker' series).
Bottom line, very promising so far after 3 episodes and balanced enough to create a good experience for both hardcore fans and casual viewers. To the casuals - please get through the first season (even if pacing might be slow at times) because sh*t really does hit the fan (in a fantastic way) from book 2/season 2 onwards!
Let's get the obvious out of the way...the Two Rivers is a town in the middle of nowhere and is rarely visited, so it makes absolutely zero sense for the people to be multicultural. With that being said, I don't care if every person in the Two Rivers is pink, orange, blue, black, white, green, yellow, or purple...cultural identity should at least be consistent. There's a reason why the Wildlings and Dothraki (and other races) in Game of Thrones have unique cultural identities, and it is no different in Robert Jordan's world. I know we live in a clown world where gender and diversity quotas are at the forefront, but creating a multicultural word to appease the PC brigade just detracts from the story, especially later on when politics becomes an integral part of the story.
Anyway, moving on to more important things. Politics aside, they generally got the casting right. Rand, Perrin, Moraine, Egwene, Lan, Nynaeve, Thom, and others...mostly spot on. The only casting choice that doesn't seem to fit is Mat (who has already been recast, thankfully) because the actor lacks natural energy and playful humour. I'm not 100% sold on Perrin either because the actor is a bit gormless and in the books Perrin is an absolute beast of a man (physically), contrary to the actor who plays him.
Fellow book fans will probably agree with me when I say the first book (which the entire first season is based on I believe) has pacing issues and is a very slow burner at times, although it does a great job of world-building, fleshing out the characters and creating a foundation to build from. My initial concerns with the TV show were 'how are they going to translate the first book into a watchable series that an average viewer (who hasn't read the books) will enjoy?'. Thankfully, and impressively, they've done a great job of this (based on the first 3 episodes anyway).
There are some pacing issues at times but they definitely get in enough action to appease the casual viewers, while also doing a great job of fleshing out character stories and adhering to lore from the books. Truly, it is very impressive so far and it should give books fans the hope that this show won't be a one or two-season wonder (like the awful 'Legend of the Seeker' series).
Bottom line, very promising so far after 3 episodes and balanced enough to create a good experience for both hardcore fans and casual viewers. To the casuals - please get through the first season (even if pacing might be slow at times) because sh*t really does hit the fan (in a fantastic way) from book 2/season 2 onwards!