What miniseries would you like to see

[omacar]

The post about the Sci-fi channel sucking made me think of the Dune miniseries which I actually liked.<br /><br />What would you like to see as a miniseries or even a series<br /><br />My picks:<br /><br />The Wheel of Time: one book per season. Similar to the Bab5 style.<br /><br />The Foundation: an actual series. Irt would be a drama with some action similar to "Master & Commander"

 

[wmdragon]

by Zelazny<br /><i>Lord of Light</i> (could be a movie I guess)<br />the first few books of the Amber Chronicles<br /><br />The Eden Trilogy by Harry Harrison<br /><br />this is starting to look like the other scifi recommendation threads! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#993366"><em>The only laws of matter are those which our minds must fabricate, and the only laws of mind are fabricated for it by matter.</em> <br /> --- James Clerk Maxwell</font></p> </div>

 

[omacar]

I would like to see an Elric miniseries, or an Eternal Champion.

 

[avaunt]

Yeah, Elric would be cool, but ONLY if done by European sensibilities.<br /><br />My pick, would be for The World of Tiers !. Talk about easily done, and adventure compounded !. The Horn of Shambariman !. Wicked Knife !. The Jade City !. Dire Wolves and Giant Weasels !. <br /><br />And there would be a point to the strungout series, they have to climb to the Lords level, and take the palace over. So every week, they get closer. And encounter different people as they go. And critters.

 

[a_lost_packet_]

Well, you may get your wish to see "Foundation." <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> There was a thread on this in the forum before the "Great Crash."<br /><br />Asimov's Foundation being made into a movie.<br /><br />To be honest, I've read about 6 of the Wheel of Time books. I can't read anymore. It's too boring and the character's are just not consistent. However, to each his own. <shrugs /> I'd watch it if it was free.. maybe. (Probably not.)<br /><br />I too would love to see Elric made into a mini-series. However, it would be very hard to do. They'd have to take one of the stories and expand upon it in order for it to make sense. Perhaps from his beginnings and through the end of Melnibone or something.<br /><br />Hmm.. Miniseries.. (In no particular order)<br /><br />1) The Silmarillion: Tolkien Break down the 5 most detailed stories into a miniseries which spans the creation of the world to the end of Morgoth/Melkor. Numeanor, Beren and Luthien, Gondolin and the Nirnaeth Arnoediad would be nice..et al. The origins of Sauron could be a good kicker to bring viewers in.<br /><br />2) The Amber series:Roger Zelazny. Zelazny's classic come to the screen. From the first book through to the Courts of Chaos. It would really make a nice series. Lot's of intrigue and action.<br /><br />3) The Galactic Center Novels: Greg Benford. Great stuff and very suitable for a miniseries. Spans, possibly, thousands of years of conflict between man and machine. Timeline breaks and stories on different worlds would add alot of flavor to the tales.<br /><br />3) Rama: Arthur C. Clarke. Would work well in a mini-series. It may be possible to squish all of the Rama books down into 4 episodes or so. Maybe. It's alot to cover but could work if done well. Because the visuals in the book can't carry the whole story, there would have to be some fudging and <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1">I put on my robe and wizard hat...</font> </div>

 

[nacnud]

How about something from Ian M. Banks Culture Novels? Could be made with lots of FX or played out through any stage of development, from middle ages tech to galactic civilisations. The stories are normally character based rather than tech based which could be a bonus.

 

[a_lost_packet_]

<font color="yellow">avaunt - My pick, would be for The World of Tiers !</font><br /><br />Awesome idea! I regret not remembering that series. I loved it. I wish I still had the books. <img src="/images/icons/frown.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1">I put on my robe and wizard hat...</font> </div>

 

[a_lost_packet_]

nacnud<br /><br />Tell me more about Bank's work. I don't know if I have read it. Forgive me if I have. The mind get's cluttered sometimes and it's been along time since I've dusted it out. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1">I put on my robe and wizard hat...</font> </div>

 

[nacnud]

Consider Philebas was his first Culture Novel, he also writes a lot of non-sf fiction under the name Ian Banks, no M. <br /><br />Although this book is set against a galactic war many of the others in the culture universe deal with much smaller but no less enthralling subjects, for example Inversions is set in a pre-industrial world seems to have no sci-fi elements, but they are there if you look very hard, and the characters and story in The Use Of Weapons are dark and unforgiving, both books are great. If you want to read them read Consider Philebas first, although there is no set order to the books it might be worth reading them in the order they were published. If you liked that read the rest but don’t read the reviews or the jackets first, there’s no need, they are all good and much better without spoilers.<br /><br />From www.Amazon.co.uk<br /><br /><b>Book Description</b><br /><br />CONSIDER PHLEBAS – a space opera of stunning power and awesome imagination. <br /><br />The war raged across the galaxy. Billions had died, billions more were doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, faced destruction, cold-blooded, brutal, and worse, random. The Idirans fought for their Faith; the Culture for its moral right to exist. Principles were at stake. There could be no surrender. <br />Within the cosmic conflict, an individual crusade. Deep within a fabled labyrinth on a barren world, a Planet of the Dead proscribed to mortals, lay a fugitive Mind. Both the Culture and the Idirans sought it. It was the fate of Horza, the Changer, and his motley crew of unpredictable mercenaries, human and machine, actually to find it, and with it their own destruction. <br /><br /><b>Synopsis</b><br /><br />The war raged across the galaxy. Billions had died, billions more were doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, faced destruction, cold-blooded, brutal, and worse, random. The Idirans fought for their Faith; the Culture for its

 

[avaunt]

Yes, but the Value of Banks' work, is the WRITING, IMHO. . . . Ok, in my NOT SO humble opinion. <img src="/images/icons/tongue.gif" />.<br /><br />The characters are always mind blowingly good, and the idea of the culture itself is very powerful. However, I will show you what I mean, by it being the WRITING that is the ultimate good, in the stories.<br />Pick one of them up, actually hold the BOOK in your hand, and read a passage, any passage, out loud. You can do so, without once stumbling in your diction. Until you hit a word you have never seen before, the words trip smoothly over your lips, with automatic emphasis.<br /><br />And you forget what you are doing.<br /><br />Ultimate example of superb written English.<br /><br />And HOW could a scriptwriter, even one not corrupt, allow the words of another to survive in their perfection?. So the Script would be a poor copy.<br /><br />One of the most excellent books, ever written in any genre, is Excession. by him. The Ship Minds !. the little drone that COULD, and did. WOW. And a badguy/thing/allinall that just EXCEEDS anything ever imagined before. Talk about your Quantum Computers!.

 

[avaunt]

Yeah, and it would be so easy to make. It's just normal movie making but with a FREAKY CGI background. The Monoliths as topless wall, and endless drops. The Ringsea. The view through open Gates. <br /><br />And all the rest is just Cowboy movies, Knights in Armour movies, African river / tarzan movies, and Scifi movies. All just conventional, but with the on going sub-text of being in Jadawins private Cosmos. Oh, and Podarge !. lol. maybe better made in Europe, because of the Raunchy aspects, I think.<br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[nacnud]

I agree completely, however as I mentioned Banks also writes non-sf fiction and one of those books, the crow road, was actually made into a mini series which got rave reviews. So it is possible to turn his work into worthwhile television. Turning one of his sf novels into a mini series that would appeal to more than just sf audiences would be challenging, but anything less would be a waist of the material.<br /><br />Here is the review from The Internet Movie Database<br /><br /><i>This has to be one of the most impressive pieces of drama ever to come out of Scotland. Outside of the long running series 'Taggart'(which had a very similar visual approach to 'The Crow Road')and the films 'Trainspotting', 'Shallow Grave', 'Small Faces' and 'Local Hero' there is nothing Scottish i can think of which equals it for quality(some might say 'Gregory's Girl' but i was never to fond of that myself).The story is somewhat complicated but it is brilliantly put together. I also have to say that i have never read the novel so the adaptation is very user friendly and by the look of the other reviews it has pleased fans of the original text aswell. The only problem i felt was with the ending which i thought just seemed to smooth and cleared everything up too well. But on the whole this is a minor criticism. It is strange to think that i first saw this 6 years ago, when it was first screened by the BBC. Its also somewhat sad that the careers of perhaps the dramas two most outstanding performers, Joe McFadden and Valerie Edmund, haven't gone anywhere since as it seemed at the time that both were set for stardom. However Dougray Scott, who had a somewhat minor role as Prentice's older brother, has gone on to much bigger things including being Tom Cruise's nemesis in Mission Impossible:2.</i><br /><br /><br />

 

[wmdragon]

addendum:<br /><br />the Liveship Traders trilogy by Robin Hobb <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#993366"><em>The only laws of matter are those which our minds must fabricate, and the only laws of mind are fabricated for it by matter.</em> <br /> --- James Clerk Maxwell</font></p> </div>

 

[wmdragon]

<i>I remember watching "Roots" and "Shogun" when they were first aired. To the best of my knowledge, nothing has been attempted on the scale of these two television behemoths.</i><br /><br />Shaka Zulu?<br />http://imdb.com/title/tt0086798/maindetails <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#993366"><em>The only laws of matter are those which our minds must fabricate, and the only laws of mind are fabricated for it by matter.</em> <br /> --- James Clerk Maxwell</font></p> </div>

 

[wmdragon]

I <i>think</i> the colored Mars series were made into a cartoon <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#993366"><em>The only laws of matter are those which our minds must fabricate, and the only laws of mind are fabricated for it by matter.</em> <br /> --- James Clerk Maxwell</font></p> </div>

 

[Leovinus]

Ringworld by Larry Niven <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[a_lost_packet_]

OK OK! nacnud and avaunt have sold me on the Culture series. Now I'll see if I can find it tomorrow. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> Should I try used bookstores first or is it still in print? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1">I put on my robe and wizard hat...</font> </div>

 

[nacnud]

Sorry, it's a bit easy to get carried away with all the cutting and the pasting and the <i>italics...</i>

 

[a_lost_packet_]

<font color="yellow">Sorry, it's a bit easy to get carried away with all the cutting and the pasting and the italics... </font><br /><br />OOooohh.. ITALICS! Hmm.. <br /><br /><i>ITALICS!</i><br /><br />I DO'OD IT! <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />No problem at all. You guys have me interested in an author I haven't read before. That's a bonus! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1">I put on my robe and wizard hat...</font> </div>

 

[avaunt]

It isn't out of print in NEW ZEALAND !, so you ought to seriously complain to the god of capitalism* if its out of print in the USA.<br /><br />* I think he is currently living in a state facility, under indictment for larceny. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" />