Goodkind's Sword of Truth to be a TV Series?

What?

This is going to be a TV series? This is going to be a TV series by ABC/Disney?

I generally make it a policy to only speak positively about books/authors around here because when it comes right down to it, we all share a passion for telling stories and we just want to make enough of a living to do what we love.

However, try as I might to love Goodkind’s novels, I simply could not get through more than the first two. I persisted in reading them through dogged determination, finally giving up when I realized that there were other things that appealed more to my interests. To see that this fantasy series will be made into a TV show may be detrimental overall to the fantasy/science fiction segment of viewers…especially given the [spoiler of first book ahead] bizarre plot twist in which the hero, Richard, learns to use his magic after being held captive and abused by a group of over-the-top BDSM-loving women in the service of a dark wizard.[/spoiler] People already regard us as geeks. Do we want to be deviant geeks as well?

Maybe this type of fantasy will appeal to viewers, but I found the twist in the first book to be jarring and uncomfortable (and not necessarily because of the subject matter) because it seemed to be inconsistent with the rest of the book up to that point. Who knows, though? The first book may get a serious overhaul before it’s put on network television.

There are other series that might make better television. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire is rumored to be coming to HBO (the proper medium for that series, definitely), and David Weber’s Honor Harrington has been rumored for a debut as well. Personally, I would like to see one of the old David Drake serials (such as Hammer’s Slammers) or Asimov’s Foundation come to television as a miniseries or a series.