That’s fantasy done right people!
Re-imaginings are nothing new, especially in the world of Sci-fi and Fantasy…a world in which I toil most happily. Case in point, the last book I attempted to read for pleasure was one such re-imagining…
And if one were to grade a re-imagining solely on, say, inventiveness the The Looking Glass Wars would definitely deserve an A. I tend to judge books on actual writing ability, though, and this one probably rates a C- where that’s concerned. The idea is great, and I was very spirited in my reading for 100 pages or so…at a certain point, regardless of how much I wanted to ignore it, the plain fact that the book is not written well just became too much of a hurdle, and I put it down about 2/3 of the way in. Thanks to work, school, the kid, the website, and my own attempts to scratch out what fiction I may, my time for reading is limited and I just can’t devote energy to something that isn’t enthralling. I’ll likely finish it at some point, since I’ve never left a book unfinished indefinitely, but that time is not now.
Besides which, there is a wholly amazing re-imagining taking place right now on the Sci-fi channel, Tin Man.
While the special effects aren’t quite what I’d like…granted, it is a Sci-fi original, I understand that the budget probably wasn’t great…the writing is very good. I think for a re-imagining to be successful, it needs both a fresh take on the original content, and the writer (or writer’s) needs to be committed to actually creating something wholly new. In this way, the source material becomes a framework on which the actual (new) story is constructed. Broadly speaking, this is how Shakespeare worked.
And I think that Tin Man is a very good representation of this. By the end of the first episode, we had already seen nearly all of the “source” material used up and evolved, and the series was moving into its own creative territory. Plus the line by line writing is very, very good. This, in my mind, is the ultimate lynch pin. It is where The Looking Glass Wars fell short, in fact. All the imagination in the world cannot save a writer who is unable to construct a compelling sentence.
And it doesn’t hurt Tin Man that both Zooey Deschanel and Kathleen Robertson play the heroine and villain respectively…
There’s a couple of women that would definitely be on my stalking list if I still did that sort of thing…which I totally DO NOT…seriously, I’m completely cured…
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December 5th, 2007 at 12:21 am
I found the opposite problem with Wicked, the book they made that musical on that my teenage girlfriends can’t stop squealing about. The writing, as always, was very good, but the story was so cramped with Oz political theories that never panned out and a heroione who is never explained or fleshed out satisfactorily that I didn’t read past her childhood for over three years. The sequel is the same. Seemingly pointless to possibly turn into positively pointless. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister? That was gold.
Another parody that I absolutely adore is Lamb, The Gospel of Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal. I haven’t finished that either, but it’s because it makes me laugh so damn hard I just about burst something every time I pick it up. I HIGHLY recommend that one.
Things like Tin Man though. Make me wish I had cable.
December 5th, 2007 at 7:08 am
Well last night’s Tin Man finale was…abrupt…can’t really think of another word for it, really. The climax played out about how I expected, though there were a number of things that took place before it that were nice surprises. But the “resolution” phase of the story lasted about 20 seconds. My only real complaint is that if Sci-Fi hadn’t aired commercials every 11 minutes (seriously, my wife was timing them last night) then maybe they could have wrapped up the story a little better.
Never did read Wicked. My wife did, and even though she finished it, did not particularly care for it.
I’ve read one Christopher Moore book, A Dirty Job, which is hilarious with a capital HI! His are probably the books I’ll tackle most seriously once school is done…in another year…
December 5th, 2007 at 9:09 am
I also have been enjoying Tin Man. I haven’t watched the last part yet as we taped it while we slept so we can fast forward through all of the commercials. I really like the scarecrow, Glitch, I think he’s my favorite character on that show.
I also would like to recommend Lamb. In the store, they have an edition of it that even looks like the bible. Which I find very amusing.
December 7th, 2007 at 8:49 am
I think Glitch is actually my least favorite character. He kind of annoys me. I like Todo because it’s the best idea ever that he’s both a small dog AND a large black man! It’s cool too that they use some Oz stuff from the other Oz books. I used to collect them when I was a kid.
I also haven’t read Wicked, but I enjoyed Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister.