The Legend of the Seekerseries is based on the Sword of Truth books by Terry Goodkind, which so far consists of 12 novels starting with Wizards First Rule in 1994, and going to the most recent publication of The Law of Nines in 2009.
The story is built around a prophesy of the rise of a Seeker, the first to rise in 1,000 years, and his destiny to conquer Darken Rahl (Craig Parker), the evil ruler of The Midlands. Richard Cypher (Craig Horner), the adopted son of a poor woodsman, finds himself suddenly thrust into a destiny to become the legendary Seeker of the prophesy. Joined by the Confessor, Kahlan Amnell (Bridget Regan) and Wizard of the First Order, Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander (Bruce Spence), Richard travels to The Midlands in hopes of fulfilling the prophesy.
Never having read any of the books Legend of the Seekeris based on, I wasn’t really sure what to expect of the series, but I also had the advantage of not having any preconceived notions. Quite a few friends of mine who were fans of the books had been anticipating the release of the show, so I had been interested to see it for some time. My initial response to the two-part opening episode was, “Uh-oh, I’ve seen this plot before. Many times, in fact.”, as the story unfolded and characters reacted in very predictable ways. The combination of the promise never to judge a freshman series based only on the opening episodes and the pedigree of this series, kept me watching. Not only is the Legend of the Seekerbased on a wildly successful series of best-selling books, the TV series was created by Sam Raimi, creator of the Evil Dead and Spider-man films, and all 22 of the first season episodes credit Terry Goodkind as the main writer. Given all that, I allowed the series the benefit of the doubt and was ultimately glad that I did.
By the third disk the show had hit its stride, with the actors having settled believably into their roles and the episodes having taken on more interesting plots. The show has all the elements essential to a successful fantasy series, believably human characters rising to the struggle between good and evil, magic, monsters, sword-fights, deliciously evil minions, and epic romance. Combine that with stunningly beautiful New Zealand as a setting, and Emmy Award winning music, and suddenly you’re reaching for the next disk in anticipation.
The bonus features “Words of Truth: A Conversation with Terry Goodkind” and “Forging the Sword: Crafting a Legend” were enlightening looks at the creative force behind the series. Ultimately, I was very glad I stuck with the show and I’m eagerly awaiting the premier of season two on November 7th!
Studio: ABC Studios
DVD Release Date: October 13, 2009
Run Time: 550 minutes
Bonus Features
• Forging the Sword: Crafting a Legend
• Words of Truth: A Conversation with Terry Goodkind
• Deleted Scenes
• Audio Commentaries
ComicsOnline gives Legend of the Seeker 3 ½ blasts of wizard fire out of 5.
