Adaptation – The Saga of Jonathan Volsung

Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell heads for the small screen

11 April 2013

In November last year the BBC quietly announced plans to adapt Susanna Clarke’s multi-award winning novel, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, as a mini-series of 6 hour long episodes. The BBC broke the news so quietly in fact that we missed the announcement of what could well be a television highlight of 2014. Never mind,…

Clockwork Angels: A review

20 October 2012

Gerard Wood

Books, Reviews

Adaptation, Brian Herbert, Dune, Frank Herbert, Rush

Few novels in recent months have crossed my desk for review and been snatched up with as much enthusiasm as Clockwork Angels, a collaboration between legendary Canadian rock band Rush and prolific SF author Kevin J. Anderson. While novelisation’s of rock albums are few and far between – giving this project a certain fascination right off…

Is it game-over for the World of Warcraft movie?

22 July 2012

Gerard Wood

News, Screen

Adaptation, Fantasy, Warcraft

Almost three years of silence have followed the announcement that Sam Raimi was attached to direct a big screen adaptation of Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft. Typically a silence of this magnitude indicates that a project has bitten the dust or found its way into development hell, but reading between the lines of Raimi’s recent announcement…

The adaptation of HBO’s Game of Thrones: Part One

3 July 2012

Gerard Wood

Books, Screen

Adaptation, Fantasy, Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin, HBO

Season Two of HBO’s Game of Thrones has come and gone, and a third season is on the way in 2013. This time last year I was fully hooked, got by GoT you could say, and my enthusiasm for the series knew no bounds. This year, in the wake of Season Two, my enthusiasm is…

The adaptation of HBO’s Game of Thrones: Part Two

2 July 2012

Gerard Wood

Books, Screen

Adaptation, Fantasy, Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin, HBO

Broadly speaking there are three categories of change introduced in Season Two of HBO’s Game of Thrones. For the sake of brevity in an already overly long article, I’ll restrict myself to a few examples, but many more could be provided. [This article continues from The adaptation of HBO’s Game of Thrones: Part One.] The…

John Carter (The Bold and the Beautiful of Mars)

2 March 2012

Gerard Wood

Reviews, Screen

Adaptation, Fantasy

On paper, Disney’s John Carter has much going for it. First and foremost, it’s an adaptation of the enduring pulp fiction of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Perhaps best known as the creator of Tarzan, Burroughs’ creations have been hugely influential and have stood the test of time to become classics of the pulp form. Based on…

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two

17 July 2011

Gerard Wood

Books, Reviews, Screen

Adaptation, Fantasy, Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling

Well, it’s finally over. Ten years in the making, the Harry Potter movie saga has come to an end and by Merlin’s most baggy Y-Fronts, what an end it is. Since David Yates took over as director of the franchise with The Order of the Phoenix (HP 5) and scriptwriter Steve Kloves returned to the fold…

Game of Thrones Season Two starts shooting in July

20 June 2011

Gerard Wood

Books, News, Opinion, Screen

Adaptation, Fantasy, Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin, HBO

Season One of HBO’s Game of Thrones has come and gone and left a dedicated following of slightly shell-shocked fans in its wake. There’s little romance to this fantasy about warring families, political intrigue and the bloody struggle for power, and with a narrative dominated by grim realism we ought to be prepared for the…

Neil Gaiman’s American Gods heads for the big screen

29 March 2011

Gerard Wood

Books, Screen

Adaptation, American Gods, Fantasy, Neil Gaiman

In a recent interview with Digital Spy, Neil Gaiman revealed that American Gods is to be adapted for the big screen. Published in 2001, American Gods is Gaiman’s second novel and is said to be one of the most highly honoured works of modern fiction having won numerous awards, including the Hugo, Nebula, Locus and…

I Am Number Four: another Percy Jackson or rival for the Potter crown?

17 February 2011

Gerard Wood

Books, Reviews, Screen

Adaptation, Fantasy, Pittacus Lore

Pittacus Lore’s novel I Am Number Four was published in 2010, the first in a planned series of six books that will chronicle the adventures of an extraordinary young man with the very ordinary name of John Smith. Even before the ink had a chance to dry, the novel was snapped up by a film…