Like many a passionate young fantasy reader in a certain era, I quickly realized I could only reread The Lord of the Rings so many times. So when I discovered Raymond E. Feist’s Tolkien-influenced Riftwar Saga, I fell in love. The books had some of the same elements—dwarves under the mountains, elves in the woods, mythic old mages sneaking around—but with a magician-in-training main character who was entirely to my can-I-please-grow-up-to-be-a-wizard tastes.
I haven’t re-read Riftwar (by which I mean the first three-or-four books, depending on how you’re counting) in years. I remember them in a slideshow: young Pug, chosen as apprentice by the magician Kulgan; the soldier Tomas meeting a dragon deep in a cave; Martin the forester, friend to the elves; the hunt for the cure for Arutha’s poisoned princess; Jimmy the Hand, the thief who turns squire.
You might notice a theme there.
Every major character in this series is male.
Riftwar was very Of Its Time, which is a gentle way of saying that in order for this show to work, its story needs to be updated somewhat. The minute I read about the series, I wanted one key thing from the show:
They need to Starbuck it up.
Imagine, for a moment, seeing on screen a classic Western fantasy world that doesn’t lean heavily on outdated gender norms. Imagine a world where there are powerful and wise magicians and soldiers and thieves and royal heirs … and they are not all male. And I’m not just talking about when there’s one young woman denying the expectations of her gender. I’m talking about reconsidering those expectations entirely.
And then imagine Jenny the Hand, raised as a thief, befriending the younger prince of the kingdom. Imagine Jenny the Hand being brought into the royal confidence, saving the day, going on adventures bigger than she ever thought when she was thieving in the capital.
A Riftwar TV series needs to gender-swap at least two of the main characters.
Besides Jimmy (who doesn’t appear for a bit anyway), my favorite candidate is Tomas, who becomes consort to the Elf Queen and winds up something not entirely human due to some strange armor. I imagine Brienne of Tarth, now, when I think Tomas, and gender-swapping him creates another opportunity: don’t change the part of the plot that has her fall in love with Queen Aglaranna.
Frankly I’d be thrilled if Pug himself were gender-swapped, but as long as we get some female magicians, it’ll be an improvement. And maybe it’s time for the long-lived, meddling wizard to be female. Maybe a prime candidate for gender-swapping is Macros the Black.
This is just the start: it would also make sense to introduce Kelewan and the Tsurani right from the get-go—giving their narrative equal footing with that of Pug and company, and not treating them as baffling and alien. And definitely don’t skimp on the Dragon Lords and chaos magic. And (while we’re wishing) please cast everyone from Black Sails who isn’t currently starring on another show, because they’re all brilliant and perfect and now that I’ve considered Tom Hopper as Lyam conDoin, I really can’t unsee it.
Molly Templeton has such a long list of ’80s and ’90s to fantasy to reread and cannot decide where to start. Feist? Clayton? Rawn? Hambly?
Alternate take: don’t do that, make a bunch of the characters gay instead because there are far less queer male characters on TV than there are female ones.
Yeah, no. Plenty of book series with females and female leads. Work to get one of those on to the tv/movie screen instead of hijacking existing works. Kate Elliott’s excellent Crown of Stars series comes to mind.
‘Representation’ is much more important than literary integrity?
This is interesting.
What do the following have in common:
Van Helsing
Wynonna Earp
Lost Girl
Killjoys
Orphan Black
Star Trek Discovery
New Dr. Who
Dark Matter
Sanctuary
True Blood
You guessed it, all genre shows with a strong female protagonist. The gender wars in genre tv have already been fought, and we all won.
I have no problem with the idea in principle, but lets respect respect the author’s creation…. there’s a reason he made those characters that way (whatever it may be).
I also second the idea – you want strong female character-led programming, there are umpteen authors with IP that would fit that bill. Myself? I’d love to see Elizabeth Moon’s world brought to life on TV (or better yet, Barbara Hambley’s Sun Wolf and Starhawk novels).
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At the end of Mistress of the Empire it was revealed that the Magicians Assembly had been quietly killing off girls with magical power although I suspect that might have been a retcon rather than original author intent.
In general the Empire series, co-written with Janny Wurts, is better for female representation (and personally I find it tighter plotted and a more original setting). Still very patriachal.
Yes! Adding more women and nonbinary characters can only make a story more interesting. A shift in medium seems to me to be a good chance to explore ways to approach a story and how it can be presented differently. An older, already optioned fantasy series with a strong plot and characters seems to me a perfect candidate for this kind of reimagining.
Making Tomas and Ashen Shugar different genders would have an interesting effect.
With respect I must disagree. I am very much on the left of the political spectrum so this is a little difficult for me but I believe that the book should be rendered to video as it was written. I say this because speculative fiction is changing with the times. Strong female characters and nonbinary characters can be found in Deed of Paksenarrion, Wheel of Time, Game of Thrones and Malazan Book of the Fallen to name a few. And as with GOT I would very much desire the original work to be honored as it was written. I wouldn’t want any of those works altered either. I mean, can you imagine Paks as a man?!? Not on my life!
Hmm…Nah. I mean, if there was a good reason for doing so then I would be on board, but if it’s done only because it can be done then I don’t think it’s a very good idea.
Changing character gender would not work Jimmy the Hand has a big role in Krondor Sons series where he marries Pugs daughter. And Thomas has a son that is also a big role in that series.
I am all for women equality but this is a medieval setting plus then next trilogy has mostly female roles The Empire Trilogy. Let’s keep the book how it was written for TV and not mess up the series down the road for spin off of the other universe of the RiftWar Cycle
@16 Why can’t Jimmy (female) marry Pug’s daughter? Or change Pug’s daughter to a son.
I’m all for this change. For people saying he wrote it this way for a reason. You’re not wrong. The reason is it was the 1980’s.
I think we are all suffering reboot/remake fatigue by now. Just get some new ideas rather than “playing” with the past (this is code for running out of original ideas btw). Or to put it even simpler, look forward. Not back. Don’t be Warhol, be Da Vinci.
If you want to make a male dominated fantasy tv series based on a book series….then pick something blokey like the Riftwar. If you want to make a female dominated fantasy tv series bases on a book series choose something with plenty of females like the Thousand Names.
Just don’t be lazy and “re-work” someone else’s art.
Change for the sake of change is a waste of time & creative energy. I’ve enjoyed lots of stories that use classics of the genre as a narrative seed. And I enjoy them more & more the further they grow into their own fresh green stem.
This is nothing like that. It’s an adaptation, not an adoption of an idea to create something new.
The necessities of catering to the different medium will probably see notable changes made to the story. Adding token gender swaps will only magnify the alienation of fans & the toxicity of the debate.
As a few have already said, there is plenty of work out there from brilliant authors, whose stories are not grounded in outdated gender norms, and don’t need changing. The central idea in this piece is lazy & unimaginative. Worse still, the specific suggestions co-opt the most interesting & unique aspects of the story & ruin key points of conflict that run throughout the series.
In an adaptation, I would prefer to see as much as possible of what is already there, on the screen, not kowtowing to someone’s notion of modern gender politics.
It’s kind of puzzling to me, all of this strict loyalty to the text of the Riftwar books. Maybe it’s because I actually like it when they change things in adaptation (things will change because they have to change for a new medium, regardless… might as well make interesting changes!). Or maybe it’s that I remember these books as being… just okay. But personally, I’m all for shaking things up a little.
Being practical and leaving aside questions of literary purity, the creators of this show are going to ensure that there is at least one meaty role for a female character (hopefully more than one!) and since there are no such roles in the books, they’re going to have to create one. Would you rather they create a brand new character and shoehorn her into the plot (think The Hobbit)? Or would you rather they take an existing character where there’s no real fundamental reason why he has to be male and just genderswap him? At least in that case, you’d have some assurance that her plot and character will actually be interesting.
Much as I enjoyed Magician when I first read it, even in the 80s it was a bit predictably traditional and, dare I say, derivative. Sure, gender/colour/sex it up a whole lot, cast interesting people, just like Shakespeare nowadays. And women aren’t ‘winning’, just reflecting the world out there imo.
Adaptations adapt. What works for words on a page don’t work for images on a screen. For many people, one of those things is having a whole bunch of visually indistinct characters – ie all of them being males of a common ethnicity for example. Having a variety in terms of gender and race is an easy fix for this, and one that gets good press.
Instead of doing that, let’s just take my suggestion: do Riftwar and Empire at the same time. The plot will follow three main characters: Tomas, Pug and Mara, with Pug being the bridge between the worlds (as he is in the books). Show both worlds and sides of the war at the same time.
Beef up a little bit of Mara’s participation in the earlier part of the war. Make her accompany her father or her brother in some war councils, and then decide to go to a monastery to become a nun. Then later show the start of her story (her receiving the news that all her family has been killed in the other world and that she must take the role of lady of her house). Increase her interactions with Pug the slave and Pug the magician. Make Kevin play a more important part in Kelewan’s defense, introduce him before he’s taken as a slave. And so on.
Just because you can do something doesn’t mean that you should. The books are popular for a reason and as much as I know that what is written, or drawn, in a book can’t always be translated to the screen I still want to see things as accurate to the source material as possible.
Now as “problematic” as it is for women to be cast in sci-fi and fantasy book adaptations just look at how many LGBT characters there are in any books, TV series, and movies. When was the last time there was a non cis, white, hetero that was the lead in any US show? John Constantine is bisexual in the comics but straight on the show.
Whatever we all say doesn’t matter because I’ll still tune into the show and enjoy it.
I enjoy a good gender-swap, but I really loved the bromance/brotherhood of Pug and Tomas through the series, so I’d like those two to stay boys/men – I think Martin would be a good one to swap, and Macros would be awesome as either a woman or non-binary/androgynous. I worry a swapped Jimmy would feel too much like an Arya Stark clone, but that would be fun anyway. Without offending series purists, they could simply strengthen the women characters already in the story plus add some new ones. The Elf Queen, Carline, Anita, bring in Mara’s story – these can all be compelling women as more than love interests, plus half of all the soldiers could be women just matter of factly.
Meh, no thanks. I’d like it the way it was written. Sometimes I enjoy gender-swaps but in this case I’d like them to stick to the source material. Race-wise, I’m fine with them mixing it up though!
“Adding token gender swaps will only magnify the alienation of fans & the toxicity of the debate.” It may alienate a small minority of male fans, but it will enfranchise a large proportion of female fans or bring in new female fans.
It shocks me that people don’t see a problem with a world that is nearly 100% male dominated and get so upset about the idea that this might not happen. Think about the other 50% of the population and about whether they deserve representation or not.
Changing gender won’t dramatically impact on the plot or the story. All it will change is there will be one less male and one more female. There will be drastic changes I’m sure, but they will be because need to watch it instead of read it. And that is also OK.
@27 “I enjoy a good gender-swap, but I really loved the bromance/brotherhood of Pug and Tomas through the series, so I’d like those two to stay boys/men” I initally agreed with you. Then I thought, why not show a platonic relationship between a boy/girl? Friendships without romantic inclinations are rarely portrayed.
No. Keep it how it is. There are strong women in the original books beef them up if you want more rep. I’m a woman and I love these books and these characters. There are tons of female led franchises in Fantasy use them if you can’t stand watching men.
I initially also thought a female Pug would be a great idea, but it runs up against the fact that the Great Ones of the Tsurani kill all the female potentials. And the sexism of that society is integral.
Honestly, gender-swapping or sexuality-swapping some of the characters is the one of the only things that could get me to watch it. I got through King’s Buccaneer before realizing how much women were sidelined. And then I lost interest. The problem with gender-swapping a lot of the cast is that this is a patriarchal society (benevolently patriarchal, but still). So you can’t gender-swap without changing the structure of the society. In my opinion, the best way to handle it and stay even a little true to the source material (if that is something that matters to you) is to beef up the role of the existing women and critique the society as you go. I’d watch that.
Leave the book the way it is. Gender swapping or sexuality swapping would ruin the show. The books were best sellers the way they are, why change it.
I understand the desire to see People Like Us as protagonists, and how good that feels. But isn’t it a bit problematic to say the original author wrote well enough to deserve a TV adaptation, and yet think that the characters and their cultural setting should be totally rewritten? I can’t help thinking of the infamous TV version of Earthsea. Or the ‘Dr Who is half human’ abomination. Or Dr Bowdler, going further back.
I guess what I’m saying is: wouldn’t it be better to look for more fulfilling source material, if this doesn’t work for you?
I see it as far more problematic to take the text as dogma. As a text that is perfect and that no changes should be made.
They did write well enough. No one is attacking the books, the story, or the author. Feist wrote a book in an era where female representation was very much lacking. This gives an opportunity for the other 50% of the world to see themselves. I have enough characters I can identify with.
All books have flaws. Being a fan shouldnt mean you are uncritical. Wheel of time is my favourite series, but if I had my way I’d cut a lot of book 10 for the eventual tv series adaptation! I’m sure if I reread the riftwar saga I’d find that some bits don’t work for me.
Sorry its a bit rough. on phone.
No love for poor M. A. R. Barker?
I, for one, would MUCH rather see a TV series based on Empire of the Petal Throne.
Hasn’t pretty much every company to touch EPT imploded? Aside from DAW Books?
@35, Personally I’ve never had a problem identifying with a congenial male character and there are tons of female characters I do not identify with in any way, shape or form.
@38: That is a valid point, sadly.
Awful idea. Tomas is as good as he is! So are Pug and Jimmy. But you may introduce Miranda earlier, she is a cool character.
I think swapping gender for some of the characters would cause issues with later story lines if the show ran past the first three books. You also run the risk of driving away the fan base by altering the books to much. I would suggest leaving most of the genders the same, Pug, Tomas etc. But if for example you made Laurrie an older woman it would work quite well. His plot lines regarding Carline are not important to the whole story. A world weary female minstrel character would play well to my mind. On top of that if you gave Carline a much larger role beyond being the romantic interest of a number of male characters. She is written as a strong female presence but gets very little to do in the main story. Let her fight in the siege, ride to ask the King for aid, run the Barony while her brothers are away or even stow away on the trip to Krondor. Beyond Magician she could run Krondor in her brothers stead or join the Hopeless Quest for the Silverthorn. I understand the desire for more female cast members with real roles to play, but think this can be achieved without making vast changes to the written text. Other characters like Galin or Fannon could also be gender swapped with no effect on the future plot. Bigger roles for existing female characters and a few changes to others.
First off, Feist is one of the producers on the optioned series, and it’s more than doubtful that he’d allow gender politics to influence the adaptation of his widely loved Riftwar Cycle. Its long running popularity and continued sales are more than compelling enough reason to believe that no such changes are required to ensure large viewership of the upcoming television series, so it’s also doubtful that other decision makers would push for this category of changes.
The initial viewership base for adapted books, from which its popularity expands, are the fans, who, I’m fairly confident in saying, would for the most part be strongly opposed to any departure from the original story that isn’t forced by adaptation to a different medium, limited finances, legal issues, or time constraints.
My personal opinion is that the various settings in the fictional world drive the cultures. In the case of Crydee, the writing is Medieval appropriate with regards to gender roles, yet those same gender roles don’t apply to all the cultures Feist wrote in, such as with Armengar, and parts of Kesh.
I don’t think gender-swapping the heck out of a literary classic would enhance the story, nor would playing with sexual orientations. More likely, unnecessary departure from the source material, particularly in a manner so frivolous and blasé, would result in a backlash from the fan base, which has been known in some cases to make or break such endeavours.
I don’t mind the gender swap thing but with this I’d say now. It’s a span of works that encompass over 20 years of the authors life with at least 20 books and beginning and ending with magician.
Without getting into the specifics of the other characters im just gona say this one: How can aglarana and tomas have calis if tomas is a woman?
The mythology of the show, everything about it, is a carefully woven story and one strand pulled or changed will change the whole story. This one needs to be left as is with males being males and females being females.
Just look at the other fantasy tv shows:
LoTR: Stuck to the books as much as possible. One of the biggest movie series of all times.
GOT: Stuck to the books as much as possible. Biggest show ever.
Legend of the seeker: Changed completly from the books. No one watched. Canceled after 2 seasons.
Shannara: Same as above.
The writters of the show need to stick to the books as much as possible if they want this show to be a success. Which i hope it is as this series is what got me into reading.
Personally, I don’t believe this is a good idea. The premise of genderswapping characters in a story itself is fine, but I believe that for a series’s first chance to be adapted to a new media, it should stay as close to the script as possible. I had no problem with the recent Ghostbusters reboot as a concept (though the execution could have been much better), because it was taking an old movie that had already been shown in movie form as the original creator desired it. Rebooting it with genderswapped characters was fine because the original script had it’s time in the sun. If we had a successful adaptation of the Riftwar Cycle that stayed true to the script, I would have no issues with a subsequent genderswapped reboot.
As for the motivation to genderswap characters to provide a strong female cast, just use another series. Respect the author’s original story they worked for decades on and allow them to tell the story they wanted to before you jump in and ask for changes. If you want to tell the story of a group of powerful women, maybe find a story about a group of powerful women.
I love series with strong female protagonists, and the fact that I’m a man doesn’t keep me from enjoying Anita Blake or Honor Harrington. Sometimes I enjoy a gender swap, when it’s well done, as with the recent Jane Foster Thor.
My problem is that changing these to female characters would require re-writing major portions of the original story, as well as re-writing major portions of the world in which it was set.
While Midkemia is a fictional world, and the author could have written it how he wanted, how he did write it was with a lot of similarities to society’s that existed her on Earth in the past. If you read the Serpentwar Series, you’ll notice that male characters are also expected to marry as their king/family commands, so it’s not just limited to female characters who are treated that way. Because of that, if you make Pug or Tomas or both female, you remove them from the story. Why? Because a Duke and his sons would not travel with an underage female who was part of the court. An underage female would not be a squire. An underage female would not have been chosen as the Duke’s daughter’s riding companion. That’s not to say a girl couldn’t have done these things. It’s to say that it wouldn’t have happened in the society that existed in these novels.
I agree with the previous posters who suggest pushing your support for a series that already has strong, female protagonists, rather than trying to force one into an already existing work. I personally have longed to see Mercedes Lackey’s 500 Kingdom or Elemental Master series adapted for TV.