u/MattBookworm8640

Given Flanagan’s comments about Callahan potentially being swapped with another character due to rights issues, and with the last Talisman book coming out in a few months, what do we all think about Jack Sawyer hypothetically replacing him? This is of course just going by the first two Talisman books, obviously we have no idea what’ll happen in Other Worlds Than These.

I was just thinking how if whichever network or streaming service airing the DT show does an adaption of the Talisman books as sort of a spinoff to build up the DT tv universe, this could be a great way of tying the two shows together more directly. Plus idk this might be a way for the network or streaming execs to keep the franchise more strictly/familiarly fantasy?

JS - like Callahan - has an established background of flipping between realities and fighting the Crimson King’s forces. After a whole Talisman tv show too where we’ve followed Jack’s story, audiences will probably have a much deeper attachment to Jack than they ever would be able to have with Callahan

I’ve always been a lifelong reader of mostly novelistic fantasy fiction - my all time favorite series to date being Middle Earth, ASOIAF, Second Apocalypse, Dandelion Dynasty, Earthsea, Conan, Deverry, Osten Ard, Bas Lag and Dune (science-fantasy). I’ve very rarely read comics as an adult aside from Sandman and Dark Tower which were both pretty solid (sandman especially because of how deeply layered it was and how it often mixed in multiple pages straight of just pure novelistic prose which I loved).

I’ve seen Monstress pop up a ton recently though in recommendation threads across Reddit amd it looks really promising with it being a blend of epic/dark fantasy, steampunk and cosmic Lovecraftian horror. I love too how it apparently delves a lot into Japanese monster mythology

I’ve always been a lifelong reader of novelistic fantasy fiction - I’ve very rarely read comics as an adult aside from Sandman and Dark Tower which were both pretty solid (sandman especially because of how deeply layered it was and how it often mixed in multiple pages straight of just pure novelistic prose which I loved). I’ve seen Monstress pop up a ton recently though in recommendation threads across Reddit amd it looks really promising with it being a blend of epic/dark fantasy, steampunk and cosmic Lovecraftian horror. I love too how it apparently delves a lot into Japanese monster mythology

Or maybe AMC already knows it’s too late. I mean I guess that would explain why we’ve heard nothing from them about the future of the franchise, even with Daryl Dixon ending in a few months and Dead City Season 3 airing this month with no Season 4 greenlit yet (I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets canned what with its ratings being borderline abysmal).

I know Gimple is always yapping about his hopes for an epic Avengers style reunion event (eye-roll) but that’s never happening he’s basically just trying to keep the PR machine going as per his job. I don’t even want anything like that anyway though, it should’ve been the last half of the main show but it wasn’t and the main show has now been done for years. Move on.

The only genuinely interesting kinda approach for me is them doing a complete and I mean COMPLETE reset with a new cast of characters, an entirely new environment and different ideas for the lore of the universe that they actually follow through on. I’d love a tribal warfare type show set in Africa, or a (very loose) adaption of TWD Typhoon

Over the years I have experimented with various genres of classic lit from Jane Austen’s regency romances (or comedy of manners) to Charles Dickens and William Thackeray’s social satires to the pulpy action-adventure stories of H Rider Haggard and Jules Verne. I’ve found lately that I tend to gravitate the most consistently however to epic literature like War and Peace, Les Miserables, Count of Monte Cristo, all of the ancient epics (Homer’s stuff, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Mahabharata, Orlando Furioso, Le Morte D’Artur, etc)

I’m talking about the meta aspect with King inserting himself into the universe as the ka-tets creator and the whole plotline Books 6/7 revolve around with them trying to stop his car accident so he can finish the last few books. And the Crimson King being built up for so long only to be erased by a pencil lol

I absolutely hated that aspect of the series personally, it knocked DT down from being one of my top 5 favorite fantasy sagas (I usually tend to just go back and reread the first four books and Wind Through The Keyhole, I think I’ve only re-read 5-7 like twice). So I wouldn’t be sad to see it go for the tv show

I’ve been meaning to check this series out for the longest while, as a fan of epic/political space operas and having already devoured Cherryh’s Morgaine and Faded Sun science-fantasy books. I did recently see though that Cherryh retired from writing due to her health issues so I’m wondering now if this 20 book commitment is worth it? I know it’s split into trilogies that are somewhat self contained but I imagine it still tells one big overarching story with a designed beginning middle and end so I don’t want to get to the end and be left unsatisfied with tons of unfinished character arcs and plot threads

I recently plowed through the entire Books of Earthsea and I already know for a fact that I’ll be endlessly re-reading these stories for years to come. The world Le Gujn built is just so indescribably rich it rivals my other favorite fantasy worlds as of right now: Tolkien’s Middle Earth, GRRM’s Westeros, Tad William’s Osten Ard and R Scott Bakker’s Earwa. From the linguistics/philosophy-focused magic at the core of the world (knowing the true name of animals/people/objects and and maintaining the worlds balance through equilibrium) to the lush descriptions of archipelago life (sailing, trading) to all the historical parallels to Bronze Age Polynesia to the Native American styled mythology. I love how truly ancient the world feels too, with the mysterious Hardic rune system, all of the forgotten ruins everywhere, the gradually increasing amount of lore (as if she’s dusting off newly discovered tablets/manuscripts from an archeological dig), etc.

I’ve been meaning to check this series out for the longest while, as a fan of epic/political space operas and having already devoured Cherryh’s Morgaine and Faded Sun science-fantasy books. I did recently see though that Cherryh retired from writing due to her health issues so I’m wondering now if this 20 book commitment is worth it? I know it’s split into trilogies that are somewhat self contained but I imagine it still tells one big overarching story with a designed beginning middle and end so I don’t want to get to the end and be left unsatisfied with tons of unfinished character arcs and plot threads

Has anyone heard at all what AMC’s plan tentatively is for the future of the franchise once Daryl Dixon and Dead City are over with? DD is coming to an end in a few months and DC is airing this month with no word of whether there will be a Season 4 (I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s cancelled since the ratings are borderline abysmal, lower than half the shows AMC has cancelled in recent years).

I know Gimple is always yapping about wanting an epic Avengers style reunion but that’ll never happen at this point in the franchise’s run for so many reasons (least of all because AMC can’t afford it).

Tbh I think the only way forward is to have a new show or shows with a completely new take on the mythology, new characters and a new setting

The first two books are without a doubt among my most disappointing reads of 2026 to date. I was so excited to get into this series because on paper it sounded so promising! Biblical mythology (which is sorely underutilized in fantasy), pulpy grindhouse vibes, tons of John Wick esque action, etc. However the prose just continually drove me up a wall, I couldn’t after the second book it just exhausted me too much and I was literally forcing my way through each page it felt like. I wasn’t feeling immersed in Stark as the main character at all either and the supporting characters fell completely flat (Mason was such an indescribably weak and banal antagonist for the first book). The world-building too I thought was woefully underdeveloped - maybe thats not necessarily fair of me to complain about since I only got two books in but Dresden managed to hit the ground running in terms of its world-building right from the get go.