Quite frankly, when the Sci Fi Channel announced it was going to adapt Ursula K. LeGuin's "Earthsea" books as a miniseries, my heart sank. I had fond memories of reading the trilogy and didn't think they could be successfully re-imagined as a TV show.
And the fact that Robert Halmi Sr. — whose work has been underwhelming for years — would be executive producing was not a good sign.
But, lo and behold, things turned out better than I had hoped. "The Legend of Earthsea" is a pretty good two-part TV movie. Not great, certainly, but it easily exceeded my admittedly low expectations.
Based on the first two of LeGuin's Earthsea novels ("A Wizard of Earthsea" and "The Tombs of Atuan"), "Legend" stars Shawn Ashmore (best known as Iceman in the "X-Men" movies) as Ged, the son of a blacksmith who may just turn out to be the greatest wizard the fictional world has seen.
Earthsea is a scary place. Ages ago, the island world was at the mercy of the Nameless Ones — demons who ravaged everything in their path. Eventually, a powerful priestess locked them in the Tombs of Atuan, where they've been guarded for many years by her order, including current Head Priestess Thar (Isabella Rossellini) and her most promising pupil, Tenar (Kristin Kreuk of "Smallville").
But the amulet the original priestess created that preserved the peace in Earthsea has been broken and lost, allowing evil King Tygath (Sebastian Roche) to conquer island after island. He wants to release the Nameless Ones and become immortal.
Ged displays his powers when Tygath's troops attack his village. But he's got an attitude. Too impatient to learn from the wizard Ogion (Danny Glover) who discovers this magical prodigy, he goes to magic school of sorts on the island of Roke. (Yes, it seems sort of Harry Potter-ish, but LeGuin wrote her books long before J.K. Rowling wrote hers.)
Challenged to demonstrate his powers, Ged attempts to raise a spirit from the dead and unleashes a horror upon the world. So he not only has to save Earthsea from Tygath and the Nameless Ones but from his own folly.
This "Earthsea" has obviously been much-simplified from the one LeGuin created in her novels.
But the Sci Fi two-parter is a watchable adventure that's great to look at and increasingly involving as it goes along.
And if there are any young viewers out there who get interested and go read LeGuin's books as a result of seeing "Earthsea," so much the better.
Two-night event
Part 1 of "The Legend of Earthsea" airs tonight at 7, 9 and 11 on the Sci Fi Channel. Part 2 airs Tuesday at 7, 9 and 11 p.m.
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com