And of course, I'll tell you how NOT to do them.
As far as strong female characters in fantasy, Robin McKinley's females always please. Even when they are unsure of themselves or doubt their own motives, they shine through and I can never manage to put a book down once I start it without my own inner turmoil. Sometimes I just have to read the entire book through in one sitting.
I could really see these two books being made into two movies that coincide with each other even though the books can stand alone. I can picture Harry (the heroine from The Blue Sword) settling down one night with her children, trying to get them tucked in and quiet. They ask for a story and she decides to tell them all about the original owner of her sword, Gonturan, the blue sword that only a woman can wield.
She weaves the tale of Lady Aerin, narrating a bit as we go back into Aerin's childhood. And so begins The Hero and The Crown.
I think Harry's character would be perfect to narrate the first movie in third person, then to narrate her own story in first person. And perhaps at one point in The Blue Sword, her husband Corlath can pop in and give a few words of his own about their adventures.
Now, because I'm a stickler for details here are a few things that SHOULD NOT be done with this movie because it would really take away from the story and ruin the entire experience.
Crappy Narrating:
Narrators are meant to give insight and clue the watchers into something that can't be expressed through visuals. Expressing a characters feelings, for example. But lately it seems that most YA-books-turned-movie have narrating at the beginning just to explain every detail of someone's past, their environment, how magic works, etc. This is completely unnecessary.
As far as The Hero and The Crown, it is not necessary to go into detail explaining away kelar at the beginning, for example. It could be shown and hinted at by that horrid girl who teases Aerin for not having the Gift of kelar. This is a movie, use some visuals here. I always think it's better to assume that the members of your audience aren't all complete idiots and can actually figure things out without them being stated right from the get-go.
CG:
So, I know that someone is just itching to make the dragons and other creatures CG and I'm okay with that. I just can't stand when they do CG people in action scenes. Really, it looks like crap. Stop doing it. There's this thing called a blue screen and plenty of actors who can jump and run and fly in a harness.
Changing The Story:
I'm not an idiot, I know things must be adjusted for the big screen. Every detail and side story from a book isn't going to be slapped in there. My main concern is changing the direction of a story or trying to sell it as something it's not. Both of these books have plenty of great action scenes. They would make wonderful action movies, to be sure. But that isn't what they're really about. These stories are about two girls trying to find themselves and their place in a magical and confusing world. This should be the focus of any movies made.
I've said it once and I'll say it again, don't Eragon this shit.
Other than that, I think these two books would be excellent movies. Strong heroines in movies is in right now what with The Hunger Games trilogy and Divergent so, why not?
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