Optimistic Gamemakers: Roth’s Chosen Ones Movie Rights Already Sold.

See news item here.

The deal marks a reunion of the team that brought Divergent to the big screen: [Erik] Feig acquired the rights to Divergent when he was the head of Summit Entertainment and will now produce, as will Pouya Shahbazian, one of the original Divergent producers. Roth will also act as a producer.

Wow!  There is clearly optimism here especially considering 1) how the Divergent franchise overplayed its hand and imploded and 2) that Hollywood seems to have passed on Roth’s Carve the Mark duology.

This makes me hopeful that the early positive reviews of this volume are deserved. But, if I were Ms. Roth, I would have made purchase of the film right contingent on a producer pledge not to get greedy.  And perhaps asked Mr. Feig to write this 100 times or so, first.

 

Early Reviews for Veronica Roth’s Chosen Ones Look Promising.

About a month ago, Publishers Weekly published a great interview with Veronica Roth, where she talks about a lot of the same topics I addressed in my first article on the book. All Roth readers and fellow Divergent junkies are invited to check it out and discuss.  Notably, she speaks about the hurt she felt when she read about herself described as a “one-note wonder.”  Unfortunately, the interview itself played into that theme a bit by never mentioning her Carve the Mark duology, or any of her other post-Divergent writings.

If the early reviews of Chosen Ones are accurate, though, this could be the series that rids her of that moniker once and for all.  The Publishers Weekly review says that Roth “puts the popular trope of the teenage ‘chosen one’ under the microscope and delves into both the societal impacts of young shoulders carrying the weight of saving the world and the psychological strains of such a responsibility,” and predicts “readers will be delighted by both the magical adventure and the diverse cast.”  Kirkus states, “There’s a lot of magic and action to make for a propulsive plot, but much more impressive are the character studies as Roth takes recognizable and beloved teen-hero types and explores what might happen to them as adults.”

Looking forward to April 7th!!

Chosen Ones Quotation Release

Hot on the heels of the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes excerpt, we get a thesis statement from Veronica Roth about her new book.

The author goes on to say, on her Facebook post:

Every book I write has a couple quotes that are almost like thesis statements. It’s not intentional; I find them when I’m done, these moments of writing when I really figured out what I was trying to say and winnowed it down to just a few words. This is one of the Chosen Ones thesis statements. *
*
Sloane isn’t the one who says this, it’s one of the other Chosen Ones, the one for whom this sentiment is the most appropriate…but it speaks for all of them. The book is FUN, and funnier than anything else I’ve written, and it’s also about this– about the cost of shouldering burdens at a young age, the cost of surviving that. The cost of saving the world. They paid it so other people didn’t have to.

Have I mentioned I’m looking forward to this?  Oh yeah, I have. Between this and the Hunger Games prequel, I’m going to be partying like its 2011.

Add a possible Cormoran Strike 5 and I might just swoon.

 

Giving Tuesday: Sponsor a Hogwarts Professor for the Global Autism Project.

Dear Readers:

I recently had the privilege of being accepted as a Skill Corps Volunteer with the Global Autism Project for July 2020. I will be part of a team traveling to Ecuador, to work in a center for autistic children and provide training for teachers and parents.  My university’s Spencer Center for Civic and Global Engagement is providing a seed grant for the project, but I need to raise 80% of the funds to make this trip a reality.

I am hoping Hogwartsprofessor.com readers who have enjoyed my Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Divergent and Cormoran Strike postings over the years will consider a donation to this cause on this Giving Tuesday. Skill Corps teams travel to places where schools and services for special needs children are scarce, with the long-term goal of establishing self-sufficient local centers.

No gift is too small.  The funding site is here for those who would like to donate.

Many thanks as we enter the holiday season.

Veronica Roth’s Next Book, “Chosen Ones” to Be Published in April

Longtime readers know me as the resident Divergent junkie.  Like a lot of readers, I was disappointed in Allegiant and, though I read Roth’s science fiction duology: Carve the Mark and The Fates Divide Us, the books didn’t grab my imagination enough to post about them.  Not that I didn’t mean to; it just kept moving farther down my priorities list, especially with so much cool Cormoran Strike stuff to write about.

However, I continue to follow Roth’s work. Today, the publication date for her next novel popped up on my social media.  I must say, I am really intrigued by the preview and I hope this is an indication that Roth is returning to her strengths. 

More after the jump.

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