Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. This week’s theme is:
May 14: Page to Screen Freebie
We all know that book-to-movie/book-to-TV adaptations can go one of two ways. They’re either brilliant, or awful and there’s usually no in between.
But recently, I’ve seen a lot of good adaptations, especially from Netflix, which gives me hope for the future that adaptations will continue to get better and better. So I decided to pick ten books that I’d love to see adapted for TV, on the provision that they’re done brilliantly.
Empire of Sand is rich in imagery and magic, with some amazing fight scenes that would look fantastic with the right CGI.
I would love to see the author co-direct this, because I feel like she could really make her vision of the book come alive.
I’m debated with myself before listing this one over whether The Name of the Wind would be better as a TV show or a film. But TV won, because serialised shows often offer more scope for the plot to be followed accurately and in detail.
Especially when the plot is as complex as TNOTW is and there’s a lot of detail that would need to be included for it to be done well.
All the elemental magic in Air Awakens would be so great in a TV show, it would be like a live-action version of Avatar: The Last Airbender (but better than the movie).
The Black Tides of Heaven and the other three books in the Tensorate series would be amazing as a TV show. The dark scintillating world and growing tensions between the Machinists and Tensors would be intense and exciting to watch.
Can you even imagine Priory as a TV show?! It would be astounding. The dragons, the landscapes, the battles. Everything would be so luscious to watch and the political intrigue would make it a thrilling show. Netflix, make it happen.
I’d really like to see the entire Magician’s Guild series adapted for TV, starting with the prequel, The Magician’s Apprentice.
This is set 100 (maybe more) years before the trilogy, and would make a great beginning to the show. It would even be its own separate show and I could see it being a big hit among high fantasy-loving fans.
If I spend too long imagining Graceling brought to life as a fast-paced, action-packed, badass TV show, I get permanent heart eyes.
Seeing the characters’ powers on screen would be GREAT.
Obviously I couldn’t make this list without including one of my favourite series of all time. A Darker Shade of Magic.
And the best part is, it’s actually happening. Victoria is currently working with the production team to adapt the series for TV. While I’m a little nervous because I want it to be done well, the fact that she’s been so involved fills me with hope and makes me excited for what’s to come.
Confession time: I haven’t actually read this book. But from the amount of praise I’ve seen for it and the synopsis (which quite frankly sounds brilliant), I think it would make an excellent TV show. One that I’d definitely watch.
Sorcerer to the Crown is another book that could look visually stunning on TV. It’s more of a historical fantasy than a high fantasy, but the Regency setting would look rich and luxurious with the right CGI and costumes.
The narrative would also translate really well into a solid plot with good exposition and I’d love to see Zacharias and Prunella’s adventures.
Which books would you love to see adapted by Netflix? Have you seen any adaptations recently that you’ve loved (or hated)?
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I love your picks! And if I remember correctly, there is actually a TV show set in the Kingkiller Chronicle world in the works right now 🙂
Thanks my lovely! Yes, I just looked it up and apparently they’re developing a film, TV series, AND video game?! Also Lin-Manuel Miranda is going to be involved?! I really hope it’s going to be amazing. 😀
I would love to see A Darker Shade of Magic on the TV (though I guess as it’s in production should I say I can’t wait to see it on TV?!) I get what you mean about being a little nervous, when it comes to a series we both love so much it’s inevitable right? But at the moment I’m just stick on the whole idea of seeing my favourite trilogy adapted and in the big screen!
Great post this week Kate. 🙂 ❤️
Yeah, I think a little apprehension is inevitable, but with V being so involved in the project, I’m hoping that it’ll be amazing! I’m scared about who they’ll cast as Kell and Lila though, they have to be perfect 😛
Great list! I think there have been talks about adapting The Fifth Season for TV – it would be amazing in the right hands, it’s such a good series. Every time I see you rave about Priory it makes me more and more excited to read it. 😀
Ah, I didn’t know there were plans to adapt the Fifth Season! I’ve just looked it up and apparently it was optioned for TV in 2017, but there haven’t really been any further developments since then. I really hope it happens though!
I’ve read the first book in the Air Awakens series and I can definitely see it being a brilliant fantasy TV show. Graceling would be epic as well. I didn’t love the other two books in the series, but Graceling was so amazing and would definitely be an epic fast-paced TV show.
I’ve not read Bitterblue, only Graceling and Fire, but Graceling was definitely my favourite of the two! I would be so good as a TV show, the fight scenes could be amazing 😀
Fifth Season was bought by TNT a year or two ago, but haven’t heard any updates since then. I have to imagine it’s quite the beast to wrangle!
I’ve lost track of whether Darker Shade will be a film or TV series, I know both have been discussed since the series was bought by Sony. But I’m so excited that we may get to see an adaptation in the next few years!
Oh I didn’t know the rights had been bought, that’s exciting! Sadly, though, the rights are often picked up early, but then the show/film never gets made 😦 I think ADSOM is going to be a film now, but there’s been talk of both over the last year 🙂
I haven’t read any if thess books yet. I have just started Priory though. But I can tell all these books would be great movies 😃
Ahhh I hope you love Priory! It’s amazing 😀 I just think it would make such a good TV show if everything was done well.
I hadn’t thought about Priory as a TV show, but that would be INCREDIBLE (if done well of course, which is always my worry with book to screen adaptation) ♥
Yes, it’d be amazing! With all of my choices, I picked them on the assumption that they’d be adapted to the best standard they possibly could be, because the worst thing is seeing a book you love adapted poorly 😦