I didn’t read this series when I was a kid, but I finally got around to reading Roger Zelazny’s Chronicles of Amber.
Given it’s an older series, I wasn’t sure how much I’d like it (some of those older series age horribly), but it was actually REALLY good still, and the few minor things that’d aged too much wouldn’t be hard to update for a modern audience.
But the concept of Amber is fantastic, Corwin’s behavior and arc perfect, and I think a TV series could do it justice nowadays. Man, some CGI artists could do some beautiful work depicting a hellride through shadow.
I also would really, really love to see Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern adapted…but there’s a few parts that have aged pretty badly, so it’d need careful handling of things like Lessa and F’lar’s relationship and such. And maybe, you know, keep Jaxom the hell away from Corana.
But I think the whole idea of threadfall, and Impressing dragons, could be done beautifully on the screen. I think a run from Dragonflight to All The Weyrs of Pern (including the Harper Hall Trilogy) could be done. (Then leave the later books out, they don’t really add much, lol.)
The series would need a top-notch composer scoring it, though. I’d vote for Natalie Holt. She did wonderfully with Loki, and it’d be a nice touch having a woman score the series that’d have the Harper Hall Trilogy included in it.
I’ve long wanted Terry Pratchett’s Discworld to be made into a series. I used to think it wouldn’t be possible because of how much the humour relies on the narrator, but after seeing the (IMO successful) Netflix adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events, I think it is possible.
Good Omens showed how well his work can translate to the screen. Just focusing on Ankh Morpork and Vimes could be a great series.
My entry into Discworld was Guards! Guards! and I’d love to see a really good rendition of that. I know a lot of people loves Vimes, and I do too, but I also love Carrot and his werewolf girlfriend and I’d like to see Carrot being Carrot.
I think Susan’s story as the grand-daughter of Death could be great, too.
I know Neil Gaiman has a great deal on his plate shepherding his own works onto the screen, but I wish he magically had a bit of extra time and energy to do something (besides Good Omens) of Pratchett’s.
I think it’s possible, but that none of the attempts so far to do so have had the type of success I’d like to see.
Some of the BBC for-television adaptations have been ok. And some series haven’t.
I’m pretty sure there have been a few books adapted, nowhere near enough though! More, more please.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Discworld_films_and_television_series
I’d like to do a series that takes place after the books where Vimes son goes to the Assasins academy and befriends a fellow student who doesnt realize he is a born wizard. I envision five seasons with each season taking up about 3 to 5 years in story. This allows the actors to age gracefully and gives time for quality writing instead of rushing to get a season out before someone gets pregnant or starts balding.
Each season would follow them through their late teens and 20s as they live and thrive in Anhk-Morport. First season would be them at the academy. Second would be them in the Watch. Third would have them part ways as young Sam advances in the Watch while the other starts working covertly for the Patrician.
It’d generally be villain of the week with some over-arching storylines, showing them solving the same mystery from different perspectives, while mostly having each others back even when its not obvious.
Eventually it would culminate in young Sam taking over the watch from Carrot, while his friend finally faces the music and joins UU.
I’d like to throw Carrot and Angua’s daughter in there too, but that might get in the way of one of the potential storylines. Also I don’t want it to be a Harry Potter clone.
Old Man’s War! Pretty green people fighting aliens! What’s not to like?
I’m honestly surprised none of Scalzi’s works have ended up movies or television series or anything.
But yeah, Old Man’s War would be awesome. It’s such a fun concept.
There was supposed to be a ‘Redshirts’ movie, but it never happened.
That seems common–books are optioned, then the project never gets out of the ground. Then the options are sold again for X number of years, and rinse and repeat.
May be urban legend, but the story is that ‘Stranger In A Strange Land,’ by Robert Heinlein has been optioned more than any other book, and earned the writer more from options than from book sales. It came out in 1961, and was last optioned by SyFy network in 2016. David Bowie tried to make it, and ended up taking elements of it in ‘The Man Who Fell To earth.’
Stranger in a Strange Land was popular enough and written late enough in Heinlein’s career that I’d be somewhat surprised if movie options truly earned him more than book sales (I mean, “stranger in a strange land” and “grok” both entered common parlance)–then again, it’s possible Heinlein got a shit contract for that book, or there were some heavy-hitters optioning the movie for tons of money even if it never got made. He was savvy enough too that he might have jacked up the cost of optioning the book a lot if it was getting a lot of Hollywood nibbles. So maybe it’s not urban legend.
I bet some sci-fi author out there knows if it’s true or not.
To be fair the first book is so much better than the rest that I think it should be a movie, not a show.
well it used to be wheel of time.
My condolences for your loss.
Still is for me. I want to see Jordan’s story and world, not this other one loosely based on his.
Me2 but I would call it more than loosely. Just enough to sorta spoil a better done production that had more fidelity.
Season 2 was a big step up from S1
I agree but mistakes from season 1 are still going to be problematic to the story, still wondering if they are just going to ignore that they made the idea of reincarnating as a different sex as something someone would expect to happen over being something no one would expect.
No one has mentioned The Culture?
There really wouldn’t be much to update because a good chunk of it is still modern. Not only that, but Banks really fucked with gender, ideology, and civil rights in a way that is still incredibly relevant in 2023.
I also really want someone to try to portray Fwi-Song from Consider Phlebas.
I came looking for The Culture. Those are such great stories.
Man, I’ve been stuck in this place where I really want to read those books (somehow I missed them), but I write SFF too and have some near-future thoughts that I don’t want to get tangled up with his stuff. (Part of the reason I went back and read the Chronicles of Amber was to keep my mind away from modern SFF while I work on projects.)
Some day I think I’ll just have to give in and read it and my own stuff is too close to his…oh well. I feel like I’d enjoy his work based on what everyone says about it.
Oh don’t worry, The Culture is anything but near-future. Some concepts are so out there that they border surreal existentialist philosophy.
And some are set in the past! A large period of time is covered.
I think that it is an influence worth risking.
The settings themselves vary wildly, and technically the books occur before, during, and after the present. The level of technology varies wildly.
The one thing in common is the examination of the content of the character of the “human” being, and how we are the same or different, adapt or don’t, expand or hide.
It’s truly masterful work that, yes has cool gizmos and concepts but worries more about how the gizmos make you feel.
THE CHAIR!
Use of Weapons was definitely one of the best of that style I’ve ever read.
I don’t think it would work well as a movie, but I think it would make for a great miniseries with converging chronologies.
PoG would make a good movie or TV show. Imagine Denis V putting Dune level effort into a movie adaptation of it. UoW would easily translate to TV and unlike most Culture novels, wouldn’t require that much CG budget.
Well, I have some good news for you!
Stephen Colbert to Produce ‘Chronicles of Amber’ TV Series Adaptation.
Stephen Colbert strikes me as someone who knows how to respect the source material.
Given his love for fannish things, he’s one of the few people I’d trust with the adaptation.
Huh–crossing my fingers then! It’ll be interesting to see if it actually gets into development.
I was thinking about casting Corwin, and after the finale of Loki, I kinda think Tom Hiddleston would do a great Corwin. I think he could portray Corwin’s arc of fighting for the throne at first just so his brother wouldn’t get it, to someone who doesn’t even want the throne wonderfully. He’d also do great as one of Corwin’s brothers.
But I’d also kinda like to see some newcomer knock it out of the park too.
Stephen Colbert, yay! Robert Kirkman, ugh.
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I have good news and bad news, you can indeed watch Samuel Comes in a TV series, but it’s utter shit. They just took the names and fucking butchered the rest. It’s called “The Watch” if you really want to do this to yourself.
Somewhat related, the hogfather and going postal adaptations are great!
Theres a ton of BBC adaptations, I believe. I know of at least Going Postal and Hogfather
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They did one season of The Watch. It’s not bad.
Damn.
Why did they have to change so much? Like, if you told me that trailer was for some sci-fi border world cop, that would make sense. Why the fuck…
The Kingkiller Chronicle
I’m in but only if Rothfuss finishes it first.
Agreed. And only if the movie or show is not produced by Netflix.
Good call.
Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere universe would be fantastic. The last thing I remember hearing was that he was working on a script for a Mistborn movie. I would’ve preferred a TV-show, but he feels it would work better as a movie, and I trust his judgement.
I both want and don’t want the stormlight archives books adapted to movies. On one hand, the books are amazing. On the other hand movie/tv adaptations usually go badly and it would require a lot of special effects that I think would come out badly
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Still waiting for a Mistborn adaptation.
All of Cosmere. Do a Marvel with it.
It won’t work as live action, and Sanderson is probably a little cagey after working on Amazon’s WoT. He would need to have absolute control over the writing.
Wax and Wayne in the style of Fullmetal Alchemist would be amazing though. Comedic but also serious.
The Lies of Locke Lamora would make a fantastic show/movie if done well, and I feel like the vast majority of it is pretty screen-friendly. Basically just some minor cgi for the scorpion-hawk and Falselight and you’re good.
Piers Anthony’s Incarnations of Immortality series of books. The first book alone, where a guy who was about to unalive himself accidentally kills death instead as he walks in the door to take his soul, would make an awesome series. Each book takes on a different aspect of Immortality (Death, War, Time, Nature, etc.) and how they overcome Satan by not being used for ultimate evil.
That last sentence may seem religion-forward but the author, Piers Anthony, is not a religious writer by any means. Another series of his, Bio of a Space Tyrant, could be an ultra gritty R rated Sci-fi epic with the right director.
It’s unlikely Hollywood will ever touch Piers Anthony with a ten foot pole after some of the stuff he’s self-published in his later years. Like Marion Zimmer Bradley, the SFF world has decided it’s wisest to quietly forget him.
I need to look into this, I was heavily invested in the Adept and Xanth series, and finding book 2 of Bio of a Space Tyrant, physically, is near impossible. I had no idea he was wrapped in any kind of controversy, but to be fair I haven’t kept up with him in over a decade.
Firefly is a stand-alone novel of his with a character who was enthusiastic about her sexual abuse as a five year old. It is more fucked up than it sounds.
Abhorsen / Old Kingdom series.
I don’t like reading but I breezed through the first three books. I think all the dark, necromancy type stuff would be generally well received. The gates of the afterlife also sound really cool to be put in a visual form.
Yeah, it’s a really distinct take on necromancers. The visual look of everything, the rules of the world–all really well designed.
It’d be a great YA movie or series.
I think it would be good, but the whole ‘mental’ aspect of the magic would be impossible to convey well.
Yeah, I was looking for this one. It also always struck me as a good option for VR games once that is a bit more entrenched with the general public.
“Chasm City” by Alastair Reynolds. It’s a standalone novel in a much bigger Revelation Space series. But the plot of this book is quite independent of the series, you don’t need to know the lore to understand it. I think it is very well suited for a movie or a short series.
The setting is hard SciFi, very detailed, but not too crazy.
Reynolds is an excellent writer. Great worldbuilding.
More “The Expanse” would be awesome.
Nah, maybe one more season… but the last few books are not that good.
😲
What didn’t you like about them?
It just gets… dumber? It’s pretty subjective though.
Spoiler alert
- Creatures from other dimensions with mind control technology spanning entire spacetime cannot squash humanity because of a single human/protomolecule hybrid
- Laconia’s absolute compliance with Duarte ruling is so mindless. No conspirators apart from a lone mad scientist… no one even tried to use protomolecule technology to take over the power.
- Humanity adopted protomolecule technology and colonized hundreds of worlds all within lifetime of main characters. The power belongs to Laconian empire. But they still cannot get insurgents found and punished. There is a fucking asteroid base, and Laconians cannot find it.
Not a dumb part, but the main characters, being separated for a long time, don’t get their own interesting storylines. It seems like authors got bored with characters and didn’t know what to do with them. New characters are usually boring. Duarte’s daughter, Kamal’s son - they are just background… The only strong character in focus is Tanaka.
Ah ok, I see. Well I want to be clear, if someone is interested in reading, don’t be deterred by this, make your own opinion. My wife and I loved every book. I really liked Amos’ trajectory especially.
To touch on how I interpreted your points in the story (CONTAINS SPOILERS AND I DON’T KNOW HOW TO HIDE THEM):
-It pointed out the higher dimension beings couldn’t actually pinpoint anything in our spacetime unless a huge amount of energy was released at the exact moment we crossed their dimension through the gates. -It seemed to me that everyone was scared of duarte and even more scared of modifying themselves with protomolecule after his “coma” where he killed someone instantly. -I think I remember the Laconians basically being arrogant and underestimating everyone.
I hear that you have a different opinion and maybe you got burnt out on the books, but I really hope the show finishes them up because I enjoyed them.
I always wonder why sci-fi gets mixed in with fantasy so much? It’s always a pain to find decent movie/show or a book because these categories are treated as the same thing.
In my mind they are trivial to separate and I struggle to think of a single book or a film/show that even comes close to crossing over.
I enjoy quality writing in either genre, but as I get older I gravitate towards sci-fi because most fantasy seems to be written for younger audience with some great exceptions like Chronicles of Amber or Witcher.
And just to stay on topic, I nominate Asprin’s Myth Adventures.
I always wonder why sci-fi gets mixed in with fantasy so much? It’s always a pain to find decent movie/show or a book because these categories are treated as the same thing.
As Arthur C. Clarke famously said:
“You have reached the end of your free trial subscription to ArthurCClarkeQuotes.com”“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”A lot of Sci-Fi stuff is just fantasy with a different coat of paint. Any universe where the technology is just acting as a stand-in for magic qualifies. There are even many settings that blur the line between the two, like Warhammer 40K.
“Hard” Sci Fi is another beast entirely. That would be more like OG Star Trek or even something like The Twilight Zone. Something where the “magic” exists to explore thoughtful/philosophical “What if?” questions rather than simply as a system of magic to serve the fantasy.
As Arthur C. Clarke famously said:
“You have reached the end of your free trial subscription to ArthurCClarkeQuotes.com”“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”I lol’d
Approach is different. If they treat magic as given without trying to understand it - fantasy. If they treat it as advanced tech - sci fi.
But why does it matter? In Dune characters are able use mindfulness to control their body so finely that they can manipulate molecules. So there’s a “scientific explanation” but for all intents and purposes it’s magic.
I don’t understand the need to draw hard lines, the fantasy/sci Fi distinction has always just been a way to describe the setting moreso than the genre. Many fantasy novels read like a typical sci-fi and vice versa.
They’re only trivial to separate if you think the only “real” sci-fi is hard sci-fi. Star Wars, Star Trek, and plenty of other beloved sci-fi series that blur the lines would get lost in the infighting.
I mean, the “war” between sci-fi and fantasy has been going on for decades, and it’s always been ridiculous.
Not really. Like I said in a comment above, if they treat magic as advanced tech to be explored - sci fi. If it’s treated as a given - fantasy.
Hard agree. There’s sci-fi/fantasy settings and then there’s sci-fi/fantasy writing. Star wars is a fantasy story that takes place in a sci-fi setting, if you’re so inclined. But it’s hard fantasy in my books.
If your book is focused on adventure and characters it’s probably fantasy, if your book is focused on humanity or other grander themes it’s probably sci-fi. Focusing on whether there is magic or elves or whatever is completely missing the point in my opinion.
The whole debate is childish. If you refuse to read a book because there is X race or X technology or whatever then you really need to change your priorities.
It’s like when people say “I don’t watch cartoons”. Fuck off!!
My problem with scifi and movies is that most of them are scary/horror. Not so much the case recently, but I remember walking the scifi section being mashed in with the horror section.
Lots of great horror sci fi, but definitely different genres.
Yep, when I’m looking for sci-fi I don’t want elves or whatever. The only pointy ears belong to Mr Spock.
I feel like you mentioning Spock/elves just highlights how similar the two genres are. Sci-Fi (in theory) uses a future universe as a setting in which to explore characters/themes. Fantasy uses a fictional universe as a setting in which to explore characters/themes.
Preferring one to the other feels pedantic. Is Dune sci-fi or fantasy? Does it matter? I say no. Grumpy rant/
