Today, the guys in the Goodreads Top 5 Wednesday group had a great topic: Books You Want to See as TV Shows
Cool topic. I mean, there are lots of great books/series out there that would make great television series. Like everyone else, I have favorites that I would love to see up on screen, but I think I’m going to try to pick stories I can visualize being “tv ready.”
5. VICIOUS CIRCUIT
This series is tailor made to be put on tv. We have two characters dealing with creepy, mysterious entities preying on humanity, one of whom is a former teen heartthrob. Plus it is filled with humor, action, gore, and suspense. Robert Brockway’s punk rock fantasy is something I’m sure people would love to sit down and binge watch on a weekend.
4. DEMON CYCLE
Okay, if Legend of the Seeker actually made it onto television, I think Peter Brett’s much superior story of human kind’s fight to survive in a world infested with demons would be a certain hit. I mean, who wouldn’t love this tale of a boy growing up determined to uncover ancient wards to fight off demons while finding a new home, falling in love, and having to make tough choices about how to live his life. I’m telling you it would be huge!
3. POWDER MAGE
Flintlock fantasy at its finest. This tale of powder mages, sorcerers, and gods set in a French Revolution-type setting would be easy for people to feel familiar with yet different enough to intrigue them. The revolutionary struggle, political machination, and subtle magic aren’t up there with A Game of Thrones, but they are still there to be used by a deft screen writer. Plus this series has powder mages, brother, and these guys are damn cool to read about.
2. GREATCOATS
Three Musketeer-esque tale with unique twists and turns, back-stabbing allies, and some damn cool characters. It even has a good bit of humor, which could be emphasized even more if deemed appropriate. But, at its heart, this is a grimdark tale as dark as George R.R. Martin’s more famous saga ever has been with the main characters having to go through hell and back to see that their dead king’s dream of a better land is not forgotten.
1. RIYRIAN REVELATIONS
Who would not love this story of Hadrian Blackwater (the master bladesman) and Royce Melborn (the merciless assassin) who somehow become friends and then form one hell of a dynamic duo for hire? No one. It is perfect television material. Add in the fact these two friends bicker all the time, never see things alike, rub elbows with the royals and other important people, and always seem to stumble into outrageous and earth shattering events, and you can see why this tv show being one of the most watched shows ever.
bookwraiths.com 
This makes me wonder why it seems so hard to get fantasy onto TV.
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It has always made me scratch my head as well. Look how successful A Game of Thrones has been. I mean, there are lots of amazing fantasy out there that would transition well to tv — IF they do the stories justice. Most of the time they don’t, which is why we get things like THE SHANNARA CHRONICLES.
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I never read Shannara, so I wasn’t too horrified by the TV show. Still, I found myself groaning at a lot of the character decisions. Seemed like it was stuffing too much in there and having the heroes make bad decisions on purpose to keep things going. A possibility is that GoT has more freedom being on HBO while the other attempts are on basic cable or worse.
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Being on HBO definitely helped GoT stay true to its dark nature, but I think the people in charge of it also made the decision to stay true to the roots of the story, not change everything to make it fit the going trend. SHANNARA CHRONICLES is a prime example of the opposite approach, where tv execs take a classic fantasy and updating it until it is nothing at all like the original anymore. The show is nearly unwatchable, and I’ve never been a huge Shannara fan, so I think I’m being unbiased when I say that.
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I have a friend who loves the series and he bailed halfway through the first episode. One of the reasons I kept watching was to ask him about big scenes and find out if they’re right or wrong. Reminds me of how I reacted to the 2nd and 3rd ‘Hobbit’ movie. Being on MTV probably caused the creators to focus on the romance aspect that apparently was never in the series.
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Eurgh, Legend of the Seeker! 😂
I’d love to see both The Warded Man and Greatcoats as TV shows, top choices.
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It would be amazing to see Falcio or Arlen on tv. My wife would never be able to watch HGTV again. 🙂
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The McClennan world would be amazing on screen, and I would love to see it take life before my eyes. And I agree on the Riyria series as well: there would be fun and adventure to be enjoyed…
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You can’t go wrong with either. Seeing powder mages in action would be amazing though.
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Oooh Riyria books would make a fantastic tv-show!
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You can’t go wrong with Hadrian and Royce. 🙂
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Great choices! I would watch every one of those.
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Powder Mage would be amazing! Just thinking about the visual aesthetics of the setting is great enough, plus I think the story is good for a TV adaptation.
I love that we’re hearing more and more fantasy series’s TV rights being bought and adapted. I hope a large number of them comes to fruition and more importantly, that they will be amazing adaptations 🙂
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Reblogged this on Archer's Aim and commented:
Just had to reblog this one from Bookwraiths.com. These look like interesting TV books. I really agree with Riyrian Revelations!
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