20 fantasy series that deserve a screen adaptation

Mercedes Lackey is one of fantasy’s most prolific authors, with numerous books to her name. Arguably, her most popular series is her sprawling Valdemar saga, which takes place in and around the kingdom of the same name. Though there are many series to choose from in terms of adaptation, either the Arrows trilogy or The Last Herald Mage would lend themselves particularly well (in fact, the latter is in some type of development, but no release date has yet been revealed). Given how enduring the series is — and given that it involves sentient horse-like beings named Companions — it’s easy to see how this would be a fantasy saga that would delight many were it to be brought to the large or small screen.

Ursula K. Le Guin was truly one of the giants of fantasy and science fiction, and she made numerous contributions to the field of speculative fiction during her long life and career. Many of the novels — particularly the first, A Wizard of Earthsea — focus on Ged, and it would be quite entertaining to see these books brought to the screen. In addition to featuring a well-developed and textured world, these books, like so many of LeGuin’s other works, ask weighty philosophical questions. Though Studio Ghibli did an adaptation, and though there has been talk of bringing it to the screen, it is high time for it to be given its due.

Naomi Novik accomplishes a skilled blending of fantasy and historical fiction in her series Temeraire, which takes place in an alternate world where the Napoleonic wars are fought partly on dragonback. The series begins with His Majesty’s Dragon, but it has continued well beyond that, giving potential writers and adapters a great deal of material to work with and bring to the screen. Aside from the innate appeal of dragons, which are always guaranteed to draw eyeballs, there is also the appeal of a story set in the past, which would also draw in those who love historical fiction. 

Brandon Sanderson is undoubtedly one of the most prolific and successful people working in fantasy today. Of particular note is his Mistborn series, and the first trilogy, referred to as Era One, would make for a thrilling trilogy on the big screen, focusing on a group of people called Allmomancers who, one would expect, seek to topple a dictator. It’s filled with characters that it’s easy to cheer for, and the magic system that the series uses would easily lend itself to a movie adaptation. The plot keeps moving at a brisk pace, and with Sanderson’s large and loyal fan base, this could well become a true blockbuster franchise.

The Shannara series by Terry Brooks remains one of the most successful and enduring fantasy series, particularly since it began way back in the 1970s. In the 2010s, it was adapted into a short-lived series called The Shannara Chronicles, but some marked divergences from the source material and a switch in networks between seasons doomed its chances. Thus, the series is ripe for a revival, particularly since there are many more novels to choose from in this sprawling saga. At the heart of the best of them are the members of the Ohmsford family and their numerous encounters with destiny and the fate of the Four Lands. 

Tomi Adeyemi made quite a debut in the fantasy world with the first two volumes of her Legacy of Orisha series. Drawing on the traditions of West Africa, it paints a world in which those who can wield magic have been brutally oppressed until a young woman named Zélie dares to rise and challenge the powers that be. It’s a brutally honest series, and, like all of the great fantasy, it asks some probing questions about the nature of power in the real world. Adapting it into a series or a number of films would bring some much-needed diversity into the realm of fantasy screen storytelling.

Politics, sex, and romance intertwine in The Tithenai Chronicles by Foz Meadows. At the heart of the two currently published novels is the romance between Velasin and Caethari, which begins in less-than-ideal circumstances but slowly burgeons into something beautiful and achingly wonderful. There are quite a few plot twists and turns as the story unfolds, and the series’ expert blending of fantasy with romance and politics would make for a slow-burn TV series for any premium cable network. Viewers would almost certainly fall in love with the lovely couple at its center, just as the many fans of the books have done.

Freya Marske’s The Last Binding perfectly blends romance and fantasy. It focuses on three different couples — Robin and Edwin, Maude and Violet, and Lord Hawthorn and Alan — as they all work to keep a sinister group of magicians from stealing all of the magic in England. There’s more than a little of Downton Abbey to this series, particularly in the way that it focuses on a period of English history that has receded firmly into the past. While there is quite a lot of magic, it’s really the romantic bonds between and among the three couples that allow this series to stand out, and it would make for a refreshingly LGBTQ+-friendly TV series. 

In The Faithful and the Fallen, British fantasist John Gwynne transports the reader to a realm known as the Banished Lands, in which a brewing conflict between angels and demons threatens to sweep up humanity in its maw. The series follows a sprawling cast of characters as they all try to make sense of this world, and though it follows the traditional chosen one narrative, there’s a bracing freshness to Gwynne’s prose that somehow makes it feel new and exciting. It also has a grittiness that would make for a strong screen adaptation, particularly for a network looking to capture a similar feel to Game of Thrones. 

S.A. Chakraborty made quite a splash on the fantasy series with her Daevabad Trilogy, which follows Nahri, a young woman who discovers that there is far more to her ancestry than she ever expected. It’s a rich and textured tale, drawing heavily on the magical traditions and folklore of the Middle East. It is also a heartbreaking story of love, triumph, and sacrifice. In other words, it has a number of incidents that would make for a spell-binding adaptation, particularly if it were made for television, which would give it the space and time to develop its storylines and characters fully.

Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain series has been adapted partially to the big screen in the form of Disney’s poorly received The Black Cauldron. As such, it’s ripe for a reinterpretation for the 21st century, and there’s clearly still an appetite for YA fantasy, as the success of the series Percy Jackson and the Olympians makes clear. Drawing on Welsh mythology and folklore, much of the series is focused on the young boy Taran. The series has more than enough to recommend it to contemporary viewers, including a mythology that hasn’t been as well-represented in fantasy as some others.

Author Guy Gavriel Kay has always excelled at crafting worlds that expertly straddle the line between fantasy and history. His duology, The Sarantine Mosaic, is a brilliant example of this, with a world heavily reminiscent of early Byzantium during the reign of Justinian and Theodora. The series focuses on a number of characters, including the mosaicist Crispin, who become embroiled in the ornate politics of the Sarantine court. There’s much about the series that would lend itself to a screen adaptation, including its brooding main character, as well as the early medieval setting, which would be just the right blend of strange and familiar. 

Kate Elliott’s rigorously detailed series Crown of Stars would be an ideal choice for a television network looking to replicate the success of Game of Thrones. Like Martins’ work, Elliott’s is deeply grounded in the medieval period, and much of the series focuses on Alain and Liath, two youths who begin as typical epic fantasy underdogs but soon become ever more important parts of the world and kingdoms around them. Elliott creates a fully realized and developed world, complete with an impending cataclysm. Still, it’s the characters who allow this series to shine, which would enable it to be a nice addition to the screen fantasy landscape.

Like many other fantasists of his generation, David Eddings wrote somewhat in the shadow of Tolkien. His answer to Tolkien’s work was The Belgariad, a series of five books following a young man named Garion as he sets out on an epic quest to battle a sinister god known as Torak, thus fitting neatly into the paradigm of the chosen one so common in fantasy. Eddings’ story has all of the elements one would expect of the genre and is also remarkably funny. Though it could certainly be adapted for television, its briskly told story would also make it quite suitable for film.

Tad Williams is one of the giants of fantasy, thanks in part to his sprawling epic Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn. Like many other epic series from the 1980s, it focuses on a young orphan, Simon, as he becomes embroiled in a titanic conflict between the people of Osten Ard and a formidable being known only as the Storm King, who seeks to avenge the near-extinction of his people, the Sithi, at the hands of human interlopers. Filled with beautiful prose, heartbreak, and triumph, this particular trilogy would make for an excellent film series, filling the gap left behind by Jackson’s Lord of the Rings two decades ago.

Characterized as gaslamp fantasy, the Shades of Magic series by V.E. Schwab features a fascinating cast of characters spread out among different parallel Londons who have to band together to prevent disaster. It’s a compelling mix of fantasy and some historical fiction elements, and the characters are delightful — fully developed with their motivations and arcs. It would make for a great adaptation and would certainly appeal to fans of such series as Penny Dreadful and Downton Abbey. And while magic is a key part of the series' appeal, there’s also much for those who like their fantasy on the lighter side. 

She Who Became the Sun and its sequel, He Who Drowned the World, is epic fantasy at its best. Focusing on the ascension of the Hongwu Emperor, it’s a tale of brave warriors and scheming courtiers, of people determined to forge their own destiny and the demise of one empire and the rise of another. Even though it is fantasy, it is depicted with such rich and compelling detail that the reader feels they are right there. With its rich historical setting, fascinating (if sometimes enigmatic) protagonists, and a blend of politics, war, and adventure, it has all of the elements of another successful screen adaptation. 

The late Anne McCaffrey was truly one of the giants of fantasy literature, thanks in large part to her Dragonriders of Pern series. Set in the world of Pern, the numerous works that comprise the series sometimes straddle the line between fantasy and sci-fi (often veering more into the latter). Many of them focus on the Dragonriders, who form a strong telepathic bond with their dragons and who play a key role in saving the planet from the sinister Thread, a mycorrhizal thread that poses a deadly danger to all life. The series spawns numerous novels, so there would be more than enough material to draw on for an adaptation.

Jennifer L. Armentrout has a deserved reputation for being one of the most successful romantasy writers working today. Her series From Blood and Ash is particularly beloved among her fans, and it’s easy to see why. The story's focus is young Poppy and her fraught romance with bodyguard Hawk becomes one of the most important aspects of the story. It’s steamy and escapist fun that demonstrates that fantasy doesn’t have to be all swords and knights and quests. As a result, it would make for a great fantasy series for a network that wanted to push past some of the genre’s more restrictive conventions.

Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Legacy is the perfect series for those who like their fantasy filled with sensual eroticism and labyrinthine politics. At the heart of the story is the young courtesan Phèdre Delaunay, who is blessed by the angel Kushiel to experience pleasure as pain. Throughout the trilogy — which comprises Kushiel’s Dart, Kushiel’s Chosen, and Kushiel’s Avatar — she is drawn into treacherous court politics, encounters with ancient demigods, and murderous despots. This series would make for compelling TV drama, and it’s easy to see how it would fit into the production slates of networks like HBO and Starz, both of which have shown strength in this genre.