Fantasy is a genre that has always captivated its readers, although there has been a struggle to translate it to the screen. The dream of success has manifested in movies like The Lord of the Rings and television shows like Game of Thrones. There have been plenty of other attempts to cross into tv and film, but I think without exception there has never been a ’perfect’ fantasy show.
Now, what do I mean by perfect? Take the two stories listed above. Game of Thrones was widely criticized for its ending, which may largely be blamed on different writers (since the book series is still not finished). The Lord of the Rings movies were attacked for being overly long, for casting choices, and for both what was left out and what was included from the books.
It seems like it is probably impossible to please everyone during the translation from the page. To put it mildly, everyone has a different image in their mind’s eye as they read a book, so it is impossible to please them all. The director’s vision is different from the reader’s vision, which is different from the writer’s vision. The best you can do is make your own vision, and be prepared for the bouquets and brickbats which come your way.
Here I’m going to present a number of fantasy films and television shows, and tell you what I think of them. This is nowhere near a comprehensive list of what I’ve seen, let alone what is out there. I’m simply talking about shows which come to mind.
Timeless Classics
Some adaptations are so monumentally successful they pull in a much wider audience than the books ever had, which causes not only a boost to the author but to the genre as a whole. You can’t help but admire how well they have done, and dream about having the same success.
I keep mentioning The Lord of the Rings. There’s a reason for that. It’s the most famous fantasy series ever, and the movies were incredibly successful. I enjoyed them, although as mentioned above it’s important to view them as separate from the books. I think the movies kick-started the series back to the peak of popularity in the world of fantasy, and I highly recommend them.
On the other hand there’s the Harry Potter series. I confess that I’ve seen all the movies but only read the first book. I also admit to a little trepidation in writing about it. The author seems to be trying to do the best she can to destroy her own reputation, and the books are being dragged along behind. This is a sad case of someone jumping into the political arena and assuming their views are important. Sorry, but it’s not the case. Anyway, a lot of people love the movies and they were a huge part of their youth. Personally I could take them or leave them, both books and movies.
And there’s the His Dark Materials show on HBO, adapted from the Philip Pullman books. I confess I’ve watched about a season and a half of the show, but it keeps losing me. It drags a little, and I often don’t know what’s going on. It’s one of those things I want to like, but I’m not sure that I do.
Contemporary Fantasy Gems
Ironically I don’t know as much of modern fantasy as I would like to. Is it because I’m busy writing it? Yes and no. There’s just so much to read and watch that I feel like I’m missing out. It’s a sign of how much the fantasy genre has exploded in popularity in recent years, in both print and film. Long may it continue!
I absolutely adore the Grishaverse, by Leigh Bardugo. It is a brilliant universe, and again I wish I’d come up with it. Six of Crows is possibly my favorite modern fantasy book (where by modern I mean published in the last decade or so). And yet I have never seen the Shadow and Bone series, because I don’t have Netflix. If there’s anything which would make me subscribe it would be this series alone.
The Witcher is another series I’ve never seen or read. Supposedly very good, it’s high on my list of things to see and/or read. It brings up a question: which do I prefer, reading or watching first? I’m trying to think of a movie or show where I’ve read the book after watching. The only one I can think of was the first Harry Potter book, and since I never went onto another book in the series, I guess there’s the answer. There are plenty of books I’ve read before watching the show though.
Hidden Treasures
The advantage of fantasy television is that there are a whole lot of producers looking for the next big thing, and they’re out there finding the gems we might have missed. I had never even heard of Miss Peregrine before the film came out, and now there’s a whole series of books to read. I’ll admit to admiring Neil Gaiman but not having read much of his books (except Good Omens which I love), but I’ve seen several of his shows and movies. There are countless other fantasy books I first heard of on a screen.
And while I think of it there’s Terry Pratchett and the Discworld series. The books might be the most fun books I’ve ever read, and I love everything about them. The television adaptations have been a little hit and miss though. I like that they keep trying though.
This is one of the big things about film and television. They certainly add cachet to an author’s other works. It’s actually quite common for authors to sell film rights to their books but never see them made. The ones that make it help to sell books and raise the fantasy genre everywhere.
Divergence
Something interesting is when a show takes a book in a different direction. I’m not talking about the Game of Thrones kind of direction, where you run out of book and make up your own story. I’m not even talking about The Lord of the Rings, where you chop and change to fit it all into a script.
What I mean is an adaptation, where they use the same characters and locations, but shift around the story here and there. I’ve neither read The Magicians nor seen the television series (it’s high on my list for both), but I have heard it diverges from the books in significant ways.
The question is of course whether the ideas are being used or just the characters. Imagine a season one which closely follows book one, but season two is completely different from book two. What would you think about that? I don’t mean shows like Game of Thrones which ran out of source material, but rather shows which ignore the source and go in their own direction. At what point does it go from the film of the book to a ’based on,’ or even an ‘inspired by’? When is a series written by the book author and when is it written by someone else?
The Future of Fantasy
We are, as I said, in a golden age of fantasy in film and television. There are so many shows on right now that it’s hard to keep up with them all. I have watched many, but I feel like I have missed more than I’ve seen, especially with the streaming wars splitting everything up.
As I said, I don’t have Netflix, so I haven’t seen any fantasy there. I also don’t have Amazon Prime, so I haven’t seen shows like The Wheel of Time or the new Lord of the Rings prequel show. Do I want to see them? Yes, of course. But I don’t want to pay for a hundred services just to watch some shows.
I did recently see a suggestion to switch streaming services regularly and watch their shows. Like, subscribe to Netflix for three months, binge everything you want, then unsubscribe and subscribe to Disney+, and do the same. You’ll end up seeing everything if you keep rotating through them, but you can cut your costs down to a single subscription each month, rather than paying for them all. That seems like a good idea, if you’re willing to wait to see a show, and if you like binging shows (which I do all the time).
The problem of course is that the battle between the streaming services is going to shake out over the next few years. Right now they are throwing money at shows because they’re using them to grab as many viewers as they can. That’s going to stabilize as people begin using tactics like I just said, where they cut down their expenses. The streamers will soon pull back, and instead of spending $100 million on a show, they might spend $50 million. Or they might spread the $100 million over ten shows. You might get more, but it might be of lesser quality.
So for now, enjoy it. Watch The Wheel of Time, watch the new Dune movie, and just hope the golden age lasts as long as it can.
In Conclusion
Fantasy can be a perfect adaptation for television and film when it is done well. The imagination of the author translated to the screen helps to bring in new viewers and readers, and has been a key element of the explosion of fantasy literature. It is something which can take us out of the real world for a little while, and immerse ourselves into a place some of us might wish to stay in forever.
There is so much more to be found in books, and with luck we will see more and more fantasy being adapted for the screen. The future looks bright for the reader and watcher of fantasy fiction.