Scifi and Fantasy books getting the "Hobbit treatment"

[Martin the Warrior]

If I had to suggest a series, I'd have to say, the "Rowan Hood Series" by Nancy Springer. It's basically about if Robin Hood had a daughter, with magic thrown in.

[The Nameless Thing]

Night's Dawn by Peter Hamilton.

I've never understood why he gets overlooked by many Sfi-Fi fans. The best 'space opera' writer since Doc Smith.

[Gungnir]

I could never decide whether I loved the Night's Dawn trilogy or hated it. I certainly wouldn't read it again though - the Sci-Fi equivalent of the wheel of time series - too much padding. It could have been half the length. And the main character, Joshua Calvert, is the biggest Mary Sue ever.

I'd live to see Vernor Vinge's 'A Deepness In The Sky' turned into a film, if that is even possible.

[Nicodemus]

The inventor of cyberpunk, William Gibson, created a gritty, dark, high-tech world that is more like the real human experience than most sci-fi books I've read. I think his books would make great films/tv shows and I think they would be very popular. Neuromancer, Count Zero, Mona-Lisa Overdrive, and Burning Chrome (a collection of short stories that take place in the cyberpunk setting) have really changed sci-fi for ever. There's even an RPG based on his works called SHADOWRUN. These books are totally overdue for a movie or TV show.

N.

[DrendDragonspawn]

I've always wanted to see the Dragonlance Chronicles (Margaret Weiss and Tracey Hickman) done well. I keep hearing rumors of a Drizzt Do'Urden (A character by R.A. Salvatore that has spanned a sizable number of books) movie in the works, but cannot ever find anything real. Nor do I think anyone could do the story justice.

I'll always be a fan of the old Dungeons and Dragons movies, no matter how poorly done they were.

[Canamarth]

Silmarillion, anyone?
I think that would make a fantastically epic tv series.

[hamlet]

Maybe I'm one of the few, but I simply dread some of my favorite old Sci-Fi/Fantasy stories getting "the treatment." Not least because Peter Jackson's versions so obviously missed the point of the original stories at so many intervals that I simply dread the coming of the Hobbit films.

Sometimes, I love to see an adaptation. Most times, though, I'd really be happy if the two media could stay separate. Books and movies are separate entities, with different capabilities, and when the two rub up against each other, major problems are going to surface.

[DrendDragonspawn]

Maybe I'm one of the few, but I simply dread some of my favorite old Sci-Fi/Fantasy stories getting "the treatment." Not least because Peter Jackson's versions so obviously missed the point of the original stories at so many intervals that I simply dread the coming of the Hobbit films.

Sometimes, I love to see an adaptation. Most times, though, I'd really be happy if the two media could stay separate. Books and movies are separate entities, with different capabilities, and when the two rub up against each other, major problems are going to surface.

The key to the movie adaptations is to not treat them as such. Treat them as something wholly different. Like the Marvel movies. If I sat and nitpicked at the stories from the comics, I'd rip my own scalp off in frustration. The movies are a great way to bring stories to the masses that otherwise would not get to experience them, and it is also nice to just sit back and watch the action unfold instead of having to envision it yourself.

[hamlet]

Usually, I agree with you. It's just that it's inescapable when the movie version completely misses the point of the original. I understand not being able to make faithful adaptations due to different media, but don't defeat the purpose of the original story in order to make it "cool" and acceptable to modern audiences.

The Marvel movies are an excellent example. While they certainly don't go to making accurate adaptations of existing story lines, they take great pains to make sure that the themes present in the original comics are the same and communicated well. That's one of the things that makes them good. Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies missed not only the subtlety of his source material, but some of the completely explicit concepts as well in favor of cool action scenes, more special effects, and generally just more and louder STUFF. In some respects, the original Bakshi cartoon was a little better.

[The Nameless Thing]

Totally disagree.

Back in 2000 when TORC started we had many disagreements over this. The dismissing of Bombadil, the ‘Zen-Arwen’ character, and the elves at Helm’s Deep most prominent.

He knew Bombadil lent nothing to the main story (considering the 3 movies and their extended versions are already over 12 hours long).

He argued that no women in the FOTR would limit his audience.

And the elves at Helm’s Deep were just damn cool.

Jackson is a film maker and he had to make a movie that would sell (3 $-Billion and an academy award sweep).

Jackson’s ‘adaptation’ was a masterstroke!

[hamlet]

Totally disagree.

Back in 2000 when TORC started we had many disagreements over this. The dismissing of Bombadil, the ‘Zen-Arwen’ character, and the elves at Helm’s Deep most prominent.

Yes, I was here for most of it. You might have agreed on something, but I did not.

He knew Bombadil lent nothing to the main story (considering the 3 movies and their extended versions are already over 12 hours long).

Not "lent nothing to the main story" but "lent nothing to the main story that could be understood within the context of a 3 hour movie. Huge difference.

He argued that no women in the FOTR would limit his audience.

I won't argue against that, but the execution of XenArwen was just horrifically poor IMO.

And the elves at Helm’s Deep were just damn cool.

Not in the slightest, especially since it usurps one of the major points of that battle, that of mankind having to stand on its own for really the first time.

Jackson is a film maker and he had to make a movie that would sell (3 $-Billion and an academy award sweep).

Yes, he made movies that would sell. That doesn't make them good.

Jackson’s ‘adaptation’ was a masterstroke!

If by "masterstroke" you mean "as good as we are likely to ever get," then sure.

[GoodSam]

I think Robin Hobb's world would make a great translation to film. It would be interesting to see how an imaginative director would portray The Skill and The Wit. It also has great villains and evil minion orc analogs in the form of the forged ones. It even has an honest love interest and strong female characters so we wouldn't have to suffer the whole "Glorfindel is a hottie" syndrome that PJ put us through.

[Aldanor]

I would love to see Lian Hearn's "Tales of the Otori" or any of Gibson's work, especially "Neuromancer".
Not bad that they're doing "The Hunger Games".

[Evenstargazer]

I would love to see Lian Hearn's "Tales of the Otori" or any of Gibson's work, especially "Neuromancer".
Not bad that they're doing "The Hunger Games".

neuromancer is soooo good. they've been talking about making a movie about it forever though... would love to see a really good adaptation of 1984 done.

there is an Ender's Game movie in the works though, which i'm super stoked about!

[Kaya]

The thing is, when I really totally love a book or a series, I'd rather not see them adapted for the big or little screen. The thought alone would give me sleepless nights. I have the movie version in my head already, CGI and perfect cast and all.

[GlassHouse]

It can be done, "The Shining" is probably the best example of book to movie I can think of and probably not in spite of the wholesale changes but because of them...my favorite Kubrick film and I'm not much of a Stephen King fan anyway - but that is one of the scariest horror movies ever made IMO.
Mostly I agree with those of you who think it shouldn't be done. That it's far more likely to just be aggravating to fans of the book - and then you're left trying to explain to people who've only seen the movie why it's crap and the book is so much better, or am I the only one here who has had this experience with Jackson's movies? - and if people didn't like Jackson's movies just try to convince them that the books are worth reading.


OK, all that out of the way, if I were going to pick a book to get the "treatment" That's a hard one. They keep teasing us with an adaptation of HP Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness" every few years. That could be really interesting if it were done right but every other adaptation of Lovecraft ever filmed has been awful. All the science fiction I've read recently has been too weird to make a film out of. Just finished Robert Charles Wilson's "Darwinia", on one level it's a tribute to Edgar Rice Burroughs and would make a great movie but on anther it has to do with how sentient life might survive the eventual heat death of this universe....not easily transferable.
No, to be a good candidate for a movie, a book has to be action packed enough to hold a movie audience but also none too deep so that the filmmakers have less chance of screwing up the underlying concepts. How about something from the classics which tend to be straight forward enough and have a lot of action and if there are any underlying philosophical concepts the filmmakers can usually ignore them.
If i had to vote for one book I'd vote for;
The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by RH.

It's got a computer programer for a hero (that will sell well with a certain class of sci-fi fans) a beautiful love interest, (so they won't have to invent one) an cool AI super computer (gotta have one of those, especially if it makes wisecracks) and a revolution against oppressive government (another favorite theme in sci fi movies these days). It's made for the movies. It could actually be good.

[Dunthule]

Though it has been years since I read the books, I would like to see Cook's 'The Black Company' as a series.
I've seen a few comments on Tad Williams MS&T series. If the script draws one in as the books did, then yes. A better ending though!!

[Goldberry88]

In theory, I'd love there to be a film of one or more of the China Mieville books, but then I'm not sure I could cope with actually watching the bloodshed.

[barrelrider]

I'm currently reading Mask of the Sorcerer by Darrel Schwitzer, and the imagery always makes me think of Myazaki films. I doubt it'll ever get turned into anything because it's just so dense, but I would love to see it animated.

[Arassuil]

Hey guys,

With the Game of Thrones being a smash at HBO and a new Hobbit movie in the works, the time is ripe for some great scifi and fantasy books to enter the world of television and movies as well. What do you guys think? What books do you want to see become movies in the near future?

For my part, I want to see Glen Cook's "The Black Company," Lian Hearn's "Tales of the Otori," Kim Stanley Robinson's "Red Mars," Greg Bear's "Blood Music," and Trudi Canavan's "Magician's Guild." I love them all so much! Oh yeah, and of course a Halo movie, as long as it's good. Big if, I know.

With the coming 8th season and wrap of Game of Thrones on TV, there appears an interest in finding another book series to work into a mini series. The two I've seen mentioned are 'The Wheel of Time' by Robert Jordan, and 'The Black Company' by Glen Cook. Will be interesting to see if either of these get off the ground, and if they do, are done well, like Game of Thrones'. So much could go wrong with either of these book series being made for TV mini series.

[heliona]

The Wheel of Time might be too much like GoT in the sense of a large ensemble cast. I stopped reading after nine books - I just couldn't bring myself to care about the main characters, who were all arrogant idiots.

I'd quite like to see Barbara Hambly's books adapted, either for tv or movies. She's a great fantasy writer (she has written quite a few Star Wars and Star Trek books, too) and I think not necessarily well-known for her fantasy work. I love her books, The Windrose Chronicles, which is essentially a trilogy. The main characters are a woman computer programmer from the US, and a wizard from another world who's an outcast. It blends computer language and fantasy in a neat way and the two main characters are really interesting. Her Darwath novels (which I've read some of, and don't own, so I've only read once a long time ago) also, if I remember correctly, have people from our world being pulled into a fantasy world. I quite like those stories as they keep the audience grounded, and the audience learns along with the characters.

However, they're probably not well-known enough to get noticed for adaptive treatment.