Books I’d like to see made into TV series and/or movies

For a while now, I’ve been thinking about my favorite books and how I’d love to see them turned into (successful) tv series and/or movies. Actually, there are some that have already been televised or made into movies that I’d still like see more of.

Of the latter, I can mention Tolkien’s LOTR trilogy and Bilbo/the Hobbit. I’ve read somewhere that the Tolkien family would like to see some sort of TV series with movie-length episodes or something like that. That would be great. Don’t get me wrong. I loved the movies, but the LOTR trilogy is the sort of books that you can never get enough of.

Janet Evanovich’s books about the bounty hunter Stephanie Plum (hllarious ‘mysteries’) have already been made into a few different movies. I’ve seen the latest one (at least I think it’s the latest one). In some ways I loved it (for instance the actresses playing Stephanie and Lula were great, even though I’d never imagined that Katherine Heigl would make a good Stephanie Plum.) However, there were some things lacking – I wasn’t at all happy about either ‘Joe Morelli’ or ‘Ranger’. The actors playing them weren’t anything like I’d imagined those two hotties from the books. So more of Stephanie Plum would be great.

I’ve already mentioned how much I love Diana Wynne Jones’ books and though I have seen Howl’s Living Castle by Hayao Miyazaki and loved it, I think more can be done with that book (and possibly the sequels, I especially like House of Many Ways). Other favorites among Diana Wynne Jones’s books are Power of Three, A Tale of Time City, Archer’s Goon, Hexwood, Deep Secret, The Merlin Conspiracy, A Sudden Wild Magic and the whole Chrestomanci series. Also Wild Robert. In fact, I love most of DWJ:s books with a few exceptions (Dark Lord of Derkholm, The Year of the Griffin and some parts of Enchanted Glass and The Year of the Ghost). I’m also not crazy about Homeward Bounders (mainly the ending) and I have mixed feelings about The Dalemark Quartet. I really liked the last book in the series, but I wasn’t completely fond of the first three. Most, if not all of DWJ:s books would make great TV series and/or movies, I think.

Charles DeLint’s books are mostly wonderful and imaginative and I especially love Dreams Underfoot and The Blue Girl. Both would make great TV series and/or movies. I always think that DeLint’s greatest strength is the way he can create strong, likeable female characters. Unfortunately, I’d also like to say it’s his greatest weakness. There’s a certain naïveté about women that sometimes annoys me. In DeLint’s world all women are wonderful and love each other and we all know that’s not the case in the real world. Also, he seems to have a rather simplistic view of men – the good looking ones are always evil and the ugly ones always good – and again, I know that’s not always the case. In my experience, sadly enough, most people are mean, rude and unpleasant regardless of gender and looks. The few who aren’t can look any way between gorgeous and ugly.

Garth Nix’s series about Sabriel/The Abhorsen are absolutely amazing and I love all the books in the series that I have read so far. I hear there’s another book out that hasn’t been as well received so I’m not sure about that one, but all the others would make great movies or tv series. It has a strong female character and is set in a unique fascinating world of magic and wonder (as well as some horrors, unfortunately).

I love Gregory Frost’s books about Shadowbridge (Shadowbridge and Lord Tophet). In these two books Frost has created a beautiful, poetic and completely unique world. It’s mainly sea, with just a few islands scattered around the world, but somehow a huge bridge has appeared and on that people live. I’m not quite sure how it looks – spirals and spans are mentioned and I imagine it’s not just a straight bridge but several different stretches in spiral form? I can’t quite visualize it, but what’s really magical and wonderful about this huge bridge is that the various towns and cities on it all speak different languages and have different cultures but once you pass the border crossings (usually a tunnel or at least some kind of portal or barrier), you soon begin to understand.

In a way, Frances Hardinge’s books remind me of DWJ:s books, though it’s hard to say exactly how. They’re not that similar if you look at the details. What’s really interesting about these books is that they’re all so different from each other. There are two that are set in the same world, with the same main character, a fun girl called Mosca Mye, who travels around the world with her homicidal goose (!) and an old con man who isn’t her father but has reluctantly agreed to look after her (naturally because he thinks he stands to gain something by it). That would make a fun movie or TV series I think, but they’re not my favorite books by Hardinge, there are some that are even better.

Well Witched (also known as Verdigris Deep, for some reason) is set in our world, but features a sinister wishing well.

Gullstruck Island (also known as The Lost Conspiracy) on the contrary, is set in a different, but fascinating and unique world. Imagine a colonial power that is like a mix of English and Tibetan (!) that has colonized a culture of islands like those in the Pacific in our world. I didn’t think I’d particularly like this setting, but it turned out I was wrong, because I really loved this book. Partly, I suppose because of the main character, Hathin, who again, is strong and likeable.

Finally, Cuckoo Song, is a creepy and mysterious book about a girl with many secrets, even from herself. Just like Well Witched, it’s seemingly set in our world (in this case in the years after the First World War). It’s dark, scary and sad, but fortunately has a sort of happy ending at last.

I’ve already reviewed the Feyland series (at least the first two books, that I’ve already read) so if you’ve read those reviews you already know why I love that series so much. They too would make a great TV series or movie, I think.

All this was mainly fantasy, but I do have many favorite mystery series and science fiction series too. I’ll start with what I think could be described as science fantasy.Kelly McCulloughs Web Mage series. It’s a mix of Greek mythology, magic and computer programming, set in what is basically our present day world, but the main character Ravirn travels between dimensions by a mix of magic and programming.

The books about Henghis Hapthorn by Matthew Hughes (Majestrum, The Spiral Labyrinth and Hespira). These too, can be described as a science fantasy series, set in the far future, in Old Earth’s ‘penultimate’ age when magic is beginning to replace science as the dominant force in the universe. I liked the last book best, but all were interesting, though the plot felt a little ‘pale’ to me in the first two books. However, the setting more than makes up for that and there are also some really fascinating details that also make the books worth reading. It would be difficult to make them into movies, I think, but if it were possible, I’d say it would be worth it. I for one, would be fascinated to see a successful movie or TV series made from them.

Next comes a traditionally published science fiction book that I really love. It’s funny, fascinating and rather romantic too. I’m referring to To Say Nothing of the Dog, by Connie Willis. It could be described as a time travel comedy adventure. I’d love to see this as either a movie or a TV series, with great actors of course.

The following are ebooks, freebies, but I love them just as much as the last book. All of them, would make great TV series and movies.

Fatal Boarding and Deep Crossing by E.R Mason. I have already reviewed these two books, but I’ll just say that I found them very interesting to read and I’m sure they’d make excellent movies.

The Backworlds by M. Pax. This too, is a book I recently reviewed, and like I said in that, I really liked the book. It would be fun to see it made into a TV series or movie – though I’m not sure the special effects might be quite up to portraying Craze and his friends.

Mysteries:

Barbara Nadel’s mysteries set in Turkey. I have reviewed these books before but I’ll just say that I love them. They are sometimes a little too upsetting emotionally, but they’re also very well written and fascinating. Before I read them I didn’t know that much about Turkey and certainly not about police work.

Eliot Pattison’s mysteries set in Tibet. I have reviewed these too, but I’ll repeat that I really like them. They’re well written and well researched (as far as I can tell and I have taken an interest in Tibet every since I was a child). The only problem is that the situation in China-occupied Tibet is so heartbreakingly tragic it upsets me to read them. I’m sure that for political reasons, these books will never be made into either a tv-series or a movie, but that doesn’t stop me from wishing to see it done.

Jean-François Parot’s French historic mysteries. These books have actually been made into a French tv-series and I’d love to get my hands on them (but preferably with at least English subtitles, if not Swedish). They’ve also been translated into English and since my sister has bought the first two books, translated, I have been able to take a look at the quality. As usual, the English version is excellent. I’d love to see this series one way or another.

Kidnapping in Kaua’i by Ava Easter. This was a fun read, but also fascinating with its references to Hawaiian folkore and myth. The book is very well written, has a likeable main character and I was able to read it for free on Wattpad. It would be great as a YA tv series and I’d love to see it.

Susan Russo Anderson’s books set in 1860’s Sicily about midwife and private investigator Serafina Florio. I have reviewed the books in this series that I have read so far and I’m looking forward to reading more. They would make a wonderful tv series. If they’re made into one, I’d love to see them shown on some channel I can get.

I’m sure I have many more favorites, that I didn’t think of right now and maybe I’ll do another post with these other books, if and when I think of them, but this will do for now.