Liberty Hardy is an unrepentant velocireader, writer, bitey mad lady, and tattoo canvas. Turn-ons include books, books and books. Her favorite exclamation is “Holy cats!” Liberty reads more than should be legal, sleeps very little, frequently writes on her belly with Sharpie markers, and when she dies, she’s leaving her body to library science. Until then, she lives with her three cats, Millay, Farrokh, and Zevon, in Maine. She is also right behind you. Just kidding! She’s too busy reading.
Twitter: @MissLiberty
In case you haven’t heard, the Game of Thrones spinoffs are ramping up again. After the original HBO series ended, some of the planned productions were scrapped, except for House of the Dragon. But now, a television series and a film are in the works, and more are being discussed, including an animated series.
This is all great news if you’re a Game of Thrones fan, but also, gah! There are so many other amazing fantasy series that could get made instead! I get the idea behind the tried-and-true method of oversaturation, but let’s give some other series a chance.
For instance, Robert Jackson Bennett’s Shadow of the Leviathan series would make an excellent show. It’s an award-winning, wildly original fantasy series with a Holmes and Watson-type duo, Ana and Din, who solve bizarre mysteries. I mean, Ana would be so great on the screen! She’d be like an unhinged Jessica Fletcher, and that would be such a fun role for someone to play.
That’s just one example of the amazing fantasy series that would be great for television. Here are five more that would look good on the small screen that you can read right now! (No, no. No need to thank me, television producers. Just do a good job.)
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Liberty Hardy is an unrepentant velocireader, writer, bitey mad lady, and tattoo canvas. Turn-ons include books, books and books. Her favorite exclamation is “Holy cats!” Liberty reads more than should be legal, sleeps very little, frequently writes on her belly with Sharpie markers, and when she dies, she’s leaving her body to library science. Until then, she lives with her three cats, Millay, Farrokh, and Zevon, in Maine. She is also right behind you. Just kidding! She’s too busy reading.
Twitter: @MissLiberty
Silver Under Nightfall by Rin Chupeco
For starters, this is a wicked fun horror-fantasy series, set in a world of political intrigue and vampires, where a deadly contagion is spreading across the lands. Remy is the outcast of his esteemed family, deemed worthless by his father, and sent out to investigate the blight, where he meets an adventurous vampire couple.
A Master of Djinn (Dead Djinn Universe) by P. Djèlí Clark
This is an award-winning series set in an alternate historical Egypt, one where magic is real. Not only is it magical, but there’s also some mystery to these stories: it stars an agent for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities who investigates crimes. (Clark’s novella The Dead Cat Tail Assassins would also make a fantastic limited series.)
The Priory of the Orange Tree (The Roots of Chaos) by Samantha Shannon
If your favorite part of Game of Thrones is the dragons, this is the series for you! It also has more political intrigue, backstabbings, and adventure than you can shake a stick at. In the first book, a queen without an heir is in danger as assassins are closing in, while students across the sea are training to be dragonriders.
The Emperor’s Blades: Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, Book I by Brian Staveley
If you love fantasy with lots of scheming, double-crossings, political machinations, and battles, then do I have the series for you! The three siblings in this series must figure out their own paths and unmask a killer (or killers) after their father, the emperor, is murdered. There are four books in this series already, plus a connected novel set in the same world, so there’s a lot to work with!
The Jasmine Throne (The Burning Kingdoms) by Tasha Suri
And last, but not least, if your favorite part of Game of Thrones was the revenge storylines, then you’ll enjoy this series. Princess Malini has been imprisoned by her awful, tyrannical brother and spends her days alone, save for the servant woman, Priya, who attends to her. But Priya is hiding the secret magics of their land, and when Malini accidentally finds out about them, she and Priya formulate a plan to get revenge.
Okay, star bits, now take the knowledge you have learned here today and use it for good, not evil. If you want to know more about books, I talk about books pretty much nonstop (when I’m not reading them), and you can hear me say lots of adjectives about them on the BR podcast All the Books! and on Instagram.
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