10 Book Series That Need to Be Adapted to Television

I think we've all read that one book or series of books, and wondered where the film was. Now, I grew up reading the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew novels, as well as several others. As I got older and my tastes obviously changed, and while I'd still read the occasional Hardy Boys adventure, they quickly became a sort of once-in-a-while read for me.

I was also quite lucky, I think, that my folks pretty much gave me free reign over the books I read. I could read anything I wanted to read... well... almost anything. There were obviously some books that were kept out of reach of eight year old Greg–although, they weren't many in number. What cemented my love of reading was, I guess, J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy, which I read a short while after I finished the Hobbit. I then went on to read pretty much all of his books–at least the ones that I could get at the local library. The best part? I read all of them before I was 12.

Now, over the course of the last few years I've read a large number of books, and with Game of Thrones in its final season; I thought I'd share a list of 10 book series' that I think could be great TV viewing.

Let's get started.

1: 'The Soldier Son Trilogy'–Robin Hobb

Robin Hobb's Soldier Son trilogy is a series that my dad introduced me to, and it quickly became one of my all-time favorite trilogies.

Starting with Shaman's Crossing, the trilogy follows the exploits of Nevare Burvelle as he joins the military, and ends up caught in a conflict with a mysterious native tribe–the Specks.

The books are written in the first person, and we are swept up in the adventure as Nevare narrates his story to us. I honestly have no idea why this series hasn't been adapted yet, because it's a genuinely good read!

As far as television goes, you could probably get a season per book, or maybe more, depending on the approach. Some would say that these books would be better off getting the big-screen treatment ala Lord of the Rings, and that'd be great too, but I think a television series would be the better option just for the sake of getting every aspect of the books without any cuts.

2: 'Ulrika the Vampire'–Nathan Long

The Ulrika the Vampire trilogy follows fledgling vampire Ulrika Magdova Straghov as she learns to deal with the effects of becoming a vampire.

This would probably be a bit more complicated to adapt. I'm not too familiar with the whole adaptation process, but I believe that anyone looking to adapt this trilogy would have to approach both the author who wrote the books, and company behind the Warhammer tabletop game, for permission to use their intellectual property.

I could be wrong but that's just my understanding of it. Anyways, the other problem is the world. The Ulrika the Vampire trilogy is set in the Warhammer fantasy world, and is something of a followup towards another novel series in the Warhammer bibliography–Gotrek and Felix.

Now, there aren't really too many references to the Gotrek and Felix books outside of Ulrika's backstory. This means that as long as the main character's backstory is included, you could probably get away with just a few flashbacks here and there.

I read these a few years ago, and have been wondering about a film or TV series ever since... maybe there's a fan-made production out there somewhere that I don't know about... that'd be so cool!

3: 'House of Night'–P.C. & Kristin Cast

Okay, okay, okay, hold on a second and hear me out on this one. I know Vampire Diaries has, and probably still is, a very popular series. The Twilight Saga is still a popular book and film series.

Vampires have been living in the public eye for a few years, and people are still trying to get used to their presence. Zoey Redbird is marked by a Tracker–a vampire who finds other potential vampires–and goes to the House of Night to learn to deal with the changes that becoming a vampire entails.

These books were aimed at teenagers, but there are plenty of darker, more adult moments scattered throughout as well. I've read almost all of them, and they're a breeze to get through, and a series based on the House of Night books could be very successful. Note that I said it 'could' be successful. The reason for my phrasing is simple: the market is saturated.

Not with vampire shows specifically, but the number of teen fantasy shows on TV and Netflix is just crazy. With shows like the 100, Vampire Diaries, Originals, and, I guess, Grimm on Netflix there is a big possibility that a House of Night series could backfire horribly... maybe that's why it hasn't happened yet.

4: 'Planet Pirates'–Anne McCaffrey, Jody Nye, Elizabeth Moon

So, Anne McCaffrey is one of my favorite authors, and I could probably put together a list comprised of all her work that could do well on television or in the cinemas. As is, however, I'll have to put a limit on that, or we'd be here all year.

With that said, how many of you have read her work–specifically her Planet Pirates series? If I had to guess I'd say that not many of you, right?

The trilogy was written in collaboration with Elizabeth Moon and Jody Lynn Nye. It follows the attempts of a space-faring navy to quell planet piracy–basically pirates would land on a planet, wipe out any existing human settlements, and then survivors were taken into slavery.

Now, as a series this is going to be difficult to adapt; why because it jumps around a bit story-wise. The first book, Sassinak, follows the titular Sassinak as she joins up with the navy to hunt space pirates. Book 2, The Death of Sleep, follows an entirely different character–Lunzie Mespil as she ends up having to adjust to life after several years in cryogenic sleep. The final book in the trilogy, Generation Warriors, sees Lunzie and Sassinak teaming up to end the space piracy that had affected their lives.

There are some great action scenes, and the characters and world are fantastic. This would be an ambitious project, and I think it'd be great. The only other issue–apart from the way the story jumps around–is that the series may be a little too obscure, and people may not be interested in it.

The Planet Pirates trilogy is actually the second half of the Ireta series (which started with Dinosaur Planet and Mystery of Ireta).

5: 'Nocturne City'–Caitlin Kittredge

The Nocturne City series follows werewolf homicide detective Luna Wilder, as she works through various cases and relationship issues. I can already hear you asking:

"Isn't that just a ripoff of Grimm?"

And the answer is... not really. Grimm follows a similar concept with a homicide detective getting involved in supernatural hijinks. The difference is that Nick Burkhardt (Grimm) is human, and from what I remember, he doesn't actively search for the supernatural residents of Portland very often, and generally only talks to them. Luna is a werewolf whose temper tends to run on a short fuse, and she seems to enjoy a hunt.

With that said, both characters are quite likable–even if the writing of the novels can be a little bit hokey! I read the first few books a few years back, and loved 'em. This series would do very well as a television series.

6: 'The Tower and the Hive'–Anne McCaffrey

Another Anne McCaffrey series, The Tower and the Hive series follows a psychic organization as they battle against an alien insect species intent on destroying the human race... basically.

Much like the Planet Pirates series, the Tower and the Hive series is the second half of the Talent Saga–the first half is the Pegasus trilogy. Hold on, I've gotten ahead of myself. Okay, the Talent Saga is a set of books set in the same universe. There are, I believe ten books in the saga–starting with the Pegasus trilogy:

1. To Ride Pegasus
2. Pegasus in Flight
3. Pegasus in Space
4. The Rowan
5. Damia
6. Damia's Children
7. Lyon's Pride
8. The Tower and the Hive

There are also two other books which are Barque Cat Tales: Catalyst and Catacombs. Now, I haven't read the Barque Cat stories as of yet, but I've read both the Pegasus trilogies, and the Tower and the Hive books multiple times, and they are brilliant.

I don't know about you guys but eight seasons of humans battling giant bugs? That sounds pretty good to me! What do you think?

7: 'The Belgariad'–David Eddings

This is one of the best series' I've ever read.

The series follows a boy named Garion as he joins a group of adventurers to complete an ancient prophecy.

There are five books in the Belgariad, and if we go with the one book to a season that's a good five season show! You know what the best part is? There are seven additional books. The Malloreon is a sequel series of five books, which follows Garion as he goes after his kidnapped son. There are also two prequel books; Belgarath the Sorcerer, which covers the character of Belgarath's backstory and Polgara the Sorceress, which is the backstory of Garion's aunt Polgara.

That's 12 possible seasons–if not more–of a fantasy series that could be wildly successful. I'm not the only one who thinks this is a good idea either; Den of Geek did a whole article on the subject.

This series really needs to happen, and I think that if it were to happen we'd get another Game of Thrones.

8: 'Seafort Saga'–David Feintuch

The Seafort Saga was written by David Feintuch, and follows the exploits of Nick Seafort, a young midshipman who is forced into the role of captain after an accident kills off most of his superior officers. The series then goes on to detail his career in the navy.

It's essentially a Star Trek series in book form... just... better than the Star Trek novels (yeah, I went there).

There are, I think, seven books in this series, and it's a pretty good one to read. It'd be a pretty cool thing to see on television.

9: 'The Last Gunfighter'–William W. Johnstone

This would be interesting to see; westerns don't really get that much attention nowadays.

The Last Gunfighter series was written by William W. Johnstone, and follows Frank Morgan as he travels through the wild west. There are 23 books in the series–a 23 season show?

Maybe, and maybe not? I mean Westworld is a popular sci-fi western show, but as far as I know it's only one or two seasons long. Looking at the series I think it might be a bit much to put 23 seasons of cowboys and shootouts... wait, what am I saying? You can never get enough cowboy and gunfight action!

10: 'Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter'–Laurell K. Hamilton

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter is another urban fantasy series centered around a necromancer (Anita Blake) who ends up involved in various murder mysteries surrounded by vampires, werewolves, and other supernatural entities.

I've read the first four books in the series, and they're all thrilling! This series would be fantastic to watch; although I'm given to understand that the later books went more towards the... ummm... erotic side of things, so this might not be the best thing for family viewing.

Then again, I doubt any sane parent would be watching Game of Thrones with their six year olds.

Bonus Entry: 'Inheritance Cycle'–Christopher Paolini

So, I had a slight counting errors, and we get a bonus entry to the list! Yay?

The Inheritance Cycle follows a young farm boy, as he becomes a warrior and fights against an evil king... sounds a bit like Star Wars doesn't it? Written by Christopher Paolini, this four-book saga is a fantastic read, and, unlike the other entries on this list, it has been adapted before.

Yes, the first book–Eragon–was adapted into a 90 minute film in 2006. While the core elements are there, most of the story was either removed entirely, or whittled away to the point where they may as well have been deleted completely. Either way, it was a huge disappointment, and I think some fans of the book would just like to forget that the film ever happened.

A television series could include everything that was removed from Eragon, and give the other books in the series a shot at a fair adaptation. Now, I've seen a few articles, and heard some whispers online that there may be an Eragon reboot on the way at some point; but there hasn't been anything concrete, so maybe it's coming, and maybe not.

What do you think?