Book Beat: GoT and Lovecraftian Adaptation News

This week’s book news was all about book adaptations and existing stories that are being told in different ways. Sound familiar? I don’t know about the rest of you, but adaptation announcements tend to make me nervous. On the one hand, I’m leery of nuance and character development falling by the wayside in favor of exacting runtimes and efforts to engage a larger audience. On the other, some books with dragging plots like The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo and the Lord of the Rings series benefit from time constraints. I’m also always interested in seeing how a different medium, whether it be television or cinema, will tell a story compared to the book it’s based on. No matter which side you’re on, get ready for the inevitable “the book was better” arguments (and articles) because, like winter, they’re definitely coming.

"Lovecraft Country," Matt Ruff. Cover design by Jaime Putorti. HarperCollins Publishers.
“Lovecraft Country,” Matt Ruff. Cover design by Jaime Putorti. HarperCollins Publishers.

Ok, that was definitely an easy pun to make, but I could hardly pass it up. George R. R. Martin, author of the A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF) book series that was eventually turned into HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” has revealed that the announced “Game of Thrones” spin-off shows will be based on ASOIAF prequels. While fans guessed that that was probably likely, it was still good to get a confirmation from the man himself. Oh, and sorry book fans. This news means that The Winds of Winter will be pushed back yet again. We’ll just have to be content with watching the awesome women of The Dance of the Dragons (no, not A Dance with Dragons) and The She-Wolves of Winter when they appear on our TV/laptop screens. If you’re confused, don’t worry. I, or rather, Barnes and Noble and the “A World of Ice and Fire” wiki, have got you covered. Now go read up!

Fantasy adaptation? Check. Sci-fi adaptation? That’s a check too: Ursula K. Le Guin’s novel The Left Hand of Darkness has been picked up by Critical Content to be adapted into a limited television series. Unfortunately, I’ve never read Left Hand of Darkness, but the fact that it’s been called a feminist work and will apparently explore gender fluidity piqued my interest. Even better: Le Guin will be a consulting producer. Guess it’s my turn to get reading…

Next on my “To Read” list is Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff. And who would help adapt this horror story about a black Army vet encountering the dangers of both racism and the supernatural than Get Out writer, producer, and director Jordan Peele. Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions will be partnering with J.J. Abram’s Bad Robot and Warner Brothers Television on the straight-to-series show that will be aired on HBO. Peele will also serve as executive producer along with Misha Green Abrams, and Ben Stephenson with Green as screenwriter and showrunner. There’s no release date yet so hopefully I, and everybody else, will have more than enough time to read the book. Hm…perhaps I shouldn’t have told all of you.

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Stephanie Tran

Stephanie Tran

Queer, 20-something intersectional feminist, Vietnamese-American, and born fangirl. Writes about anything geeky and thinks about food too much. You can find Stephanie's Twitter rants at @YouAndYourEgo.

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