For Top Ten Tuesday @ The Broke and the Bookish. I say miniseries, because, while movies generally prove too short to include all the details, actual TV series are way too long and you end up only watching the first season and wishing it had ended there. (I’m looking at you, Under the Dome.) BBC is good, so so good. If it hadn’t been for BBC, this list would just be a lot of squealing… Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell! Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell!!!
(A little purple but I like it.)
1. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman – I know BBC Radio did it, but I want to be able to look at Crowley when I at once smirk and laugh and swoon and turn into a generally happy puddle.
2. The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker – So vivid, so magical, this would be good on screen. There is also a wide cast of characters and a myriad stories. Here is my review.
3 The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern – This is one instance where I don’t particularly like the book but I think an adaptation can make something really worthwhile out of it. My only problem with the book was that it focused too much on the marvellous descriptions and lost the story along the way. This could be remedied over time in a TV series or it might as well cease to matter if they get the stunning circus imagery right…!
4. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman – Let’s face it, the movie was not good. (Update: God – BBC One – heard me!)
5. The Chronicles of Chrestomanci by Diana Wynne Jones – The whole series, episodes from it, anecdotes of Christopher Chant growing up, I don’t care which parts of the books. Diana Wynne Jones’s writing would be intensely enjoyable to watch. The Howl’s Moving Castle movie, which did not even attempt to be accurate, proved this already.
I have stuck to fantasy, because when it comes to genre fiction, the argument for making movies is very strong. If done well, fantasy movies can be a thrill to watch. If.
Now, consider this like a sneak preview post. A trailer for some of the things you are sure to find on Tabula Rasa in the following months – movie reviews, musings on book to screen adaptations, rants about genre and popular culture; along with of course, reviews of non-fiction and fiction, feature posts on libraries, books clubs and so on. Maybe a guest post, who can say. Meanwhile, here is a five-year anniversary giveaway for you to enter. Just follow the link and leave a comment on the post to win. Happy reading!
Tabula Rasa 
Hear hear on No 1. Don´t know the others. I agree that BBC is a treasure.
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Good Omens and The Golem and the Jinni would both be fantastic miniseries!! Great choices!!
The Golden Compass was a terrible movie. Did the other ones get made? If so I didn't watch them… haha. It's too bad, those books have such potential!
My TTT
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Good Omens would be awesome – I missed the radio production, though.
I completely know what you mean with Under the Dome…
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The Night Circus wasn't my favourite book, but I do agree it would be brilliant on the big screen! Thank you for stopping by my blog earlier. 🙂
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The Night Circus would make a pretty spectacular mini-series. Imagine all that description of the circus come to life on screen! And the story wouldn't drag as much because there's no need to describe it because you see it all.
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Jenn, now that you mention it, I have only seen the first movie too. And a trailer for the second one, but maybe it was fan-made. After the first film though, there was no way I was going to watch the sequel.
Caaleros – That is true, I didn't think about that. Of course there would be no description and so no trudging details!
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Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell – I can't wait to see that! Oh, and I would absolutely love it if they would make a movie in three parts after The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb.
I agree with you, The Golem and the Djinni would also be great. I really enjoyed the book.
Looking forward to your future posts. I like your plans and wish you luck with all of them.
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Thanks, Delia. I must read these fantasy trilogies you keep mentioning! 🙂
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I'm looking forward to watching the Jonathan Strange BBC series, although I feel I should read the book first. I found it at the library and since it was a door stop, I didn't borrow it. I'm going to try and get the ebook. I agree that fantasy novels make for the best movies. Do you have any favourites?
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ebookclassics – I do hope you get around to reading the book. It is excellent. And fantasy book-to-film adaptations, there are so many! Off the top of my head, animated features like Howl's Moving Castle, The Last Unicorn or a more recent How To Train Your Dragon. And there are movies like MirrorMask and Stardust which does so much better than Gaiman's novel. The Neverending Story was a good adaptation, and I also like Sleepy Hollow – but that's just because I like Tim Burton, the story was very different but just as good… and many more. 🙂
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