20 Fantasy Adaptations That Could Be Bigger than Game of Thrones
By Jenn Reid
Empire of Storms Cover art. Image via Bloomsbury Books
3. Throne of Glass
The Books: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
The Story: The Throne of Glass series is a Young Adult fantasy series about a teenage assassin. Celaena is a young assassin in a corrupt kingdom led by a tyrannical king. Celaena is given an offer by the prince to compete against other assassins and thieves to become the kingdom’s champion.
Since it’s a YA novel, there are elements we’ve all become familiar with: a love triangle, the heroine coming of age and understanding, mysterious forces working against her, et cetera. That’s not to say the book is cliche or predictable, and it has received plenty of positive reviews from critics and fans.
The books have elements of fairy tales (notably Cinderella), mythology and high fantasy. There are six main books in the series: Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire, Queen of Shadows, Empire of Storms and a sixth book, set to be released in 2018. There is also a collection of novellas that serve as a prequel, called The Assassin’s Blade: The Throne of Glass Novellas.
The Adaptation: Hulu is working on a TV adaptation of the series, with Kira Snyder (The 100) writing and Anna Foerster (Underworld: Blood Wars) directing the pilot episode. Hulu has yet to have a real hit from their original programming, but The Handmaid’s Tale coming this year could change that.
The team behind Queen of Shadows (skipping the Throne of Glass name to prevent any Game of Thrones confusion, I’d wager) is strong, and having a mostly-female staff behind a female-led series is always cool.