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Yes, but will it Translate to Film?




I just finished reading Deepsix by Jack McDevitt. It is the second book in his Academy series, and no, you don’t have to have read the first one to enjoy this one. In this novel the scientific community has gathered to watch a planetary collision. A gas giant cast out of its own system is about to smash into the terrestrial planet Malevia 3 (now nicknamed “Deepsix” as its future is doomed). Everything is going to plan, as scientist and tourists have gathered to watch the event until one of the scientists observing the world through powerful imagery, notices signs of civilization on the surface. Now a team will have to investigate, and it will only have days to do so before the world is to come to an end. Deepsix a real potboiler of a novel. Plenty of action, plenty of risk. Strong characters that we care about, and others that we dislike.

It struck me that this would make a wonderful movie or a limited series. But then, how many times have you heard that before. “This would make a great movie!” Some people think that just because they like a book means it would make a good movie, but books and movies are two different media. We could all name bad movies that came from good books. Sometimes that is the result of a director who doesn’t know what he’s doing or studio interference. But it can also be because that particular book does not translate well into film. Books that are too cerebral, that take place too much inside characters’ heads tend not to not work well as movies. Movies tend to need to move along at a faster pace than books. Sometimes the movie makers have to change so many things to make it work cinematically that it scarcely resembles the book. Soylent Green is was a decent movie, but you can’t find much of Harry Harrison’s novel, Make Room! Make Room! in it.

Anyway, it got me thinking about what science fiction/fantasy novels would make good movies. I came up with a very incomplete list. It is possible to make a good movie out of anything if you change it enough. I tried to make a list of movies that could be made without substantially changing the plot. So, besides Deepsix, I have:

The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis
Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
Red Mars/Green Mars/ Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (But you would have to do it as a series)
The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
The Warrior’s Apprentice (actually the whole Vorkosigan series, if you could find an actor to pull off the part of Miles) by Lois McMaster Bujold
Split Infinity by Piers Anthony
The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison
Bloodsucking Fiends, (a Love Story) by Christopher Moore
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. (The one they made was not great, but that does not mean that it couldn’t be made into a fantastic movie)
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (same note as above)
A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs (same note as above)
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King (same note as above, but maybe we should give Stephen King a rest. He’s had plenty of movies)

This list just scratches the surface, and every such list is subjective. What about you? What books do you think would make good movies? Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments below.

(My novel Star Liner, is now available in paperback or as an e-book through Amazon and other online sources)


Star Liner

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