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Lord of the Rings & Amazon’s Future Responsibility To Fantasy

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Cover detail from Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Amazon is getting into fantasy in a big way—and not just selling books.

Last week, Amazon announced that they had acquired rights for a Lord of the Rings-inspired TV show. This is huge news, of course. J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterworks have been adapted by Peter Jackson into mega-successful movies and the worldwide audience for these stories has never been larger—spanning cultures and generations. The box office is proof enough. If produced correctly, a TV series set in Middle-earth will have a massive following out of the gate.

What will the TV series be about? Apparently it will not be an adaptation of what has come before. Instead, it will be a story set after The Hobbit but before Fellowship of the Ring, fertile ground for storytelling. What did Bilbo do during that time? Where was Aragorn? Ranging in the north? And what of Legolas? Or even a young Gimli? Or Treebeard? The wizards? There are so many possibilities here that Tolkien barely touched on. And Middle-earth is a large world.

The news hasn’t thrilled some people though. Andy Serkis will likely not be back if Gollum is used. Gimli’s John Rhys-Davies had harsher words. “It’s just a disgrace,” he told Den of Geek. “I mean, poor Tolkien must be spinning in his grave.”

It’s not just the movie actors who have some reservations. Fantasy fans have them too. When news about the TV series broke, I saw a lot of people online angry about the news. “Tolkien has had his adaptation,” they said in various forms. “There are many other fantasy and science fiction authors who deserve their own adaptations. Why not do one of those instead?”

While I agree with that sentiment to an extent, I am here to say Amazon is making the right call. For now. The Lord of the Rings branding ensures initial success of the TV series, making it a safe bet. If Amazon can create magic set in Middle-earth, the coins will flow into their coffers in a way that even Smaug would be envious of.

With that kind of success comes a lot of responsibility though, one that HBO seems to understand and I think Amazon should too. Now that A Game of Thrones is coming to an end, HBO is taking the equity they’ve built—both financially and with their audience—to produce new SF&F TV content. These are books that are great on their own, perfect for adaptation and deserved of a larger audience.

Amazon must do the same if their Lord of the Rings TV series is a success. They have to look beyond established properties and create the next big thing. Responsibility in that is key. The SF&F book community is filled with high-quality and bestselling books that can be adapted. We don’t want “the next Game of Thrones.” We want “the first Who Fears Death.” It is paramount that these other books have their chance too for the continued health of SF&F.

What properties would I go after if I were Jeff Bezos and Amazon Video? The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. Otherland by Tad Williams. Dragon Prince by Melanie Rawn. Servant of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist & Janny Wurts. Running with the Demon by Terry Brooks. Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb.

And The Dark Thorn by some bald writer. Come on, Bezos! You know you want to! Ha!

What would you see adapted?

The post Lord of the Rings & Amazon’s Future Responsibility To Fantasy appeared first on Unbound Worlds.


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