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Monday 25 July 2011

Lost In Translation. When Books Are Made Into Films.

Last week I was excited to hear that the Author Sherrilyn Kenyon had signed with Amber Entertainment to develop and produce films,  TV shows and webisodes based on her books. They are starting with the Chronicles Of Nick. 



Sherrilyn Kenyon will act as producer. I was all excited for about two minutes then remembered that most novels are butchered before they are crammed into either a 90 minute film or 15 hour TV series. 
There are not many films or TV series that keep true to the original book. Just look at Anne Rices Vampire series for example. The 2002 film Queen of the Damned just makes you want to cringe. 
The novel The Lovely Bones. Well, they certainly murdered that one.
I do appreciate that they have to use some degree of artistic license to fit the story in a set time limit but when they change too much it just angers me.
I really enjoy the True Blood TV series but have noticed that they have merged some plot points from a number of books in one show. They have also made characters such as Russell more important.
The Vampire Diaries is only very loosely based on the books by L J Smith.
Watching a TV series or film before you read the book would probably be more beneficial because the novels would just enhance and more fully develop the characters and plot.
How well Kenyon's books translate to film will depend on how much time they take and how much money that will be available.
Other novels that would be interesting to see in film are Nalini Singh`s Psy-Changeling Series and Gena Showalters Lords Of The Underworld series.
I would really, really, really love to see Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series on the cinema screen if they had the millions of pounds necessary to spend on it.

Have a look at this list of 20 good books that were made into not so good films

1 comment:

  1. There really aren't many books that have translated well to screen. One series I am enjoying is the Game of Thrones. I've not read the books but apparently they've stuck to them very closely. I'm not a fantasy fan as a rule, but I def intend to read the books at some point.
    I do love True Blood though and I enjoyed the books as well. I've not read any of The Vampire Diaries books but I have a soft spot for the show!

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