
Being fans of books you would think that when we hear the word adaptation uttered, we would suddenly get giddy with excitement, right? No. Most book-lovers, myself included, cringe and the most prominent thought that enters the mind? I really hope they don’t ruin that story. We have all been there when our beloved stories and characters have been massacred. For me it happened when I was still a kid and had fallen in love with Phillip Pullman’s series His Dark Material. I was barely containable when I found out that they were making it into a movie, and my childlike excitement got a hard reality check. The movie was terrible, and left little Book Steff feeling very disappointed.

Okay, so maybe they aren’t all that bad, and maybe the younger me was just feeling bitter about one of my childhood favourite book being turned into a mess. Truth is, it can be done well. We all know that. Harry Potter for example is a book series I loved as a kid, and I adored all the movies. In fact, I religiously went to the cinema every time a new one released, but the difference? It was true to the feel of Hogwarts, the cast was spot on, and everything I visually needed from it was given to me. The problem I mainly have with adaptations, no it isn’t the subtle changes of character developement or plot, it is that most don’t achieve the correct sense of feeling I get when I read the book. There isn’t that immersive feeling when you sink into the pages of a new world, and it can be done!…Hello Game of Thrones anyone?

I suppose I’m ranting a bit and I must confess it may or may not have something to do with the fact Netflix are adapting Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher series this year. Might be something to do with that…maybe…okay a lot to do with that. I’m scared people! I’m terrified they are going to ruin such a magical world, and amazing characters. I am open to changes, but I need to feel as though I am in that world, surrounded by all the wonders and chaos etc. I need it to have a sense of itself in there.

How do you feel when movies/ TV series come from your favourite books? Are you apprehensive, and a pent up ball of nerves like me? Or are you excited at the prospect of what could be? Let me know in the comments, I would love to hear what you think.
