Upcoming Fantasy Adaptation Is The Perfect Follow-Up To 6-Year-Old Show With 91% RT Score

by

A fantastic fantasy book is being adapted into a TV series, and it’s expected to be a great successor to a popular dark fantasy show that ended six years ago – a show that received a remarkable 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Fantasy television covers a lot of ground, from classic, beloved series like Xena: Warrior Princess to more intense, action-packed shows such as Castlevania.

Each fantasy subgenre boasts at least one iconic show. For example, historical fantasy is known for Game of Thrones, while Supernatural defines the ‘monster of the week’ style. When it comes to vampires, Buffy, The Vampire Diaries, and The Originals are standouts. And in the world of animated fantasy, Arcane and Avatar: The Last Airbender are particularly memorable.

When it comes to dark fantasy, the TV show The Magicians, adapted from Lev Grossman’s novels, really stands out. It’s unusual for a book-to-screen adaptation to be better than the original, but many fans feel that’s the case with The Magicians. The show aired from 2015 to 2020 and built a dedicated following. Now, six years after it ended, a new fantasy adaptation has been announced that fans of The Magicians are sure to enjoy.

No Fantasy TV Show Has Captured The Brilliance Of The Magicians

I’m a huge fan of The Magicians, and I haven’t found another show I love as much. What sets it apart from other fantasy shows is its unique mix of city-based magic, a focus on academic life, and classic epic fantasy elements.

The TV show The Magicians follows a group of students at a special magic school, Brakebills University. While studying, they unintentionally unleash a dangerous being called The Beast from a magical world known as Fillory. The students have to work together to defeat The Beast before he destroys them and Fillory.

The show features compelling, yet flawed, characters brought to life by the talented cast of The Magicians. Their personal journeys are central to the plot, pushing them to confront challenges and evolve. Importantly, the show portrays sex realistically and without judgment, openly addressing consent and pleasure – topics often overlooked in similar storylines.

This show doesn’t shy away from difficult and upsetting events for its characters, realistically portraying a harsh world. Whenever I suggest it to others, I always feel the need to warn them about potentially triggering content. The Magicians focuses on the idea that magic isn’t a solution for personal problems, especially serious issues like mental health or trauma.

Unlike many fantasy shows that shy away from violence, The Magicians doesn’t hold back. It quickly introduces graphic scenes – like a dean losing his eyes and someone brutally harming an animal – embracing a level of darkness that’s rare in the genre.

In the end, all of these pieces come together to create a TV show that feels strikingly real and stays with you. It might not be for everyone, but viewers who enjoy this type of story will find it deeply memorable long after it’s over.

The King Sorrow TV Show Will Be The Perfect Follow-Up To The Magicians

Joe Hill, son of Stephen King, is a novelist himself. His nearly 900-page book, King Sorrow, is being turned into a TV show, according to Bloody Disgusting, though details are currently scarce. Even without knowing who’s involved in the production or who will star, fans have reason to be optimistic, as King Sorrow is a great continuation of the style and themes found in The Magicians.

King Sorrow follows Arthur Oakes and five classmates who use a powerful, and unsettling, magical book—bound with the skin of its creator—to summon a dragon. They believe they’ve made a deal with the dragon, but it comes with a terrifying price: each Easter, they must sacrifice a human life, or become the dragon’s next meal.

This book shares the same appealing qualities as the The Magicians TV series. It doesn’t hold back on intense violence and graphic scenes, which are actually important to the story. The characters – including the studious Arthur, privileged Colin, beautiful Alison, twins Donna and Donovan, and intelligent Gwen – are all deeply flawed and carry a lot of emotional weight.

“King Sorrow” tackles challenging themes, which I’ll discuss later. It’s an epic story that includes mature content. While the book is generally dark and serious, it also features humor and witty characters. If the upcoming TV adaptation stays true to the source material, fans of “The Magicians” are likely to enjoy it.

King Sorrow & The Magicians Blend Fantasy & Horror Together

Both King Sorrow and The Magicians are definitely fantasy novels. King Sorrow includes classic creatures like dragons, trolls, and ghosts, and its magic feels connected to ancient, mystical practices. The Magicians, meanwhile, features a wider range of beings – fairies, ghosts, vampires, dragons, and even talking animals – and its magic blends divine power with precise, almost scientific techniques.

Despite the fantastical elements, neither story relies on magic as an easy solution. A lot of fantasy tends to use magic to quickly resolve conflicts, which is similar to the wish fulfillment found in classic fairy tales. But both Joe Hill’s King Sorrow and The Magicians share a central idea: magic can’t solve deep personal or widespread societal problems. Both stories recognize that magic is a powerful force that can be both beneficial and destructive.

Both The Magicians and King Sorrow contain very disturbing content. They depict difficult and potentially triggering themes, including sexual assault (including rape and child sexual abuse), addiction, suicide, abortion, slavery, homophobia, and depictions of abuse and pedophilia. Both books explore extremely dark and challenging subject matter.

Both The Magicians and King Sorrow effectively show that true horror isn’t limited to fantastical creatures like villains or dragons. They remind us that real-world problems – like the terrible things people do and the challenges of mental illness – exist alongside magic and don’t simply disappear because of it.

Both King Sorrow and The Magicians deal with genuinely frightening, realistic horrors. But they don’t just combine fantasy and horror through that element. The Magicians includes some shockingly dark and gruesome scenes – even as someone who enjoys horror, I found them disturbing. And without giving anything away, King Sorrow also has moments that are deeply unsettling and will leave you wanting to escape.

Overall, The Magicians and King Sorrow feel very similar in their storytelling and style. If the King Sorrow TV adaptation matches the book’s tone, it’s going to be fantastic. Until then, I’ll keep rewatching The Magicians.

Read More

2026-03-17 06:20