Is ‘The Stormlight Archive’ The Next Great TV Show?

In August of 2010 Brandon Sanderson published The Way of Kings (TWoK), the first book in his fantasy epic series The Stormlight Archive. Set in the fictional world of “Roshar”, TWoK follows three protagonists; a surgeon turned soldier then slave, a scholar on a secret heist, and a powerful warlord experiencing strange visions. While most of the Kingdom squabbles over riches and political power, an existential threat begins to loom and the only way to stop it is to reestablish an ancient order of magical knights that has been extinct for millennia. 

Consisting of two novellas and four novels with six more planned for the future, The Stormlight Archive has everything fantasy fans are looking for: mystery, politics, world-building, complex characters, intense battle scenes and magical swords that can be summoned out of thin air. A popular book series,The Stormlight Archive’s popularity and expansive world have raised questions about whether the series could be the next big fantasy adaptation since George R.R. Martin’s A Game Of Thrones.

Since the release of TWoK in 2010, each installment of The Stormlight Archive has sold millions of copies worldwide and is rated among the best fantasy books ever written. On Goodreads, the world’s largest book review site, each Stormlight installment has a rating of 4.62 stars or higher and the second book Words of Radiance is rated at 4.76. For context, that isn’t just high, it’s the highest rating on Goodreads for books with at least 10,000 ratings. Even the best fantasy series of all-time such as J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit + The Lord of the Rings (LoTR) and George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF) only have ratings of 4.61 and 4.44 stars respectively.

That’s pretty good company, but the endorsements don’t end there.

Perhaps the biggest endorsement of Sanderson’s work is the success of his Kickstarter “Surprise! Four Secret Novels By Brandon Sanderson”. The fundraiser which launched in 2022 had an original goal of $1 million which would allow Sanderson to self-publish four secret novels he wrote during the pandemic. Not only did Sanderson meet this goal, he broke the platform record and raised $41.75 million, more than double the previous record amassed by Pebble Time in 2015 ($20.3 million). 

So, if Sanderson’s work is so popular, why hasn’t Hollywood reached out? 

Apparently, they have. 

In a 2022 “ask me anything” (AMA) Sanderson discussed the potential for screen-adaptations: “This is the year Hollywood came calling…and came calling in a very big way.”

With the success of series like Netflix’s “The Witcher” and Amazon Prime’s “Wheel of Time”,  the fantasy TV genre has heated up as of late, and according to Sanderson, Hollywood is catching on. 

“All of Hollywood was watching and saying that fantasy can work… [even if] it isn’t game of thrones…they’re like ‘oh, people like these and it can be done [even] if it’s not George R.R. Martin. Every one of those studio execs has had someone say…‘get us more of these’”

With 60 novels and more than 40 million copies sold, Sanderson was an obvious candidate. However, with the success of his Kickstarter, Sanderson quickly became Hollywood’s biggest free-agent.

“Basically they all [Hollywood] arrived at the same name, then Kickstarter happened…and then they started calling more. I’ve had to take numerous meetings with all of the streaming services and a large number of the various studios and producers. We will bear fruit from this eventually but I am being very careful…” 

Sandersons comments about being careful are encouraging to fans of the novels hoping the stories are done justice. Watching your favourite stories come to life on-screen is exciting, but only if it’s done properly which often involves close collaboration with the original creator.

Luckily for Sanderson fans, the author seems to want things done right, and he says he’s in a position to do so. 

“I’m sitting in a world where everybody wants fantasy, I have my rights and I can say no. That puts me in a very good position. I don’t need the money [and] Hollywood doesn’t know what to do with people who don’t need their money. It’s very bizarre to them, so we get to be very discerning and picky with what we want to do.”

It isn’t clear whether Sanderson wants full creative control or not, but it sounds like the determining factor will have more to do with ensuring the production’s success, not who cuts the biggest check. 

Fans have made it clear that The Stormlight Archive stacks up with some of the best fantasy books ever written and with every major studio bidding for the screen rights, a Stormlight adaptation seems inevitable. Provided the production is left in capable handsThe Stormlight Archive has the potential to join Game of Thrones andThe Lord of the Rings as the next great fantasy adaptation.