As Hollywood continues its search for the next Game of Thrones, Robin Hobb's 16-book series The Realm of the Elderlings offers a compelling candidate. With its character-driven storytelling, low-magic realism, and exploration of trauma and sexuality, the series shares key strengths with Martin's work. Despite adaptation challenges like time-spanning narrative and necessary recasts, the current fantasy landscape, boosted by BookTok and demand for women-authored fantasy, makes this the perfect moment for a prestige TV adaptation.
Fantasy is a large and diverse genre, and Hollywood's hunt for the next Game of Thrones has turned out to be like finding a needle in a haystack.
The surge in popularity of fantasy TV has brought The Lord of the Rings back to screen, adapted The Witcher into live-action, and given series like The Wheel of Time or Shadow and Bone a fighting chance. Yet for the next Game of Thrones, studios should consider looking closer to the source: George R.R. Martin's contemporaries, friends, and inspirations.
Right now is the perfect time for Hollywood to take up Robin Hobb's 16-book fantasy series The Realm of the Elderlings, no matter how daunting an adaptation it might seem. The Realm of the Elderlings is enjoying a moment on social media thanks to BookTok and other online communities of hungry fantasy readers. This does not mean the series was obscure before; it has won numerous awards over the last three decades and maintains a large, loyal following.
Still, the surge of new readers and the series' notable similarities to Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire make it a prime candidate for the prestige streaming treatment. At first glance, the series looks like a huge challenge to adapt, but Martin himself wrote A Song of Ice and Fire to escape the limitations of TV, so nothing stays impossible for long in this genre.
Recent flops have made studios realize that not every book with a dragon can fill Game of Thrones' niche, but Hobb's work shares much more with Martin's than dragons. The Realm of the Elderlings began in 1995, before A Game of Thrones was published. Hobb and Martin were contemporaries in sci-fi and fantasy, appearing in interviews and panels together, praising each other's work extensively.
Critics and fans often compare their worlds because both feature relatively low magic day-to-day and are grounded in character-driven storytelling rather than epic, world-ending stakes. While Martin uses numerous point-of-view characters, most of Hobb's series is told from a single first-person perspective, with a few other viewpoints later.
This would pose a challenge for TV in terms of scale and time: the series spans decades, requiring recasts and reintroducing beloved characters, asking audiences to say goodbye to actors they love and accept new ones. This is difficult but not insurmountable; many other fantasy shows have dealt with it, and as the genre grows, TV will face it again.
Critics attribute Game of Thrones' success to a blend of fantasy tropes and gritty realism, character-driven storytelling, and envelope-pushing depictions of sexuality. Other fantasy shows failed because they lacked these selling points. Realm of the Elderlings has the same unflinching view of reality, with idealism shining through.
Moreover, it is trending now because fantasy readers' expectations have changed. The viral success of series like A Court of Thorns and Roses has prompted fans to seek out fantasy written by women, a main draw for newcomers to Hobb. The series wrestles with complex questions about sexuality and gender in ways TV audiences haven't seen from fantasy before. Hobb focuses on the long-term psychological impact of trauma and the many paths toward healing.
With its rich characters, deep themes, and loyal fanbase, The Realm of the Elderlings is perfectly poised for a prestige adaptation that could capture the magic Game of Thrones once did
Robin Hobb Realm Of The Elderlings Fantasy TV Game Of Thrones Booktok
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