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Does Streaming Have an Epic Fantasy Problem?, Nook Day & More
Nooks, Who Better Than You?, ACOTAR
Kyle Colley
February 18, 2025
Happy Tuesday Day!
Hope your Valentine’s Day was filled with love, books, and chocolate (preferably in that order).
Last week, we sat down with The Creative Director of The Black List Fiction, Randy Winston, to discuss creativity, The Black List, and championing writer.
The Tale of the Table:
📚 Nook Day
📺 Does Streaming Have an Epic Fantasy Problem?
📖 Deep End Ali Hazelwood
This Week On Bookum:
Friday has officially been dubbed "Nook Day" because we have some incredible conversations lined up!
🏁 Lane 1 (Pacific Time - 11 AM PST): We're sitting down with the tremendous voice & creator behind The Stacks Podcast, Traci Thomas, to discuss pop culture, podcasting, and 2025 books!
🏁 Lane 2 (Central Time - 2:30 PM CST): We’re joined by The World's Great Reader, Jerid P. Woods, for a conversation about books, education, and inspiring the youth.
🏁 Lane 3 (Eastern Time - 7 PM EST): Special guest host Theehottgirlbooks (Wale) leads a discussion on In Open Contempt with its author, Irvin Weathersby.
For our readers who hate public math:
Traci Thomas – 11 AM PST | 12 PM MST | 1 PM CST | 2 PM EST
Jerid P. Woods – 12:30 PM PST | 1:30 PM MST | 2:30 PM CST | 3:30 PM EST
Irvin Weathersby – 4 PM PST | 5 PM MST | 6 PM CST | 7 PM EST
Join one, some, or all of these great conversations live on Bookum!
This Week in The Book World:
We’re putting our investigator hats back on this week—blame Brandon Sanderson.
In a recent Polygon interview, Sanderson sparked a debate: Does streaming have an epic fantasy (or fantasy in general) problem?
Photo: Will Ireland/SFX Magazine/Future
Fantasy book series like Throne of Glass, ACOTAR, and Children of Blood and Bone have taken the book world by storm. But on streaming platforms? The story is… different.
While great storytelling should be great storytelling, why have these beloved series either struggled (Shadow and Bone) or stalled (I.E. A Court of Thorns and Roses, recently shelved by Hulu despite 20 million copies sold)?
The easy answer? Money.
These adaptations just need bigger budgets, right?
Not exactly.
Look at The Rings of Power—Amazon spent over $465 million (rumored to exceed $1 billion with post-production), yet it holds a 49% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
What about intellectual property (IP)? The Lord of the Rings books have sold 150 million copies, and the movies grossed nearly $3 billion—yet even that didn’t guarantee streaming success.
Maybe the answer lies with Children of Blood and Bone, which was trapped in Disney+ development limbo until Paramount swooped in to turn it into a movie instead of a series.
Perhaps the real takeaway is this: while streamers thrive with episodic book adaptations (Daisy Jones & The Six), they struggle with epic fantasy, which demands spectacle, grand hero’s journeys, and cinematic fanfare.
What do you think—does epic fantasy belong on streaming platforms, or is it better suited for the big screen?
This Week in Publishing:
Nothing says Valentine’s Day like a brand-new romance from Ali Hazelwood!
Her latest, Deep End, is out this week:
Summary:
A competitive diver and an ace swimmer jump into forbidden waters in this steamy college romance. It was supposed to be just a temporary, mutually satisfying fling. But when staying away from Lukas becomes impossible, Scarlett realizes her heart might be treading into dangerous waters...
If you love contemporary or sports romances, this one's for you!
As always, if you enjoyed this week’s newsletter, please share it with others. Every share helps and keeps us growing!
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Happy Reading!
See you next week!
Footnotes (Aka other articles we are reading and Bookum content):
Bookum Club is kicking off our Feb-March Club with Will Packer’s Who Better Than You? out today! Get your copy & join the club -https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/735558/who-better-than-you-by-will-packer/
We Are Featured in New Article by Book Riot - https://bookriot.com/new-reading-tracker-apps-to-try/’
Percival Everett’s ‘James’ among nominees on the long list for the PEN/Faulkner fiction prize - https://apnews.com/article/penfaulkner-award-percival-everett-james-b6eedc135f1e0d0b96b44505bf046f02
