We’re living in an age of fantastic prestige TV, where the demand for original content has led to incredible opportunities for book adaptations. It used to be that word of a film adaptation led to cries of “I hope they don’t ruin the book!” But with the time that an eight to ten episode series affords writers, adaptations have yielded good — even great — genre stories that introduce huge audiences to our favorite books.
Even if a book hasn’t been adapted, one can’t but wonder what one’s book might look like on a streaming service’s page. Over the last week, fans and authors on Twitter have been working to figure that out, creating their own versions of what their books might look like on the front page of Netflix.
The process is both simple and deceptive. I first came across the meme when Alix E. Harrow shared screenshots of her debut novel, The Ten Thousand Doors of January Netflix..ified:
https://twitter.com/AlixEHarrow/status/1253038433993478146
I honestly did a double-take when I first saw that. It looked plausible: a Netflix title screen with a background image and episode screencaps as though someone had blown through the entire series. It had me wondering for a split second how I might have missed that not only was there a show based on one of my favorite books from last year, but that it was apparently now streaming?
Alas, neither were true, making the screenshots a moment of cruel wish-fulfillment.
One of the authors turning out the screencaps is Marshall Ryan Maresca, who’s been writing his Maradaine series since 2015. He explained to me that he was inspired by another Twitter user, @LovelyOwelsBooks, who created her own version for S.A. Chakraborty’s City of Brass.
“I saw the one for Shannon’s, and I thought it would be fun to do one of my own books, just as a lark. So I screenshot my own Netflix screen to build a template from and went to work on that, and the shot I took had the small icons of other shows in the same category.”
The result was his imagined version of what a Maradaine series might look on the streaming service.
My brain demanded I do a thing in photoshop, and I figured if I'm doing it, why half-ass it. pic.twitter.com/RkpdDGq3oI
— Marshall Ryan Maresca (@marshallmaresca) April 21, 2020
To complete the effect, he added in other elements that you might see on Netflix: “I decided, ‘If I’m going to have those there, I’ll make those for other books.’ So I thought about recent books from friends that had easy aesthetics I could work with.” He added in other potential adaptations that might sit alongside his own fantasy series — Rowenna Miller’s Torn, Alexandra Rowland’s A Conspiracy of Truths, Fonda Lee’s Jade City, K.M. Szpara’s Docile, and Cass Morris’s From Unseen Fire.
He then went on to add in an episode page with tiny blurbs and thumbnails for each episode.
OK, last bit of this glorious self-indulgence. For now. pic.twitter.com/mGEstEv4Jy
— Marshall Ryan Maresca (@marshallmaresca) April 22, 2020
From there, he followed up with some other pages for those potential shows. “For the thumbnail for Rowenna Miller’s Torn, it’s inspired by the French Revolution,” he explained. “I found a shot from a French movie called One Nation, One King that had a great look.”
For K.M. Sparza’s Docile, I wanted something with a 20s vibe, with a solid separation of ruling class and servants. So I found a good shot from Gosford Park. And then for the main image for that one, there was a great picture I found of a cut scene from Downton Abbey.And I had found this glorious shot of Lewis Tan in a gorgeous suit with a green background, that felt VERY Jade War, so I decided to use that for a full one for that book, and then from there, why not do all the other ones in full.
Since I made one for Fonda, I figured I should do the full line for @RowennaM, @_alexrowland, @KMSzpara and @CassRMorris. https://t.co/GBjh8XFi4a pic.twitter.com/D4sM6dYEpi
— Marshall Ryan Maresca (@marshallmaresca) April 22, 2020
Others have since made their own imaginary shows, such as ones for V.E. Schwab’s Shades of Magic series, Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson & The Olympians, Tasha Suri’s Empire of Sand, and Shelby Mahurin’s Serpent & Dove:
𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘴.
the shades of magic series by @veschwab as a netflix show pic.twitter.com/H6QqOVjW9e— em (@sixofgrisha) April 21, 2020
this is for all the long-suffering demigods out there……..
✨ if PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS were a netflix show✨@rickriordan pic.twitter.com/PwEtWmZCNg
— rain🥀 (@bookdragonism) April 22, 2020
If Empire Of Sands by @tashadrinkstea was a Netflix series… pic.twitter.com/HGNURibQRr
— aradhna. (@thebitterbeast) April 22, 2020
https://twitter.com/dearcardan/status/1253060267367227392
Maresca notes that people have been extremely enthusiastic with the results, and that more than one person has thought that they were real shows. “Hopefully, that brought people some joy right now.”
I think it’s a combination of things working together. We want to see great shows based on the books we love, and the Netflix screen format is something we’re familiar with as a venue for strong adaptations. So I think it gives a strong sense of, “Wow, this is what it really could look like if it happened.”
It’s a fun meme to scroll through, imagining what one’s favorite books might look like not only as a TV show, but as a movie or streaming poster. Maybe, some of these will end up on the very platforms that their fans are imagining. In the meantime, it’s a cruel and unusual tantalization for those of us really hoping to see their favorite books adapted for TV.
