Theoretical: If HBO did Sc-Fi what books would you want them to do

[Whitepaper]

My choices:

- The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress.(Heinlein and there's alot of his works i'd like to see on the screen too..mostly been reading heinlein lately.)
- The Quiet War (Paul McAuley) I think this one would make for a very good setting for tv.
- Stainless steel rat books.
- Bill the galactic hero(if i remember the name right)

 

[Mistral]

Some good books have been already thrown in so I'll go for some that haven't been mentioned.

The Horus Heresy series from Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 franchises. There are like 15 books and they are still pumping out more. I'd say they could just tackle the first three that cover Horus's fall and the start of his rebellion and that would make a pretty good series.

I'd like to see Sean Williams and Shane Dix's Evergence Trilogy as a TV series. One of my favourite set out novels. A great adventure with great characters. Plus it might force Will and Dix to do the fourth novel that they have said they have in their back pocket.

Is alternate history okay? If so, I'll throw John Birmingham's Weapon's of Choice trilogy into the mix. It's about a multi-national naval task force from the not too distant future getting thrown back to WW2. It interesting in that you have 21st century weapons taking part in the 1940s, but it also deals with the problems of a 21st century attitude meeting that of the 1940s where there is a clear race and gender divide. It also has Prince Harry in it (he's an SAS commando who gets sent back in time), so if they hurry they can cash in on Royal wedding buzz!

Yes, suggested this. Would make a fascinating commentary on how America's views have changed since the 40s.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Accelerando as a miniseries or the "Bob Howard — Laundry" series by Charles Stross.

 

[timothy]

any thing by Harry Turtledove.

 

[Mistral]

any thing by Harry Turtledove.

SOME things by Harry Turtledove. Not all of it is fit to print, little less turn into video.

 

[Skywalker]

I'd love to see a two-part miniseries of Turtledove's Ruled Britannia. That's still, IMO, his best work.

 

[Claudia]

Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series. It has the SF-element, coupled with drama and humour and strong characterization.

 

[Vendikarr]

any thing by Harry Turtledove.

SOME things by Harry Turtledove. Not all of it is fit to print, little less turn into video.

I would love to see Guns of the South. But I fear any program showing a victorious Confederacy would not go over well.

 

[Corran Horn]

Mars trilogy would be nice.

 

[Forbin]

My top 3 choices would be:
KSR's Mars trilogy
Honor Harrington
Ringworld
Pern

Four. My top FOUR choices would be...

 

[Canadave]

any thing by Harry Turtledove.

SOME things by Harry Turtledove. Not all of it is fit to print, little less turn into video.

I would love to see Guns of the South. But I fear any program showing a victorious Confederacy would not go over well.

Yeah, I'd love to see it too. Unlike all his sagas, it's contained and focused enough to remain interesting. I don't think I've ever managed to finish his long series because I just get bored after a while.

Incidentally, this thread has got me Googling, but I've been unable to find any fanart or anything for the Mars trilogy. I'm kind of astounded by that, honestly, given how many interesting visuals there are.

 

[Silvercrest]

Four. My top FOUR choices would be...

I'll come in again.

 

[Mistral]

any thing by Harry Turtledove.

SOME things by Harry Turtledove. Not all of it is fit to print, little less turn into video.

I would love to see Guns of the South. But I fear any program showing a victorious Confederacy would not go over well.

I don't see that as an issue, honestly. But you would need one hell of a good actor to play Lee.

Although it might be classified as fantasy, a series based on Randall Garrett's Lord Darcy series could be fascinating.

And a compilation of single episode stories based on the BOLO! stories by Laumer could be fun.

Since it's HBO and has "leeway" perhaps something based on The Domination by Stirling? It would be one helluva ride, anyway. And make the Tudors look like kiddie fare.

 

[Forbin]

Niven's Draco Tavern would be a hell of a setting for a miniseries.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

HBO put Robert Silverberg's The World Inside into development as a series a couple of years ago. There hasn't been any forward movement on it yet, but HBO sometimes takes their time with developing shows.

At some point - once there's more distance from the last two miniseries - I'd like to see Frank Herbert's Dune series adapted into an HBO show.

 

[Scout101]

Could do some world-wrecking, and try Dies the Fire (and the rest of the series). Apocolypse, sword fighting, rebuilding civilization, canibals, etc. Little of everything!

 

[Dac]

Halo: The Fall of Reach, or Halo: Contact Harvest. Or anything Halo related. It's dark, humanity always has its back to the wall and I can think off many "oh shit" moments which are dying to be put to film.

So basically, instead of a Halo movie, how about an hour of Halo every week? For 12 weeks :P

 

[Skywalker]

You'd need a more interesting protagonist than the Master Chief, though.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Well, if it's for HBO we want it to be sexy, so John Norman's Gor series would be perfect.

Other sexy possibilities:

Ringworld
Friday
Warlord of Mars

Hard SF that could be sexified:

Foundation
Haviland Tuf
Telzey Amberdon
Priscilla Hutchins

Pulp SF that could be sexified:

Captain Future
Lensman
Planet Krishna

I'm not suggesting adaptations, but new stories set in these universes.

 

[Dac]

You'd need a more interesting protagonist than the Master Chief, though.

Oh definately. I reckon a series could work though just with original characters, be they a crew of a UNSC ship, or an ODST team or bog standard marines - there's a million interesting stories to be told in that universe.

Having said that, Nathan Fillion reprising the role of Buck would be awesome. And it would be nice to see some Spartans, albeit as objects of mystery and propaganda.