Best TV Shows Based on Books
TL;DR — For epic, watch Shōgun or Game of Thrones (the early seasons). For literary drama, Normal People or My Brilliant Friend. For thrillers, Slow Horses, Sharp Objects or Big Little Lies. For dystopia, The Handmaid's Tale. For fantasy, The Witcher or Outlander. Several, like Shōgun and Normal People, are among the best adaptations ever made.
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Shōgun (FX, 2024, 10 episodes). An English navigator is shipwrecked in 1600 Japan and drawn into a war for power, with Hiroyuki Sanada as Lord Toranaga. Mostly in Japanese, gorgeous and gripping; its 18 Emmys set a record for a single season. Two more seasons are planned beyond the novel.
Game of Thrones (HBO, 2011-2019, 8 seasons). Seasons 1 to 4, which follow Martin's books closely, are superb. After the show passed the published novels, the rushed final seasons divided fans.
Literary drama
Normal People (BBC Three and Hulu, 2020, 12 episodes). Marianne and Connell's on-off relationship from school to Trinity College Dublin. Rooney co-wrote the scripts, and it made stars of Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal.
My Brilliant Friend (HBO and RAI, 2018-2024, 4 seasons). A lifelong, competitive friendship between two women from a poor Naples neighbourhood, in Italian, with each season adapting one of Ferrante's novels.
Thrillers
Slow Horses (Apple TV, 2022 onward). Gary Oldman's slovenly Jackson Lamb runs a dumping ground for failed MI5 agents. Funny, tense, and each season adapts a Herron novel in order.
Big Little Lies (HBO, 2017-2019, 2 seasons). Five Monterey mothers and a death at a school fundraiser. Season 1 covers the whole novel; Season 2 is an original continuation.
Sharp Objects (HBO, 2018, 8 episodes). Amy Adams plays a reporter returning to her Missouri hometown to cover two murders. Slow, hypnotic and disturbing.
Dystopia and fantasy
The Handmaid's Tale (Hulu, 2017-2025, 6 seasons). Elisabeth Moss in the theocratic Republic of Gilead. Season 1, which covers Atwood's novel, won the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series.
The Witcher (Netflix, 2019 onward) and Outlander (Starz, 2014 onward) are the big fantasy and romance adaptations, from Andrzej Sapkowski's and Diana Gabaldon's long series of novels.
Our verdict
Start with Shōgun if you want spectacle, Normal People if you want intimacy, and Slow Horses if you want fun.
Frequently asked questions
Should I read the book before watching? It depends. For Game of Thrones and Slow Horses, reading first spoils the twists. For Normal People and My Brilliant Friend, the books deepen the show whichever comes first.
Which shows went beyond their books? Game of Thrones from Season 6 and The Handmaid's Tale from Season 2 continued past their source novels, and many viewers felt both lost something when they did.
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