"Sci-fi books/shorts that deserve a movie or tv series" Topic

If there is already one, please justify a remake.

I'll nominate "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress". Computer is very primitive, so let's update it to CGI and AI as it would be 100 years in the future from us. Political thriller, and interesting marriage matrix.

Larry Niven's Ring World.

Poul Anderson's Tau Zero.

Picking up the Baton from John the OFM

"Hopefully, for a book or series of short stories that haven't been done yet. If you think a remake is in order, OK. But please give reasons."

Lets Start with Bolo Series
Weber – Honor Harrington Series
Moon – Vatta Series
Ringo – TransDimensional Hunter Series
Chalker – Well of Souls

Bolos

Moons Vatta Series

Weber Honor Harrington Series

Ringo – Transdimensional Hunter Series

Chalker – Well of Souls series

Robinson – Callahans Series

The High Crusade
The Mote in God's Eye
Space Viking
Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen
The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet

Also things like Anderson's Paratime Patrol stories.

The word for world is forest.

Inverted World.

To your scattered bodies go.

Fabulous riverboat.

At the mountains of madness.

Fire in the deep.

Any and all of Larry Niven's Known Space novels and short stories. Also, any of the Man-Kzin wars stories inspired by Niven. Some of the best hard sci-fi ever written IMO.

Parzival, possibly some confusion? Anderson did a book of Time Patrol stories. Piper (Lord Kalvan) had the Paracops, and Verkan Val features in several short stories prior to Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen.

There was a High Crusade movie, by the way--a very bad one, though, so a remake is well in order. The whole thing was very Pythonesque.

Drake's Leary and Mundy stories would do for a series.
The Anderson & Dickson Hoka stories!
Anderson's Brain Wave says "miniseries" to me.
Niven & Pournelle Lucifer's Hammer would be very filmable--probably a TV series.
Pournelle's Falkenburg stories might go either way--or actually be one of those TV show with movie to follow things Disney can't seem to pull off.
And how could I have forgotten Avram Davidson? TV series for Limekiller and Doctor Eszerhazy, and a movie for The Boss in the Wall.

For a single straight movie, James H. Schmitz twice: The Witches of Kares and The Demon Breed.

Just for fun, because neither will never happen, two more or less anthology shows.
One: Heinlein's "Future History" from just before WWII to interstellar flight.
Two: "Old Mars." Go through all the stories which imagined a dry dying Mars with earthlike features and relatively human inhabitants with rockets arriving from Earth. Think Leigh Brackett and C L Moore among others. Share sets and costumes, but just tell individual stories, with one week's lead maybe having a bit part next time. I'd love to see Northwest Smith's reaction to Erik John Stark or Captain Future--or theirs to him.

David Drake's Hammer's Slammers
David Weber's Dahak series

Old Man's War.

Earth Abides
A Canticle for Leibowitz.

Well, I'd watch them. I don't know if anyone else would. $$$

I am Legend.
Early versions, with different names, came close. Will Smith used the name, but missed.
What got me was the last line in the book, where the protagonist suddenly realizes that HE is the bad guy. "I am legend!" Perfect 1950s sci-fi irony. Can someone do this right, for once? 🤷

Yeah, my confusion on the Time Patrol/Paracop thing. Been a while since I read either!

Alan Dean Foster's Flinx & Pip novels would be a fun series.

Here's a bizarre one— Splinter of the Mind's Eye done as an alternative sequel to Star Wars! None of that "I am your father" stuff, or "kissing your sister" either.

And on the subject of alternative Star Wars, how about Brian Daley's Han Solo Trilogy— hands down way better than the thing we got.

King David's Spaceship might be interesting.

The Stainless Steel Rat

The Tom Swift series (NOT the CW version… rolls eyes)

Old Man's War
Space Viking
Ring World (absolutely!)The Daniel Leary series by David Drake
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

Well obviously the whole Firefly / Serenity setting.
Full series xlots, plus spin off movies (plural)
;-)

The Lost Fleet, but done so its obviously not BSG, so all the encounters with the aliens.

The HeeChee books

Traveller/chthulhu mash up

Old Mans War
Hammers Slammers

Man Kzin wars -- Lary Niven

Elfhome -- Wen Spencer

x42

I'll add my vote for Moon's Vatta's War. My favorite sci-fi series.

Drake's Leary series, anything by Piper and Pournelles' "Janissaries."

The Expanse could do with another few seasons to cover the remaining books of the series

Wolves on the Border (and follow on books), Robert Charrette, definitely the best of the BattleTech novels.

Hammers Slammers
The Fifth Foreign Legion
X-Wing:Rogue Squadron

The Forever War – Joe Haldeman
The Kraken Wakes – John Wyndham

Should have thought of Jodi Taylor's "Chronicles of St Mary's" and "Time Police" books earlier. And you could do interesting things with Bertram Chandler's "Grimes" stories. But mostly I want my "Old Mars" anthology series.

If someone did a general SF anthology series, though, you'd have to include Frank Eric Russell's "Allamagoosa."

Thinking of Grimes – could also do McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan sage with Miles

For the record, Disaster, I own everything Bujold has ever written--well, except for the "Sharing Knife" books. An amazing author. But I wouldn't put my own money in a Vorkosiverse TV series. The ratio of thinking through the problem to violence and quips isn't right for the medium.

Reaching way back, maybe "Doc" Smith's Lensman books, or just something set in that universe, or Edmund Hamilton's "Star Wolves."

And one of us should have thought of Andre Norton. The obvious choice would be the first couple of "Witch World" books, but there are several other possibilities.

Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover books might work too--but you'd have to stop before she switched to lecture mode.

Arthur C. Clarke's

"2061: Odyssey Three"

"3001: The Final Odyssey"

The Electric Church
The Chronicles of Old Guy
The final blackout.

Remake I am legend – updated and really follow the book
Remake Day of the Triffids, along the lines of an updated zombie film.

MGM just did an Earth Abides show. They changed it, lost the best parts, didn't understand it, and made it on the cheap, so it stunk and is not worth watching.

I'll second Final Blackout, and add To the Stars. Both as movies only, or a single season of TV.

David Drake's Hammers Slammers

Weber & Ringo's March to the Sea and sequels.

Heinlein's Star Beast and Starman Jones.

Anne McCaffrey's Pern series— yes, it involves telepathic dragons and their human riders, but it's all actually a science fiction series, which is revealed as you read the novels.

+1 for Flinx and Pip. Plus Foster's Glory Road, a nice balance to the "Saving the Universe from an Evil Empire" genre.

A remake of Wyndham's Day of the Triffids, without director/writer "improvements". Perhaps The Kraken Wakes too.

Are you crazy?

If you truly love a work of literature, why would you want Hollywood to "fix" it?

This is a fantasy, Deucey. If I can imagine someone making these shows, I can imagine them doing it right.

Yeah, I rant at modern Hollywood too. But "modern" Hollywood is a moving target. Decent adaptations have come out of the studios before. Think Captain Blood, Gone with the Wind, Gettysburg and LOTR. Think The Longest Day and A Bridge too Far. My Man Godfrey wasn't quite 1101 Park Avenue, and Fitzwilly wasn't quite A Garden of Cucumbers, but they were still good movies and caught the spirit of the books if not always the plot. This crowd will pass, and someone will do entertainment again. Just because I won't live to see it doesn't mean it won't happen.

And dearly as I love my novels and short stories, to describe something isn't always to see it. Disney/Marvel has ripped me off repeatedly--but I also got to see the SHIELD Helicarrier rising out of the water. On balance, I might still be ahead.

If you truly love a work of literature, why would you want Hollywood to "fix" it?

Why does it have to be made in Hollywood? There's plenty of other places that make movies. You may have seen an Aussie one with a larrikin called Dundee, or some British ones about some flashy bloke called Bond?

Sadly "Bond, James Bond" has been taken over by Bezos. The Fates only know how the new Bond will go.

The Fates only know how the new Bond will go.

Perhaps an American lady who still retains a taste for shaken martinis (and well dressed, attractive women), but who refuses to drive British or Italian cars?