7 Reasons Epic Fantasy Fans Should Buy a DVR

The Wheel of Time

No word on if all 2,782 (!) named characters in this 14-volume Robert Jordan series will make it to the screen, but Amazon greenlit a TV adaptation of the series in October. The Amazon series will reportedly focus on the character of Moiraine and her efforts to thwart the Dark One's efforts to remake the world in his own evil image.

The Ruin of Kings

Just one week after the release of this Jenn Lyons book — the first installment of her five-book A Chorus of Dragons series — Annapurna Television nabbed the rights to the story, which follows a young thief who discovers he may be the son of a prince and who might be doomed by a complex prophecy.

The Witcher

Now that he has hung up Superman's cape, Henry Cavill is playing monster hunter Geralt of Rivia in this upcoming Netflix drama, which is based on the same Andrzej Sapkowski fantasy saga that spawned three critically hailed video games. In the story, Geralt aligns himself with a young princess and a powerful sorceress to survive a world "where people often prove more wicked than beasts," Deadline reports.

His Dark Materials

The 2007 big-screen adaptation of this Philip Pullman trilogy didn't make much of a splash, but the BBC is trying again with a TV version starring Dafne Keen, Ruth Wilson, James McAvoy and Lin-Manuel Miranda, which has already been renewed for a second season. The story — which blends science, magic, and theology — follows a young girl who uncovers a nefarious secret in a parallel universe.

The Watch

Based on Terry Pratchett's massive Discworld comic fantasy series — set in a flat world balanced on the back of four turtles balanced on the back of an elephant, of course — this in-development BBC series has been described as a "Pratchett-style CSI" and a "punk rock thriller."

Demimonde

After revitalizing the Star Wars and Star Trek franchises, writer-producer J.J. Abrams is taking a crack at an original sci-fi story — with a definite fantasy bent. This upcoming HBO series will be an "epic and intimate" drama centered on "a world's battle against a monstrous, oppressive force," according to Deadline.

Lord of the Rings

Do not take us as some conjurer of cheap tricks: The classic J.R.R. Tolkien novel — an adventure involving a fellowship protecting an all-powerful ring that could destroy Middle-earth — is indeed coming back to the screen as an Amazon series with a new story and a reported $1 billion budget.