I was thrilled when I heard Hulu had picked up Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses (or ACOTAR for short) to adapt as a series. Even though — confession time — I actually skipped straight to A Court of Silver Flames, I enjoyed both the book and the memes and thought the whole thing would make for an extremely fun, bingeable watch in the vein of Outlander… if they could figure out how to pull off Rhysand and the other Bat Boys.
But unfortunately, the TV adaptation seems to have stalled out for now. (Which is a shame because, when it was announced in 2021, it was being developed by Ronald D. Moore, who adapted Outlander — i.e., somebody with a great track record.) Who knows what’ll happen with it now! But actually, there are a lot of shows out there to tide you over in the meantime. And I happen to be something of an expert, aka a longtime fantasy girlie who loves a dark-haired, morally gray love interest as much as anybody.
So, here are some shows that should keep you busy for now. Or at least until somebody realizes they really ought to adapt Crescent City.
My Lady Jane
Initially, I had no interest in My Lady Jane, which is loosely based on one of the sadder chapters of British royal history. The real Lady Jane Grey (or the people around her, anyway) made a grab for the throne after Henry VIII’s sickly son and successor, Edward, died but didn’t make it very far — hence her nickname of “the Nine Days’ Queen.” (You can probably guess what happened to her when those nine days were up.) Seemed depressing. Well, twist, the show is actually a bonkers paranormal romance that takes the concept of the real Lady Jane Grey and spins it into something delightfully nuts… and also for some reason there are shapeshifters? Now we’re in business!
Vikings: Valhalla
OK, so your favorite part of A Court of Silver Flames was Nesta and the other Valkyries basically doing CrossFit for hundreds of pages and then monumentally kicking ass. Do I have the show for you! A spinoff of the beloved History Channel show Vikings, the heart and soul of this show is Freydis Eriksdotter, who crosses the North Atlantic on a quest for revenge. She spends an enormous amount of time swinging a sword while the unbelievably handsome Harald Sigurdsson stares at her with little heart emojis in his eyes. It’s gory, it’s bloody, it’s excellent.
A Discovery of Witches
This show is totally under-appreciated. Every costume is gorgeous; every set is lavish and stunning. They’re in Venice! They’re in Oxford! They’re in a French castle! They’re in an amazing upstate New York farmhouse that I’d do illegal and immoral things to own! And yeah, the chemistry between witch/historian Diana Bishop and vampire/geneticist Matthew Clairmont is pretty good, too, and they’re a couple of stunners. The setup is that witches and vampires pretty much hate each other, but circumstances force them to work together… and we all know how that works out. Plus, it’s coming to Netflix on Aug. 19.
Wheel of Time
Sometimes, you just need some good, old-fashioned, sword-and-sorcery fantasy. And nothing fits the bill quite as well as Wheel of Time, which follows a bunch of young people from a small village who get caught up in an epic battle between good and evil, as they so often do in this genre. It’s got institutional infighting and scheming, lots of powerful women, and also the mega-crush of my tween years when this was just a thousands-of-pages-long book series, al’Lan Mandragoran.
Outlander
We can’t skip the iconic century-crossing tale of Jamie and Claire Fraser, a couple that would drive you absolutely bananas in real life, but they’re great company on television as they navigate the challenges of Jacobite Rising-era Scotland and (spoiler) Colonial America. If you haven’t watched this one, it’s time; if you have, why not rewatch it? Plus, this is one that’ll actually grab your husband’s attention, too, so it makes a good show to enjoy together, cozy on the couch for the fall. And there are so, so many seasons at this point, too, so it should keep you busy for a while.
The Rings of Power
Obviously, the Lord of the Rings movies are always there for you to revisit, and I highly encourage that decision. But why not give the new Amazon show a try? It’s set during the rise of Sauron, around the creation of the rings that gave Frodo and the rest of them so much trouble. And I’m sorry to report that Sauron is honestly kind of a hottie.
Witcher
I will be honest: I find the overarching story of Witcher kind of bewildering and difficult to follow, despite a lifetime of reading enormous fantasy novels. (Probably because I insist on scrolling while watching TV, just like the rest of you.) What I can very easily follow is Henry Cavill’s enormous shoulders while battling various monsters of the week as the titular Witcher, Geralt of Rivia. Granted, they’ve recast the character and Liam Hemsworth is taking over now, but he’s not so bad, either. What can I say? I’m a simple woman who simply loves big dudes killing monsters while wearing leather pants.
Alchemy of Souls
You could also try another subgenre that often plays with high fantasy themes: K-dramas! Meet Alchemy of Souls. We got sorcery, we got magical body-switching, we got star-crossed love. And in this case, she is the morally gray love interest. You might also likeLove Between Fairy and Devil or Tale of the Nine Tailed, too.
Shadow and Bone
Did everybody know that Prince Caspian is all grown up and, yes, he is bad news, but he is also very handsome? If you’ve somehow missed the Netflix adaptation of Shadow and Bone, following the travails of a mapmaker and — surprise! — extremely powerful wielder of magic, it’s time to remedy that fact. Just don’t get too romantically attached to General Aleksander Kirigan.
