Snow Crash was originally meant to be a graphic novel--with some clever screenwriting, it could easily be stretched out to 12-13 episodes (or at least a miniseries).
Anything in the Slammerverse could be made into a serial form, again with a little work to preserve continuity. It's already got a lot of material in the anthologies, so it shouldn't be too hard. Hell, if you could get Drake to revisit the Lacy and His Friends universe, it would be rather timely.
A series based on Niven's Gil the Arm protagonist would be fun for a series or two--the writing chops required could be found in anybody with experience writing crime dramas or who-dun-its, with a bit of extra worldbuilding for organlegging and telekinesis.
Maybe something based on The Stainless Steel Rat? Harrison is dead and buried (sadly!) so he wouldn't be too offended.
Honestly, the problem with a lot of science-fiction books is that, once the core ideas are explored and the conflict resolved, it's best to kind of move on.
EDIT:
Actually, a post-apocalyptic series based on Lucifer's Hammer or War Day would be great. Jericho actually had its moments, but went too soon.
Comedy option for HBO: The Stone Dogs.
Even better option: a port of Turtledove's World War alternate history.
Altered Carbon has gotta be the best cyberpunk novel in a long time. Gritty, not too fantastical - it just nailed the genre perfectly.
I'm also enamored with The Culture. Not any particular story, really. Just the setting of post-scarcity + friendly AI. It's like an inverted Star Trek. Everyone is having a blast, and interference is pretty much a moral requirement. Apart from a sitcom set on some GSV, Special Circumstances provides all the setting necessary for tons of fun.
Both worlds would have ample opportunity for sex, drugs, nudity and violence. (Which is the only reason I bother watching Game if Thrones these days.)
Asimov's Robot books may also be prefect for HBO. Sorta like a hardboiled detective, except robot minds. (I enjoyed those a lot more than Foundation. While fun rides, the basic premise of predicting everything via psychology is just... eh, unrealistic.)
I was in two minds reading Altered Carbon. I really liked the setting, the world building was great and the story worked well but the lead character just came across as too powerful for my liking. He was constantly getting threatened or beaten but would always make it out of impossible situations. That felt a little tedious after a while. However, I think it would make an excellent TV series and I would love to see it.
Hyperion by Dan Simmons would make an /amazing/ miniseries. The narrative structure is apparently based on the Canterbury Tales and so each chapter is fairly self contained with an overarching plot tying the characters together. It's one of my all time favorite books, and as a scifi work it brings a strong literary sense to the genre.
The first two Commonwealth novels by Peter F. Hamilton (Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained) would be an very amenable to TV if it wasn't for the required length I think.
It has a enough different plot-lines to interest many different audiences I think.
TV or film, really. The distinctions between the two have been greatly blurred these days, for better or for worse. Film, I suppose, is still considered a purer medium, though. Unfettered by commercial interruptions, and syndication or serialization concerns...
Film, please, only because I think the plot would fit better in a movie. It's like "The Fugitive" - the concept worked better as a movie than a TV show.
A controversial choice, not only because the movie was only out a while ago, but I'd LOVE to see a TV show set in the Ender's Game universe. It's the kind of thing that Netflix could probably do really well.
The movie covered some parts well, and the vision was more or less there, but I still left the cinema annoyed. One movie isn't long enough to cover the book, and there's enough content in the books to make many series without having to pad episodes out.
A few scifi novels that seem filmable and have strong characters.
You could do a fair bit of David Ramirez's Forever Watch with practical effects, and the story has enough twists that you could get a long season out of it. Basically set on a colony ship, where people have strange psychic powers, investigating sudden deaths that the regimented ship's society covers up. It might be better as an anime though.
The First 15 Lives of Harry August by Claire North requires almost no cgi, just period stuff and practical effects. Basically everytime certain people die, they are born again and remember their whole life. Of course someone decides to change the future.
In the Country of the Blind by Michael Flynn is about people who use statistical processes to predict the future, starting before lincoln. It could make good tv, especially with the steam punk element. Nice way to talk about machine learning and big data.
The Chronoliths by Robert Charles Wilson. Basically these large sculptures start getting sent back through time something like 40 years, commemorating a warlord's victories. Really strongly written characters, and a good plot.
A good book basically can't work as a TV show, and vice versa. I'd rather the TV people came up with their own stories that will actually work on TV. (Game of Thrones, which I'm sure is the inspiration for this, is an exception because it's basically written as a TV show already.)
Summertide, by Charles Sheffield. There isn't a lot of deep argument to screw up, but the visuals are impressive (2 planets orbiting closely each other in the road to a catastrophic quake/tsunami, alien artifacts from millions of years ago, really weird alien races).
That should be the ultimate criteria, is hard to translate right a deep argument to TV (and sometimes the translation includes "sponsored message" from government and groups of power that damages the book message), but books with good visuals may be perfect for that media (and if are not great, run low risk of corruption)
Would hate that great books like Hyperion end having the same fate as All you zombies or Mimsy were the borogoves.
I would be completely contented with a three- or six-part series, but I could also see it being turned (well) into a longer thing by interpolating.
Similarly, but probably more accessible, "The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell (and it's sequel "Children of God"). It would definitely do better as a long series.
[+] [-] angersock|11 years ago|reply
Anything in the Slammerverse could be made into a serial form, again with a little work to preserve continuity. It's already got a lot of material in the anthologies, so it shouldn't be too hard. Hell, if you could get Drake to revisit the Lacy and His Friends universe, it would be rather timely.
A series based on Niven's Gil the Arm protagonist would be fun for a series or two--the writing chops required could be found in anybody with experience writing crime dramas or who-dun-its, with a bit of extra worldbuilding for organlegging and telekinesis.
Maybe something based on The Stainless Steel Rat? Harrison is dead and buried (sadly!) so he wouldn't be too offended.
Honestly, the problem with a lot of science-fiction books is that, once the core ideas are explored and the conflict resolved, it's best to kind of move on.
EDIT:
Actually, a post-apocalyptic series based on Lucifer's Hammer or War Day would be great. Jericho actually had its moments, but went too soon.
Comedy option for HBO: The Stone Dogs.
Even better option: a port of Turtledove's World War alternate history.
[+] [-] joshuapants|11 years ago|reply
That's something I'd love to see.
[+] [-] MichaelGG|11 years ago|reply
I'm also enamored with The Culture. Not any particular story, really. Just the setting of post-scarcity + friendly AI. It's like an inverted Star Trek. Everyone is having a blast, and interference is pretty much a moral requirement. Apart from a sitcom set on some GSV, Special Circumstances provides all the setting necessary for tons of fun.
Both worlds would have ample opportunity for sex, drugs, nudity and violence. (Which is the only reason I bother watching Game if Thrones these days.)
Asimov's Robot books may also be prefect for HBO. Sorta like a hardboiled detective, except robot minds. (I enjoyed those a lot more than Foundation. While fun rides, the basic premise of predicting everything via psychology is just... eh, unrealistic.)
[+] [-] kristianp|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Stoo|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kennon42|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] monroepe|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rurounijones|11 years ago|reply
It has a enough different plot-lines to interest many different audiences I think.
[+] [-] NeutronBoy|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] burnt_chrome|11 years ago|reply
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Cunningham#Neuromancer
TV or film, really. The distinctions between the two have been greatly blurred these days, for better or for worse. Film, I suppose, is still considered a purer medium, though. Unfettered by commercial interruptions, and syndication or serialization concerns...
[+] [-] isxek|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Bzomak|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Apocryphon|11 years ago|reply
HBO should give Dune the high production values grand costume drama adaptation it deserves.
[+] [-] ThrustVectoring|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] terminus|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] IndianAstronaut|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] EnderMB|11 years ago|reply
The movie covered some parts well, and the vision was more or less there, but I still left the cinema annoyed. One movie isn't long enough to cover the book, and there's enough content in the books to make many series without having to pad episodes out.
[+] [-] lsiebert|11 years ago|reply
You could do a fair bit of David Ramirez's Forever Watch with practical effects, and the story has enough twists that you could get a long season out of it. Basically set on a colony ship, where people have strange psychic powers, investigating sudden deaths that the regimented ship's society covers up. It might be better as an anime though.
The First 15 Lives of Harry August by Claire North requires almost no cgi, just period stuff and practical effects. Basically everytime certain people die, they are born again and remember their whole life. Of course someone decides to change the future.
In the Country of the Blind by Michael Flynn is about people who use statistical processes to predict the future, starting before lincoln. It could make good tv, especially with the steam punk element. Nice way to talk about machine learning and big data.
The Chronoliths by Robert Charles Wilson. Basically these large sculptures start getting sent back through time something like 40 years, commemorating a warlord's victories. Really strongly written characters, and a good plot.
[+] [-] partisan|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mark_ellul|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dragon1st|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] douche|11 years ago|reply
For batshit insanity and HBO skinflick appeal, maybe L. Ron Hubbard's Mission Earth.
[+] [-] jccooper|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gmuslera|11 years ago|reply
That should be the ultimate criteria, is hard to translate right a deep argument to TV (and sometimes the translation includes "sponsored message" from government and groups of power that damages the book message), but books with good visuals may be perfect for that media (and if are not great, run low risk of corruption)
Would hate that great books like Hyperion end having the same fate as All you zombies or Mimsy were the borogoves.
[+] [-] nevdka|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jaddison|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] marak830|11 years ago|reply
I have the feeling it would be better as a high quality animated series.
[+] [-] mitchty|11 years ago|reply
I'm not sure at all how the ending would get translated to film but god would it make for a great movie.
[+] [-] unknown|11 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] mglheureux|11 years ago|reply
I would be completely contented with a three- or six-part series, but I could also see it being turned (well) into a longer thing by interpolating.
Similarly, but probably more accessible, "The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell (and it's sequel "Children of God"). It would definitely do better as a long series.