This 5-Part Fantasy Series With 91% RT Score Proves 1 Thing About Book Adaptations

Although Prime Video’s The Magicians was not necessarily the most faithful book adaptation to ever reach the screen, this proved to be a canny decision for the series in the long run. TV adaptations of popular books are a tricky art form. For every successful story like Prime Video’s Reacher, there is a series like Pretty Little Liars.

While Pretty Little Liars season 1 only diverged from its source material in some minor aspects, these had a knock-on effect that gradually made the story of the series more infamously absurd and silly than the source novels. As such, it might seem like straying from the source material is always a mistake for showrunners.

However, Prime Video’s five-season fantasy series The Magicians proves that this isn’t necessarily the case. SyFy’s The Magicians was based on the book trilogy of the same name by author Lev Grossman, but the series didn’t stick too closely to its source material. Far from derailing the show, this enhanced the series instead.

The Magicians Is Not A Very Faithful Adaptation

The Magicians focuses on Quentin Coldwater, a grad student attending Brakebills University for Magical Pedagogy. As a lover of the in-universe Fillory and Further novel series, Quentin is initially thrilled to learn that the books are based on reality. However, their real-life inspiration poses a threat to the world unless he can uncover a conspiracy surrounding them.

Meanwhile, as Quentin begins to attend Brakebills, his childhood friend Julia Wicker is turned down despite her Ivy League credentials and ends up joining a group of self-taught hedge witches instead. Rounding out the cast of The Magicians are Alice Quinn, Eliot Waugh, Quentin’s troubled alcoholic roommate, and Eliot’s girlfriend, Margo.

From the beginning, The Magicians changed a lot of elements from its source material, resulting in a show that felt as much inspired by the source novels as a direct adaptation of the books. Since the series needed to stand out in a sea of magical school shows, these changes were justified by a desire for the show to carve its own path.

How The Magicians Carved Its Own Path

That said, it can still be frustrating when a series strays from its source material, since viewers are often left wondering why the creators didn’t simply opt to make an entirely new show. Fortunately, The Magicians’ book changes don’t leave viewers pondering this question, as the show still remains fairly true to the spirit of the novels.

Since The Magicians book series stumbled into a few YA clichés that had become increasingly common by the time the show was adapted to television, the SyFy series wisely changed these details. Where the books focus on Quentin as their main protagonist, The Magicians splits its focus equally between all the show’s leads.

This resulted in a series that felt more diverse than the source books, but also less predictable. Since Quentin is the primary protagonist of the novels, his survival is all but guaranteed, whereas splitting the show’s focus between numerous main characters ensured that The Magicians felt less predictable throughout the show’s five-season run.

Similarly, The Magicians aged up Quentin and his friends considerably. The group is all still high school students preparing for college at the beginning of the first book, whereas, in the TV show, Quentin is already a grad student, and he is preparing for post-graduate studies.

This was a welcome change since plenty of magical TV shows had already explored the concept of a magic college, especially in the wake of the Harry Potter franchise’s global popularity. By aging up the lead characters of The Magicians, the show gave viewers a fresh perspective on a magic university through the eyes of a more mature set of protagonists.

The Magicians Didn't Have To Be A Faithful Adaptation To Be Good

While The Magicians changed a lot of specific details from the original book series, this didn’t inhibit the show’s appeal. If anything, The Magicians was a better adaptation thanks to these changes. Complex characters like Julia and Margo don’t get as much character development in the novels, where they are supporting stars compared to Quentin.

Julia’s ascent through the hedge witches might happen in the books, but she is mostly a background character who only appears on occasion and whose life doesn’t intersect with Quentin’s studies in a major way. Meanwhile, the High King of Fillory isn’t Margo in the source books.

As a result, Summer Bishil’s character receives more screen time and a more substantial role in the plot of the series than her book counterpart. This soon proves a canny change, as Eliot’s love interest is the show’s breakout star and its most memorable character.

It is tough for fans of the SyFy series to imagine a version of The Magicians without Bishil’s King Margo, but this just goes to show how much the series explored new territory for the franchise and unlocked the untapped potential of the book series in the process. As such, The Magicians is a shining example of a successful unfaithful adaptation.