Forget ‘Shadow and Bone,’ This 11-Year-Old Epic Fantasy Series Deserves Its Own Streaming Adaptation

Published Sep 3, 2026, 6:58 PM EDT Kendall Myers is a Senior Author with Collider. As part of the TV and Movies Features team, she writes about some of the most popular releases before, during, and after they premiere. In three years, she has written over 900 articles with topics ranging from classic sitcoms to fantasy epics. Fantasy television has thrived in recent years thanks to adaptations, with many popular shows first published as books. However, not every deserving novel has received this treatment, and with streamers searching for the next perfect addition to the genre, one title stands out. V. E. Schwab's A Darker Shade of Magic has everything fans could want. The urban fantasy shares tonal similarities with Netflix's Shadow and Bone, with its magical underworld and chaotic characters, but the story itself is distinctive. With magic, piracy, and alternate worlds, A Darker Shade of Magic delivers a thrilling adventure that deserves the wider fanbase that an adaptation would provide. The 2015 novel is the first in Schwab's Shades of Magic series, which currently consists of four books with more planned, offering plenty of material to adapt. While the series was previously in development for TV, after a decade, no further progress has been made — and with the genre only continuing to maintain popularity on streaming, an official Shades of Magic adaptation deserves to be revived. What Is 'A Darker Shade of Magic' About? A Darker Shade of Magic relies on four drastically different parallel universes, each with its own version of London and varying levels of magic. Only a handful of people, known as Antari, can travel between them, and even that access is heavily restricted. Gray London, inspired by 19th-century history, has no magic to speak of, but Red London and White London are teeming with magic. Meanwhile, Black London has become completely corrupted and is therefore sealed off from the others, yet its infectious dark influence isn't completely gone. The story begins when Kell Maresh, the last Antari in Red London, accidentally smuggles a dangerous artifact from Black London across worlds, before the enterprising thief, Lila Bard, steals it. Once she discovers that magic exists, Lila refuses to look back, but she's also swept up in a greater conflict between Red London and White London and their respective Antari, Kell Maresh and Holland Vosijk. Lila somewhat reluctantly allies herself with Kell and travels to Red London, where the two must protect Kell's brother, the reckless Prince Rhy Maresh, from White London's ambitious leaders, who plan to use Black London's magic to take over another world. Lila, Kell, and Rhy are compelling characters on their own, but the story's greatest strength is its singular combination of magic, alternate worlds, and piracy into one thrilling adventure. A Shades of Magic TV Series Is Long Overdue A wide range of fantasy adaptations are already in the works, but Schwab's series would make an ideal fantasy show, between its unique magic system and characters that fans will fall in love with — and the story gets even better as it goes on. The later books include magical competitions, an unthinkable enemy, and shocking resurrections. With so many twists, each story is more exciting than the last, which is the trajectory a successful fantasy TV series needs. While the Shades of Magic series hasn't been adapted yet, in 2016, Sony acquired the rights to develop a miniseries, though it was later changed into a film adaptation. The last news about the project came in 2019 when John Wick writer Derek Kolstad was confirmed to be attached, but there has been no news since then. While it's disappointing that such a promising adaptation never happened, it means Schwab's Shades of Magic books can become a TV series instead. More and more book adaptations, especially in the fantasy genre, are becoming series rather than films, and it's a choice that fits the scope of these stories. Schwab's series deserves the same treatment, and with the continued popularity of fantasy shows, now is the perfect time to bring A Darker Shade of Magic and its sequels to life.