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Adaptation of N.K. Jemisin’s THE FIFTH SEASON Coming to TV

TNT has signed on to adapt N.K. Jemisin's The Fifth Season, the first in an epic fantasy trilogy.

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Margaret Kingsbury

Contributing Editor

Margaret Kingsbury grew up in a house so crammed with books she couldn’t open a closet door without a book stack tumbling, and she’s brought that same decorative energy to her adult life. Margaret has an MA in English with a concentration in writing and has worked as a bookseller and adjunct English professor. She’s currently a freelance writer and editor, and in addition to Book Riot, her pieces have appeared in School Library Journal, BuzzFeed News, The Lily, Parents, StarTrek.com, and more. She particularly loves children’s books, fantasy, science fiction, horror, graphic novels, and any books with disabled characters. You can read more about her bookish and parenting shenanigans in Book Riot’s twice-weekly The Kids Are All Right newsletter. You can also follow her kidlit bookstagram account @BabyLibrarians, or on Twitter @AReaderlyMom.

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5 Sci-Fi Fantasy Novels With Badass Middle-Aged Heroines -- The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin | BookRiot.comSqueal! Double squeal! Okay, triple squeal! (Hey, it’s a trilogy.) If I could choose one fantasy series to see made into a TV series, it would be The Broken Earth trilogy, which starts with The Fifth Season. And TNT is set to adapt it. I’ve no idea how they’re going to pull it off, but I’m excited nonetheless.

And it’s perfect timing. The third and final book in the trilogy — The Stone Sky — came out this past Tuesday. And last Friday book two — The Obelisk Gate — won the 2017 Hugo Awards. But wait for this, The Fifth Season also won a Hugo in 2016! Which made N.K. Jemisin the first black woman to win the award. Here’s hoping for a trifecta. This series deserves it (though my copy of The Stone Sky just arrived at the library, so I’m merely anticipating its greatness).

Wondering about casting? For some reason, I’m not that worried about it. But Book Riot contributor Mya Nunnally will have a post coming soon with her dreamcast. Obviously for anyone familiar with the books or N.K. Jemisin’s works, the casting must be almost all black. But I’m assuming everyone signed on to the project understands and is excited about creating an all-black fantasy series.

Creator Leigh Dana Jackson, producer of 24 and Sleepy Hollow, will write the adaptation. I’m not up on my TV, but those are pretty big shows, right?

I can’t wait to see some geologic magic going down. Bring on the orogenes!

Are you as excited as I am?