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Comment by jasondclinton | Hacker News Reader

I'm glad to see this happen. Suspect that a network exec somewhere said: "Sci-fi! Dystopia! Rogue AI! Cyberpunk!" and then HBO went through the list of books meeting that criteria (copying the Game of Thrones formula) and picked a best-seller to make a screen play out of. The subject matter seems to fit quite well with the tech malaise we are feeling at the end of the 2010's.

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Disney has Mandalorian. Amazon has The Expanse and recently picked up Ringworld for a tv-series too.

Another unnamed network is supposedly currently considering Red Rising series as well.

Sci-Fi dystopia is hot right now.

Is Ringworld really dystopian? I mean the ring world civilization(s) did fall, but Known Space and the puppeteers were pretty much doing OK.

For the majority of the story, the fallen-empire setting of the ring is dystopian. Earth itself is a utopia, which bores the main character and is their motivation to explore the ring to begin with. So both?

Even if they don't follow the main plot, the ring presents a great backdrop for exploration and the freedom for some pretty interesting stories.

Sort of a problem with a lot of Niven's novels more generally, but they became travelogues to a large degree. I agree not especially dystopian (or interesting).

I liked his short stories a lot more.

I always loved that about them. Not all sci-fi needs to crawl into its own navel and reveal the condition of Man. Sometimes it can just create and explore a fantastic universe.

I thought it worked better in shorter formats though. (And I was a huge Niven fan.)

Sure, I can see how that style could drag a little in long-form.

Netflix has Altered Carbon and Black Mirror.

"3%" fits that definition too.

3% is a solid dystopian show - it's clearly got a lower budget for CG but it tends to use practical effects when possible and the CG doesn't terribly detract. It's also nice to see a Brazilian show get an international audience.

3% was originally a few web shorts... and honestly I think I liked those more. Not as flashy, but they were punchier and managed to create the hustled, panicky feeling that the screening process was about.

The actual series expanded on this, but felt hollow by comparison.

I will need to track these down - thanks!

grinds teeth to dust at Netflix Altered Carbon's bastardization of the Envoys

Hey, Richard K Morgan said he was ecstatic with the adaptation. I prefer the novels’ Envoys too but am willing to follow the authors lead overall.

It's going to make Woken Furies (easily my favorite book of the series) pretty confusing.

And (personally) it felt like a cheap simplification of one of the most interesting series plot points.

I don’t really consider Red Rising dystopian at all.

In that world what the Golds do to humans on Earth is considered ancient history.

The main character’s rise as a Red is certainly a struggle. And the plight of all Reds and the other colors is equally similar.

But overall the story arc is more similar to the Biblical story of Noah, but with gladiators and space ships.

To be fair, the story of Noah might be considered dystopian to prosperous Jewish cultures a few thousand years ago. But at some point everyone’s plights become history.

Eh, Red Rising is a dystopia in that it is not equal for all, in that the low colors are essentially slaves.

The author is a history buff, and describes his motivation for the society as looked back on mankind's history and seeing that it's not a gradual progression towards becoming better, but a cyclical process oscillating between egalitarianism and authoritarianism (fascism).

Either way, it will be a damn good story to see play out as a series. Despite the first three books being from only Darrow's perspective, the characters rival Game of Thrones IMO.

I had the same feeling... We shouldn't be surprised if, after that, we see a Neuromancer series on Netflix or Amazon Prime (not Disney, pls God!).

Don't play with my emotions that way. There's been talk of adapting Neuromancer to screen for waaaay to long.

I had the same reaction, it really is what you want to read, for me somehow 'see' became 'saw', then I did a double take and realized what I got wrong.

Neuromancer got adapted to real life instead.

There's a Johnny Mnemonic movie, but unfortunately it's not very good.

While were confessing our wishlists for books-to-tv: I'd love to see "Rendezvous With Rama" made into a series.

You know who's been trying to get a Rama movie made for over a decade now? Morgan F'N Freeman. https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/morgan_freeman_insists_re

That's fantastic. But reading that article was a bit depressing.

and the Oscar-winner says he's closer than ever.

    (written in 2012, and we still have no Rama)

I still remember the first time I read Rama. Such a great concept.

They've made a couple video games[0] of it. I remember playing through the second one[1], and loved it (but I was/am a Myst junkie)

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendezvous_with_Rama_(video_ga...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rama_(video_game)

There is Eon from Greg Bear.

Similar thing, but WAYYY different. I recommend it for people who liked Rama.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eon_(novel)

I'm still holding out hope to see Daemon and Freedom™ by Daniel Suarez adapted into a movie, or a miniseries, or really anything.

I don't know. It's kind of a bit too "Settings Document: The Book" for a miniseries, imo. It's like reading a blueprint for a scripted society more than a novel, sometimes.

Those were so fun to read! I happened upon them accidentally at a bookstore a few years ago. But I'm not sure how well it would transfer to screen.

Sounds like an interesting formula. Ready Player One is popular too, but I guess since there is a movie that's already been done... but I guess you can have a series and also movies... The Purge has a TV series now even though originally it was a movie.

While I really enjoyed Ready Player One as a movie, I couldn't help leave it feeling it would've been better as a mini-series.

Makes sense. Just shouting out a list of random popular concepts with zero artistic vision or message is exactly how I feel that Netflix originals are generated.

suspect the screening process actually goes like this:

"we have this story about a spunky action girl (who is not a mary sue since she's gonna be the actual main character) and her bumbling male companions, on a quest to impeach cybertrump by the power of fisticuffs. which IP will let us shoehorn it in?"

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