Reader Approved: 6 Faithful TV Adaptations That Actually Get the Book Right

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

While “House of the Dragon” is drawing flak from author George R.R. Martin for straying from his source material, that argument is not happening with “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.” The breezy 6-episode first season might add a moment or two but is an incredibly faithful one-to-one retelling, down to direct lines of dialogue, as Dunk and Egg meet for the first time at the fated Tourney at Ashford Meadows.

The latest “Game of Thrones” spinoff might have a lighter tone than fans of the series are used to but it is pure “Thrones” at its heart and its nice to see a show hit the ground running after the questionable end to the flagship series and the in-fighting happening around “House of the Dragon.” – Jacob Bryant

The Summer I Turned Pretty

With “The Summer I Turned Pretty” author Jenny Han helming the Prime Video adaptation as showrunner, the YA series followed the beloved trilogy pretty faithfully throughout its three seasons, mirroring one book per season. Some notable exceptions include the relationship between Belly’s brother, Steven, and her best friend, Taylor, though the biggest divergence happens in the third and final season, which includes a time jump and some new characters. Most notable is the extension of Belly’s time abroad, which sees her head to Paris and not Spain, which, in the book, is only an epilogue.

Fans also didn’t get their dream ending with the wedding from the book, but they can look forward to seeing that in the upcoming “The Summer I Turned Pretty” movie. – Loree Seitz

The Expanse

“The Expanse” is the best hard sci-fi show to come out in the last decade. The series – an adaptation of the James S.A. Corey books – examines what our solar system might look like once we take to the stars.

Humans mostly fall into three factions: the UN, made up of Earth and the moon, the latest settlers of Mars, and the people of The Belt – those who grew up in the furthest reaches of the system on asteroids or space stations. When a new alien molecule finds its way into human hands, it sparks off a mad fight for control.

There are space battles, there are political intrigues, there are romance and murder, and everything in between. “The Expanse” is aces through and through. – JB

His Dark Materials

An adaptation of a classic fantasy novel series, “His Dark Materials,” also flew largely under the radar at HBO despite the popularity of the source material. The three-season run boasts an impressive cast, including Dafne Keen, James McAvoy, Andrew Scott, Ruth Wilson, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Kit Connor. It’s a faithful adaptation that can scratch the fantasy itch. – JB

Slow Horses

“Slow Horses” on Apple TV stands out as the rare spy series that fully understands the tone and texture of its source material. Adapted from Mick Herron’s Slough House novels, the show preserves the books’ biting wit, bureaucratic absurdity and deeply human portrait of washed-up intelligence officers exiled to MI5’s administrative purgatory. Rather than glamorizing espionage, it leans into the drudgery, pettiness and paper-pushing that define the agents’ daily lives — all while allowing sudden bursts of danger to feel genuinely shocking. The dialogue reflects Herron’s dry humor, and Gary Oldman’s slovenly, razor-sharp Jackson Lamb feels lifted straight from the page.

What makes the adaptation especially faithful is its respect for character. The series doesn’t sand down the rough edges of Slough House’s misfits; instead, it gives them room to be flawed, insecure and occasionally incompetent, just as they are in the novels. The plots still feel tightly constructed and grounded in contemporary political anxieties, echoing Herron’s themes about institutional self-preservation and moral compromise. By trusting the intelligence of the audience and the strength of the books, “Slow Horses” proves that a literary adaptation doesn’t need to reinvent its source to feel fresh — it simply needs to understand it. – Daren DeFrank

The Sandman

Adapting “The Sandman” seemed like a Herculean feat, but what the Netflix series managed to pull off in merely two seasons is astonishing. Sure, the show can’t be 100% faithful because of all the DC Comics characters popping in and out of the original Neil Gaiman comic, but the meat and bones of the story are all represented beautifully. While the tone is pitch-perfect, it is almost overshadowed by how good the casting for the series is—I challenge you to find someone more suited to play Morpheus than Tom Sturridge. – JB