Have you heard the news that Brandon Sanderson made a deal with Apple TV to make Mistborn and Stormlight Archive adaptations? Everyone I follow from YouTube to Instagram to Facebook seems to be amazed and thrilled that he’s finally got a deal and unprecedented creative control.

I, for one, am probably a bit more cautious than most. It seems like there have been a bazillion fantasy book adaptations recently, and the majority of them have been pretty rough.

Many people blame the poor quality of these shows on the screenwriters and directors, and believe that if the author is in charge, it’ll be better. I’m not so sure. Moving from one medium to another is inherently difficult because each medium has its strengths and weaknesses. Movies and shows are much more collaborative than books and require the skills of a wide variety of professionals.

There’s also the fact that Brandon Sanderson hasn’t actually written a script before–he’s made notes on the Wheel of Time show, but screenwriting is still a relatively new medium for him.

But maybe a Mistborn movie and Stormlight show will be different. After all, when Peter Jackson was filming the Lord of the Rings trilogy, he found that the closer he got to the text, the better the movie was. He encouraged the actors to read the books and had copies lying around on set for quick reference.

Either way, it should prove to be a fascinating test of the theory that more author involvement = better show.

What do you think? Are you excited for a Cosmere live-action show?