The Stormlight Archive is a series of novels set in the world of Roshar, following the lives of several characters as they attempt to save the world from impending doom. With the rise in popularity of dark fantasy like George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones and Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Witcher series, The Stormlight Archive would fit alongside this sort of gritty fantasy while also having a tone of hope and magic. It would strike a middle ground in TV fantasy between traditional Tolkienesque fantasy and more grounded Game of Thrones fantasy. House of the Dragon’s premiere, which pulled in 10 million viewers (the highest for HBO), proves that the public still has an appetite for fantasy.
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Set within the shared universe of Brandon Sanderson’s work known as the Cosmere, adapting The Stormligh Archive would also be a prime opportunity to create an expanded universe of multiple TV shows or movies. Even without that possibility, The Stormlight Archive would nonetheless be an excellent screen adaptation. For many reasons, the world of Roshar would be excellent to world to tune into — here’s why.
A Unique Fantasy World
Via Tor Books
The world of Roshar is unlike almost any other fantasy world created for a novel to date. The world of The Stormlight Archive is defined by a moving constant weather effect called the Highstorm, which is so large and powerful that it can be seen far in the distance as a solid wall of darkened clouds and storm winds. Most creatures have the ability to hide or otherwise shield themselves from these elements with adaptations to the terrain. Mammals, apart from humans, don’t exist; rather, there are various giant crustaceans and other strange crab-like creatures. Human settlements also have to be adapted specifically to withstand the high storms, using storm shelters or cover from nearby mountains. In building the world, Sanderson took care to consider carefully how all aspects of life would be affected.
The world is also host to the strange beings known as Spren. These creatures are little spirits that can’t be touched, though they can be seen. They appear whenever certain stimuli is activated that they are attracted too. For example, Fearspren are attracted to fear and Shamespren are attracted to shame. These creatures all look different and would give a Stormlight Archive show a unique aesthetic.
Another unique aesthetic detail would be the shardplate and shardblades. Shardblades are unique swords capable of cutting through nearly anything, while shardplates are sets of armor that give the users enhanced physical abilities while also protecting them against most physical damage. These two things would make for exceptionally flashy and unique fights between different shardbearers, as they’re called, which would be a treat to see on-screen.
Gritty and Real
Despite the high fantasy elements, The Stormlight Archive is very down to earth, dealing with the day-to-day realities and harshness of life in this world. Among the Voren populations of Roshar, the major religion in the world, there is a caste system based on eye color, where the lighteyes rule as aristocrats and the darkeyes are the workers and sometimes even slaves. For Kaladin, a darkeyed slave, life is very tough, to the point where it’s almost crushingly hopeless sometimes.
Kaladin finds himself, early in the novel, as part of a bridge crew. Bridge Crews are the lowest part of the armies in this world. On the Shattered Plains, where the Alethi fight a war for vengeance over their dead king Gavalar, there are many cracks in the ground that people can’t cross. For that, they need bridges, which need to be carried by people. This bridge crews are sometimes made up of slaves, who are forced to go first in the army and bear the brunt of the enemies’ archery. Some of the best passages of the book describe the horror and pain of these bridge runs.
Many of the Stormlight Archive characters are not necessarily uncomplicated heroic. Dalinar, a noble trying to unite his kingdom against a looming threat to the world, has a troubled past full of demons and crimes. Shallan, a lady who is trying to learn from a notable scholar, has her own haunted past and issues. Kaladin himself has to deal with depression and trauma from his own time as a soldier, then a slave, and then a bridgeman.
Hopeful and Fantastical
At the same time, The Stormlight Archive is full of moments of hope and wonder that help balance out the darker elements. Kaladin makes a friend while working as a bridgeman, an apparent wind spren who is able to talk to him named Syl. Syl steers Kaladin towards hope for the future, trying to work to make sure his fellow bridgemen are not killed and saving them from their inevitable deaths in the crew of Bridge Four. Kaladin’s heroism and determination in the face of impossible odds is what gives the first book some of its most powerful moments. In books two and three of The Stormlight Archive, Words of Raidance and Oathbringer, you get similar moments from Dalinar and Shallan respectively as the two other main characters.
There are also many human moments that help relieve the darkness with humor or small hopefulness. The King’s Wit is a fan favourite character who has many of these moments. When the main characters meet, as they all start on very different paths, it can be very exciting and fun. The Stormlight Archive world also has plenty of secrets and details that have been hidden in history and lore. Some of these details are good for the main characters, some are bad, and some change the paradigms of the entire series altogether. A screen adaptation of The Stormlight Archive would be a wild ride from start to finish.
