Top Recommendations of Fantasy TV Shows
#1. Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones is an HBO show based on George R.R. Martin’s series A Song of Ice and Fire. It tells the story of greed and war as several parties wish to own the iron throne and leadership over Westeros. Some are involved in order to win while others are caught up in the events merely by being in the vicinity. At any moment one’s political motivations could send them toward their goal or throw them to the wolves.
This TV show is excellent in many ways. It is excellent in quality, script, acting, and story. It has a very complicated storyline with many different threads all woven together. The fantasy elements are not immediately obvious, but as the story continues, more elements appear and continue to complicate the plot. A warning, however, this series is not for the faint of heart or those who don’t like realistic gore. There is lots of violence and death, and gore.
#2. The Tenth Kingdom
The Tenth Kingdom is a miniseries that starts with us seeing Prince Wendell of the fourth kingdom being turned into a dog by his stepmother. On the run, he jumps through a magic mirror showing New York City. He is promptly run over by Virginia on her bike in central park which sends her and her father Tony on a crazy fantasy adventure.
This TV show is excellent for all fantasy lovers. It is amazing quality with great acting, filming, script writing, and story. The characters are very relatable and lovable while the story is creative and enjoyable. There is a lot of humor as well as seriousness. It also has a great balance between having the fantasy elements in our own world and exploration of a new creative fantasy world. I would truly recommend this series to a large variety of people both younger and older audiences. It has a lot to offer many audiences.
#3. His Dark Materials
His Dark Materials is an HBO show based on Phillip Pullman’s series of the same name. It tells the story of Lyra as fate takes her on a dangerous adventure that starts with searching for her kidnapped friend. She learns a lot about her world, the people in her life, and about herself.
This TV show is another of excellent quality in its writing, filming, scripting, and acting. It paces the book very well and even manages to incorporate some of the details we learn later in the books into the same timing with smooth fluidity. This allows us as watchers to have a few very different story threads happening together and we will witness how it will be woven together. Currently, as of this post, there is only one season out, but there should be more out again soon.
#4. Legend of the Seeker
The Legend of the Seeker is a ABC series based on the Sword of Truth novels by Terry Goodkind. We follow along with Richard Cypher as he meets Kahlan Amnell who has come from beyond the border which is supposed to be impossible. He learns that he is a legendary person called the seeker of truth and that he is supposed to defeat Darken Rahl in charge of a land named D’Hara. Will he succeed, or will Rahl take over the Midlands?
This TV show has many good qualities to it even though it is a little corny at times. If you have read the book, you can see that they related the first season fairly close to the first book and made it into a very fun and enjoyable show. I think this is another series that is good to recommend to a wide audience since it has a lot of humor and shows the good nature of the characters. It isn’t a super serious fantasy show and the books are much deeper than the show, but I still think it’s fun to watch and worth giving a try.
#5. Shadow Hunters
Shadow Hunters is a Freeform series based off Cassandra Clare’s Immortal Instruments books. The main character Clary Fray discovers she isn’t an ordinary human on her eighteenth birthday when she sees people and creatures she shouldn’t be able to. Her mother ends up captured, and the world around her isn’t what she thought it was as she enters the world of monsters and shadow hunters. Luckily, she has her friend Simon to help her juggle her new identity.
This TV show is of decent quality as far as visual effects and the fantasy elements are concerned, and it continues to improve as the series goes on. I really love the characters and the concepts of the tv show even though it isn’t perfectly matched up to the books. Some elements are changed or embellished to do their own thing and is not bound to the original series. If you aren’t a fan of liberties being taken by the visual medium, this show might bother you, especailly if you love the novels, but if you don’t mind the the changes they made, it is a solid urban fantasy show.
#6. Siren
Siren is another Freeform series about a place called Bristol Cove that is full of legends of mermaids. The only thing is, they might not just be myths. Two marine biologist, Ben and Maddie, discover a woman named Ren who they discover isn’t as human as she looks to be.
This TV series is really good in quality with good acting, scripting, and filming. It also has a really good storyline with unique elements for mermaids and how they are portrayed. It does, at times, have a bit of a circular pattern throughout the plot where similar things happen or similar problems come up, but that isn’t a big problem to me. I like the characters and am invested enough to want to see what will happen next. For those mermaid lovers out there, I think you should give this one a try and see what you make of the unique elements added in this show.
#7. Moonlight
Moonlight is a series originally shown on CBS and is for those of you who like detective mysteries. Mick St. John is a vampire. He is also a private investigator. His life seems to become a bit more complicated when Beth Turner, and internet reporter, enters into his life and follows him on his investigations.
This TV series is excellent with its use of fantasy elements, character backgrounds, and the detective cases that are solved. I highly recommend this to a wide range of fantasy audiences especially if you also enjoy mystery or detective shows. The only sad thing is the fact that it was only one season long and left open for a second season that didn’t end up happening. Despite this, I would still suggest checking it out and giving it a shot since it is a lot of fun with excellent characters and vampire lore.
Let me know if you have any favorite fantasy TV series you love or would recommend! Hope you enjoy any you try that you haven’t yet.
