Kait Mae

Before I even start, I have only read the first book. But I fell in love with the characters so much that I needed to create a hypothetical adaptation. The world-building is beautiful, the creatures are unique, and the character development in just one book is fantastic. So, without further ado, here’s how I would adapt J.D.L. Rosell’s Ranger of the Titan Wilds. 

What Is ‘Ranger of The Titan Wilds’?

J.D.L. Rosell’s trilogy follows Leiyn as she embarks on a journey, first for vengeance, then to save her home. Leiyn can see and take the life fire within everything around her. But she’s been hiding it away, fearing what others will think and disgusted by what it says about her past.

When her home is attacked, her friends and mentor are killed, and she’s one of the two survivors, she embarks on a quest for revenge. But that quest leads her to secrets and betrayal from those she never imagined.

That’s how far I got in the series, but I plan on getting through the other two soon. A few years back, I backed the Kickstarter for the first book and bought the rest of Rosell’s books that were already out then, so expect me to blabber for hours about those, too.

Read More: Tired of England-Inspired Fantasy Worlds? Try These Fantasies Instead

How Would I Do It?

While reading, I tried imagining this as a movie but couldn’t. So, another hypothetical adaptation of mine is a television show. As a plus, I’d want Rosell to work closely with production to bring his vision to life, as well as mine.

In a perfect world, this would be a three-season show following the trilogy. The episodes would be 45 minutes, with about 15-20 episodes each season. I’d also love to incorporate the novella prequel into this somehow, maybe as a flashback episode or a short film.

The series would be on par with The 100 meets Game of Thrones regarding storytelling and costuming. I’d also love for the creatures and animals to be on par in design as Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Read More: What to Read While We Wait for the Next Season of ‘House of the Dragon’

Casting

Leiyn is about 25 years old and is described as tall. There wasn’t much to go on, and it was hard not to imagine myself because she was described similarly to myself, so I used my imagination. I settled on Dana Melanie after rewatching a few episodes of Greenhouse Academy.

Several chapters also feature flashbacks of Leiyn from age eight to fifteen, so I’d love to do an open call to find two actresses, one about eight and one about fifteen, who resemble Dana.

As for Isla, Leiyn’s best friend and fellow Ranger, I imagined Precious Mustapha the entire time. Isla is just a bit younger than Leiyn, has an innocent look, and has dark skin. After seeing her in Fate: The Winx Saga, Precious is perfect for the role.

Up next is Batu, a young man who joins Leiyn and Isla on their quest. He’s only described as a young man, which I took to mean early 20s. So, I took some liberties and settled on Ibrahim Ali Khan.

Tadeo is Leiyn’s mentor and is an elder Ranger. There’s not much description of him other than he’s an older man. And for some reason, I could only imagine Paladin from the animated Winx Club series. But I searched the internet and landed on Viggo Mortensen.

Acalan is a significant character in the first and third quarters of the book – but I won’t say why. For this character, I wanted to focus on Native American actors because of how the characters came across on the page. For Acalan, I think Michael Greyeyes is perfect for the role. He’s played similar characters in 1923 and Firestarter.

As for Acalan’s elder, Wes Studi is my pick for Zuma. He plays a crucial role in the story even when he’s not on the page. And I love Studi’s career, so I knew immediately he would be my pick when Zuma showed up in the book.

Leiyn’s father is only shown in flashbacks, and there aren’t many descriptions of him. So, I decided to find someone who could believably play Dana’s father – and I found Nestor Carbonell.

Aasif Mandvi is my pick for Taban, an older man the girls come across early in the book before Batu joins them.

This is a massively underrated series that I hope you pick up after reading this article. Trust me, you won’t regret it.