Netflix’s Newest Book Adaptation Could Officially Resurrect the Fantasy Genre on Streaming

For every breakout television hit that manages to survive a studio-mandated demise (HBO Max’s House of the Dragon, Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power), too many other fantasy shows have been lost to the guillotine. Netflix, for example, infamously cancelled Shadow and Bone even though its two seasons enjoyed thriving ratings. Years later, Prime Video followed suit and axed The Wheel of Time at the height of the three-season epic’s momentum. Kaos, a less conventional Netflix fantasy, didn’t last past its eight-episode debut; even The Witcher only has one season left.

One might posit that general audiences’ interest in fantasy has waned since Game of Thrones‘ reign, but the assertion doesn’t quite track. All the aforementioned titles sneaked into their respective streamer’s top 10 most-watched series at least once. What’s certain is the unfortunate reality that several lucrative companies have a pattern of, presumably, prioritizing quick profit over letting shows — high-budget or otherwise — develop a large audience over time. Small-screen fantasy is facing its toughest uphill battle in some time.

As of this week, Netflix has gained a perfect opportunity to reverse this disappointing trend. The streamer, in partnership with Universal Global Television, just acquired the rights to Alix E. Harrow‘s 2025 novel The Everlasting. The high fantasy time-loop romance set in an Arthurian-style royal empire caught genre lightning in a bottle with readers and the publishing industry alike. In the right hands and with the right support, Netflix’s adaptation could take streaming by storm.

What Is ‘The Everlasting’ About?

Harrow’s fourth full-length novel surrounds the intertwined lives of modern-day historian Owen Mallory and Sir Una Everlasting, a mythical lady knight from centuries past. Fate seems to preordain Una for a life of blood and glory; she rises from a vengeful young orphan into a force of nature whose prowess with a sword strikes fear in men’s hearts. The heroic warrior pledges her allegiance to Yvanne, the woman who unites her people into the nation of Dominion, and loyally performs her monarch’s every bidding: slaughtering enemies on the battlefield, slaying the land’s last dragon, and questing for a healing grail. Una’s tragic death immortalizes her as an inspiring symbol of unwavering patriotism and helps cement her country’s lasting, oppressive power.

Owen, having adored Una since his childhood, volunteers to serve his country during Dominion’s current war. His so-called cowardly nature can’t compete with the chivalrous maiden’s legend, however. Once he returns home injured and traumatized, Una becomes his sole scholarly fixation. Owen assembles every scrap of recorded knowledge, published and rumored, about her life. Out of the blue (but not really, given the political dissent brewing from inside Dominion’s borders), the Minister of War sends Owen a tome titled The Death of Una Everlasting. The lost manuscript plunges the soft-spoken, bespectacled man back in time to meet his idol face-to-face. Discovering and falling for the real woman behind all those biased accounts — brittle, yearning, wearied by her burdens, and entirely human — complicates Owen’s instructions to both write the definitive account of Una’s murder and guarantee her doom plays out as intended. Little does either of them know the conspiratorial figure who’s been manipulating their lives like puppets.

Adapting ‘The Everlasting’ for Television Would Be Tricky but Worthwhile

Image via Tor Publishing Group

Harrow’s previous catalog demonstrates she’s an old hand at innovative genre ideas that carry emotional bite. The Everlasting transcends her already lauded baseline. The novel earned rave reception across the board (online book spaces included), winning this year’s Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel and a nomination for Best Novel at the upcoming Hugo Awards. Spend five minutes inside Harrow’s world, and it’s not difficult to see why. Her stunningly subversive, nimble, tragic, and tender epic fuses time travel, autonomy, defiant survival, delicate love, colonizing leaders who simultaneously distort history into propaganda and manufacture war for their gain, and the cultural power behind storytelling itself, into a coherent and engrossing reading experience.

Harrow’s poetic turns of phrase and her tapestry’s intricate structure determine the majority of The Everlasting’s visceral impact. Una and Owen’s bittersweet tale unfolds through a combination of first-person and second-person perspectives, like letters passed back and forth between the couple. Harrow’s hypnotic rhythm makes adapting to the unconventional narration an accessible breeze. The time loop mechanic covers variations of the same event before gradually unfurling the broader lore’s revelations, and each new spin accentuates the heart-wrenching love story. With that in mind, translating The Everlasting from book to screen requires careful consideration. Writer Daphne Ferraro‘s track record holds promise: her biggest credit is the decidedly different Maxton Hall: The World Between Us, but she penned two episodes of Dark, the notably complex sci-fi tour de force.

If Netflix officially options the show, Ferraro can squeeze the standalone book into a compact miniseries. Extending The Everlasting across several seasons sounds trickier and riskier. That said, if a multi-season episode count gives Harrow’s worldbuilding and characters enough time to breathe — a crucial lost art — then The Everlasting could blow the metaphorical roof off. An adaptation dedicated to thoughtfully capturing the novel’s essence might just help resurrect a genre that, while technically immortal, hasn’t been able to flourish on streaming like it should.