Story Before Screen
Based on books
Fast guides to the original books behind movies, shows, and streaming series.
No. The Serpent is not based on a single novel or an officially credited source book. The miniseries dramatizes the real crimes associated with Charles Sobhraj and was developed for television by writers Richard Warlow and Toby Finlay.
Yes. Child 44 is based on the novel Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith. The book introduces Soviet security officer Leo Demidov and the murder case that forces him to question the state he once served without hesitation.
No. Sound of Freedom is not based on a novel, memoir, or nonfiction book. It is a standalone dramatized film inspired by anti-trafficking work associated with Tim Ballard and Operation Underground Railroad, not an adaptation of a single author's book.
Yes. The Last Kingdom is based on The Saxon Stories, also published as The Saxon Tales, a 13-book historical-fiction series by Bernard Cornwell.
Yes. Netflix's Death Note is based on Death Note, a completed 12-volume Japanese manga series written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata.
Yes. The Girl Who Played with Fire is based on Stieg Larsson's novel The Girl Who Played with Fire, the second book in the Millennium series.
No. HBO The Night Of adapts the British television drama Criminal Justice rather than a book.
Yes. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is based on “The Hedge Knight,” a novella by George R. R. Martin. It is the first story in his Tales of Dunk and Egg sequence and is collected with two later novellas in the book A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
No. confirmed book, memoir, or book series has been named as the source for The Waiter. There is no established original novel or author attached to the series, so it should be treated as an original screen story unless its creators announce otherwise.
Yes. The Captives is based on Debra Jo Immergut's standalone novel, The Captives. The title is the same on both sides, which is why the book can be easy to miss at first glance.
No. We Are Lady Parts is not based on a book. It is an original TV series created by Nida Manzoor, built around an all-female Muslim punk band. There is no source novel, memoir, or book series behind it.
No. Unforgotten is not based on a book. It was created for television by Chris Lang as an original British crime drama, so there is no source novel, memoir, or book series behind it.
Yes. If you're asking what book the Sharp Objects miniseries is based on, the answer is simple: Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. It is a standalone psychological thriller, so there is no series order to sort out before you start.
Yes. Lone Survivor is based on the nonfiction memoir Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 by Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson. It is a standalone book, and the film adapts Luttrell's firsthand account of the mission and what followed.
Yes. If you're asking what book The Color Purple movie is based on, the answer is simple: it comes from Alice Walker's The Color Purple. It is a standalone novel, so there is no series order to worry about.
Yes. HBO's Station Eleven is based on Emily St. John Mandel's standalone novel Station Eleven.
No. White Lines is not based on a book. It is an original Netflix limited series created for television by Álex Pina, so there is no novel, memoir, or source text you need to read before starting the show.
Yes. The Wheel of Time television series is adapted from Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time novels, beginning with The Eye of the World. It is not a one-book adaptation, and that matters. Jordan wrote a large fantasy sequence, so the show is working from a whole saga rather than a single self-contained plot.
Yes. Strike is not a one-off adaptation built around a single mystery. It comes from an ongoing book series centered on private detective Cormoran Strike and his work with Robin Ellacott. That matters because the show depends on more than the solved case at the center of each story. The characters change over time, their working relationship deepens, and later books assume you already know the foundation.
Yes. The Mr. Mercedes limited series is based on Stephen King's novel Mr. Mercedes, the first book in the Bill Hodges trilogy. If you are trying to figure out whether there is a book behind the show, there is — and the novel comes first.
Yes. Berserk (2016) is based on Kentaro Miura's Berserk manga. If you were wondering whether the anime has a book source behind it, the answer is yes: the manga is the original version of the story, and the 2016 series is a screen adaptation of it.
Yes. The Rings of Power is Tolkien-based television, but it is not a straight adaptation of one novel. The show borrows names, places, history, and legend from J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings, then reshapes them into a story built for episodic TV.
No. book connection is attached to The Boy from Out of Space in any clear, named way. If you were hoping to track down a novel, novella, or series before watching, there is no source book to place on your reading list right now.
Yes. The Boys is based on a comic book series by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. It is not based on a novel. If you were expecting a prose book behind the TV series, that is not the original format. The source material is a comic, and that changes the reading experience in a big way.
No. named book has been tied to Sloppy Seconds yet. If you were hoping for a novel, memoir, or nonfiction title to read before watching, there is no confirmed read-first order to follow right now.
Yes. Nine Perfect Strangers is based on Liane Moriarty's standalone novel of the same name, so the story comes from a single book rather than a longer series.
Yes. If you want the source story behind The Name of the Rose, the answer is simple: the movie is based on Umberto Eco's novel The Name of the Rose.
Yes. If you are deciding whether to start with the book or wait for the screen version, the clean answer is that Fairy Tale begins as a novel, not a series. That makes the choice easy for readers who want the full story without having to learn a franchise first.
No. No—the show is not adapted from a novel. The title sends a lot of people down the book rabbit hole, because Jasper DeWitt also wrote a separate novel called The Patient, but the series is its own story.
Yes. Yes—the audiobook version of The Martian is Andy Weir's novel in narrated form. It is not a separate story, and you do not need any reading-order homework before starting it.
Yes. Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes is based on the standalone true-crime book Ted Bundy: Conversations with a Killer by Stephen G. Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth.
Yes. Stephen King's The Stand is the source behind The Stand series. It is a standalone novel, so there is no extra reading order to untangle. If you want the fullest version of the story, start with the book; if you want the quickest way in, the series does that job.
Yes. Stanley Kubrick's The Shining comes from Stephen King's standalone novel The Shining. If you were wondering whether the movie started as a book, the answer is yes, and you do not need any earlier stories to make sense of it.
No. If you're trying to place The Last of Us in the usual book-to-screen pipeline, it doesn't fit that pattern. The story began as a video game, and the television series adapts that game rather than a novel.
Yes. The Idhun Chronicles comes from Memorias de Idhún by Laura Gallego García. It is an adaptation of a three-book fantasy series, so the story behind the show is bigger than a single novel.
No. If you're trying to match Tehran season 1 with a book, there isn't one to line up. The series was created as an original television espionage drama, so you can go straight to the show without hunting for a novel first.
Yes. If you are wondering where Apple TV+ Foundation comes from, the short answer is simple: it comes from Isaac Asimov's Foundation books. The longer answer matters, because this is not a one-book adaptation and it is not built as a strict retelling.
Yes. For readers, that also makes the novel a smart place to start if you want the fullest version of the story. A book can stay inside a character's thoughts and let emotional pressure build slowly, which is where a lot of this story's force lives.
Yes. If you know the movie first, the source may surprise you: Stand by Me comes from Stephen King's The Body, a standalone novella collected in Different Seasons. So the short answer is yes, but the story behind the film is leaner and more intimate than many readers expect.
Yes. The simplest way to think about it is this:
Yes. Yes—the film comes from John Godey's The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. If you are trying to place the adaptation, that is the novel that started it.
No. Is Friends from College based on a book? No. It was created as an original television comedy by Francesca Delbanco and Nicholas Stoller, so there is no novel, memoir, or book series behind it. If you came here hoping to find a source text to read first, you can skip that step and go straight to the show.
Yes. The TV series draws from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, a standalone novel that first reached readers in serialized installments. There is no larger book series behind it, and you do not need any companion novel to follow the story.
Yes. Roberto Saviano's ZeroZeroZero did not begin as an original TV concept. The series grows out of his nonfiction book of the same name, which looks at the global cocaine trade as a system rather than a single crime story. That source matters, because it explains why the show feels larger, grimmer, and more international than a typical thriller.
No. Sons of Samuel does not line up with a single named novel. If the limited series is drawing from Samuel material, the closest source is the biblical books of 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel. That makes the show better understood as a scripture-based drama than as a straight adaptation of one modern book.
Yes. The TV version keeps the central conflict and the emotional shape of the story, but the book is where the details stack up more gradually. That matters if you like stories where tension comes from small decisions, shifting loyalties, and the way people justify themselves.
Yes. The Turn of the Screw is based on Henry James's standalone novella The Turn of the Screw. That is the original book. It is not part of a series, and screen versions usually draw from that same short Gothic story rather than from a larger franchise.
Yes. The Netflix series The Stranger comes from Harlan Coben's standalone thriller novel of the same name. That matters because you do not need a series timeline or a stack of earlier books to follow along. It is a self-contained mystery built around secrets, family pressure, and the kind of reveal that changes how you look at every character.
Yes. Sweet Tooth did not start as a prose book. Jeff Lemire created it as an original comic book series, and the TV show adapts that comic. If you were looking for a separate novel behind the story, there is not one.
Yes. The Boys TV series is based on The Boys comic book series by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. The key point is that the source is a serialized comic run, not a single novel, so the show adapts the material rather than copying it beat for beat.
Yes. Netflix's Wednesday starts with Charles Addams's original Addams Family cartoons, but it is not a straight adaptation of any one comic run or book. The series uses the characters as a launch point and builds a new story around Wednesday herself.
Yes. A Gentleman in Moscow began as Amor Towles's standalone novel, and the TV series adapts that original source.
Yes. How the Grinch Stole Christmas is based on Dr. Seuss's standalone picture book, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. If you want the original story before any movie or holiday special, start with the book.
Yes. The original television version of Gossip Girl was built from Cecily von Ziegesar's novel series. The books came first, and the show turned that world into a glossy teen drama for TV. This answer is about the original series that made the title famous.
Yes. If you're trying to place The Expanse, start here: the TV series begins with Leviathan Wakes, the first novel in The Expanse series by James S.A. Corey, the pen name for Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. The adaptation is not a one-book story. It opens a much larger sci-fi arc, which is why the show covers only part of the full run.
Yes. The screen version of The Power grows out of Naomi Alderman's standalone novel, so the real question is not whether it comes from a book — it does — but how the story changes when it moves from page to screen.
Yes. If you only want the basic plot, the movie is enough to orient you. If you want the version readers keep talking about, the book is the place to start.
Yes. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story of the same name. It is a short story, not a novel, which is why the film has so much room to expand the material.
Yes. Yes—Fahrenheit 451 comes from Ray Bradbury's novel of the same name. It did not begin as an original screenplay or a later tie-in. The book is the source, and the adaptations build from its central idea: a future where books are banned and firemen burn them.
No. Dark Waters is not based on a novel. It dramatizes a real environmental case and draws heavily from Nathaniel Rich's investigative reporting on attorney Robert Bilott and DuPont. So if you came here wondering whether there is a source book to read first, the answer is no in the usual movie-adaptation sense.
Yes. Christine is a straight adaptation answer: it comes from Stephen King's standalone novel Christine. The film is built from the same central story, so this is not one of those cases where a movie only borrows a name and makes the rest up from scratch. If you came here wondering whether the original story exists, it does.
Yes. The film A Time to Kill is based on John Grisham's novel of the same name, which later became the first Jake Brigance book.
Yes. The movie The Notebook is based on The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. If you were looking for the original story behind the film, that is the book to start with.
Yes. — Gone Girl began as Gillian Flynn's novel before it became a film. It is a standalone psychological thriller, so there is no reading order to manage and no sequel trail to sort through. If you are deciding between the book and the movie, the book gives you the fuller story, while the film gives you a faster way into the same central mystery.
Yes. Clear and Present Danger is based on Tom Clancy's novel of the same name, and that novel is part of the Jack Ryan series. The film is not an original screenplay with a borrowed title; it adapts an existing thriller world and streamlines it for the screen.
No. Black Sails is not a direct adaptation of a book. It is an original TV series that uses Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson as a literary starting point and then builds a much bigger pirate story around it.
Yes. Normal People is not a franchise mystery or a loose adaptation built from scattered ideas. It comes directly from Sally Rooney's novel of the same name, and the screen version is a limited series shaped around that single story. If you wanted to know whether there is a book behind it, there is—and it is the only source you need.