Over the past 12 years, Netflix has well and truly mastered the art of taking a book of considerable literary merit and turning it into a streaming sensation. The platform has produced many thousands of hours of great television with stories that originated from the pages of a novel or non-fiction book.
When it comes to proving that TV is the best medium for screen adaptations of books, HBO leads the way, setting the benchmark for new-media streaming giants like Netflix. Nevertheless, the world’s biggest streaming platform has unquestionably come to rival the company which brought Game of Thrones and Band of Brothers to the small screen in this regard.
Of course, Netflix is primarily known for showcasing wholly original screenwriting through landmark streaming series not based on books, such as Stranger Things, Squid Game, Sex Education, and Baby Reindeer. At the same time, it’s now also responsible for some of the best TV adaptations of books ever made.
The Last Kingdom
2015–2022
Initially produced for the BBC, this sprawling historical drama show is adapted from Bernard Cornwall’s epic novel series The Saxon Stories, about the origins of England. There’s some connection between events in The Last Kingdom and Vikings: Valhalla, which is also on Netflix, although the level of historical detail in this screen rendering of Cornwall’s stories is more impressive.
The Survivors
2025
Kieran looks serious in Netflix’s The Survivors
This unsettling mystery miniseries is one of Netflix’s best releases of 2025. Set on a stormy coastline of Australia’s small island territory, Tasmania, The Survivors features a superb cast including several rising stars of Australian screen acting. The six-episode drama’s authentic blend of tragedy and suspicion makes for a relentlessly gripping watch.
Shadow and Bone
2021–2023
Netflix cancelling its flagship fantasy show Shadow and Bone means that we may never get to see the rest of Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse novels adapted for the small screen. Still, the two seasons that have made it to the platform are worthy visual renderings of “The Small Science”, the magic-users who practice it, and those seeking to exterminate them.
One Day
2024
Dex playing with Emma’s hair while holding her in bed in One Day
It’s advisable to read David Nicholls’ best-selling novel One Day before watching the Netflix show, given the heart-rending elements of the story’s plot. Either way, this recent streaming adaptation is far superior to the 2011 movie version, thanks to wonderfully affecting lead performances from The White Lotus’ Leo Woodall and breakout star Ambika Mod.
The Residence
2025
Cordelia (Uzo Aduba) looking at something in The Residence
While The Residence season 2 could be in the pipeline, this ingenious mystery comedy works just as well as a standalone miniseries loosely based on Kate Andersen Brower’s nonfiction account of the White House’s residential quarters. Bower has written three more books along similar lines, though, so we could be in for plenty more murders at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue soon.
3 Body Problem
2024–Present
Yang Hewen as Bai Mulin, Zine Tseng as Young Ye Wenjie stand outside a forest in episode 101 of 3 Body Problem
3 Body Problem has won the acclaim of Stephen King for its mindbending portrayal of human encounters with extraterrestrials in a Cold War context. Based on the first novel of Liu Cixin’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past series, the show is a groundbreaking reimagining of our contact with alien life, somewhat reminiscent of Denis Villeneuve’s film Arrival.
The Spy
2019
Netflix miniseries The Spy is the true story of how Eli Cohen messed up his assignment as a Mossad agent infiltrating the Syrian state, based on the nonfiction book The Spy Who Came From Israel. Sacha Baron Cohen gives arguably his finest dramatic performance as the titular Syrian-Jewish spy, who gained the trust of Syria’s future president before his capture.
Into the Night
2020–2021
Given the recent success of The Eternaut on Netflix, this apocalyptic sci-fi thriller deserves more attention. Into the Night follows the survivors of a scenario in which the sun’s rays wipe out most life on Earth. The series is an expertly plotted and brilliantly realized adaptation of Polish author Jacek Dukaj’s novel The Old Axolotl.
The Stranger
2020
Hannah John-Kamen as The Stranger wearing a baseball cap in The Stranger
The Stranger is a must-watch limited thriller series about a mysterious figure who turns out to be connected with its protagonists in various shocking plot twists. Given that Harlan Coben has adapted his own novel for Netflix, here, the plot is paced to perfection throughout this miniseries, with increasingly jawdropping surprises at every turn.
Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia
2016–2018
Character Poster of Trollhunters Tales of Arcadia
Before it became a groundbreaking animated fantasy series, Trollhunters began life as a novel co-authored by movie director Guillermo del Toro and writer Daniel Kraus. Del Toro had always intended this story about a young boy and his magical amulet to end up on the screen, however, and Tales of Arcadia expands its timeline to incorporate elements of medieval mythology.
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