The Raven Cycle
The Raven Cycle is being adapted for television.
Here’s why you should check it out at your local branch first!
What do you know about Welsh kings? That is a question that is asked a lot during the four-book fantasy series The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater. And while we do meet at least a couple Welsh characters, it is the magical realism, car races, witchy women, talking trees, time travel, hitmen, and historians that really make these books fly!
As a young adult librarian, I am constantly seeking diverse, quality, young adult literature for the community. The more I read, the more I am astonished at the creative powerhouses publishing under YA. Patrick Ness, Leigh Bardugo, Nicola Yoon, and Shaun David Hutchinson are only a few whose books have made an impression on me lately…
Maggie Stiefvater is absolutely one of those voices.
In 2015, I was handed a book called The Raven Boys that I had to finish for a teen book club meeting the following week. All I had heard about it was that it was about a group of rich prep school boys who did magic in the woods. I think I actually groaned out loud. Great. Another special girl meets rich boy = eternal love, romance I would have to suffer my way through.
That is not what happened. I finished the first book that night, and the remaining two over the next three days – The Dream Thieves and Blue Lily, Lily Blue. After an anguished year waiting for the fourth and final book of the series to get published - The Raven King - I drove six hours to Virginia to meet the author and get my book signed. I fell hard, and The Raven Cycle became my fandom.
Taking a brief look at the main characters, here is why it should be yours as well:
Ronan Lynch: (The Dreamer) Angry, magical, farmer, and illegal street racer. Has a problem with authority, fighting, family, and accidently manifesting his dreams. Just let this boy sleep in peace! Being his friend may get you killed, but let’s be honest, a little life or death action is not going to keep you from his side.
Adam Parrish: (The Magician) Sleepy over-worked ball of anxiety and genius. Not impressed by you. Token poor boy in the rich boy club. History of abuse. Bisexual icon who cannot only drive, but can fix your car!
Blue Sargent: (The Mirror) Tiny fierce feminist. Almost as angry as Ronan. Wealthy in love and possibilities. Probably going to kill someone with a kiss. Not to be underestimated. Trees in her eyes, stars in her heart.
Noah Czerny: (The Smudgy One) Glitter! Basically, an emo-pop-punk teddy bear. Can skate better than the rest of his, or anyone else’s crew. Loyal to a fault. The best friend you will ever have.
Richard Gansey III: (The King) Everyone’s first crush. Could cut you with his good looks, but would never do anything so uncouth. Just a bunch of questions and longing tucked neatly into a teal polo shirt and boat shoes.
Other than the great characters, what is best about the The Raven Cycle is that Stiefvater manages to handle teen relationships (friendships, family, and romantic) in a way that does not feel cliché or preachy. She also manages to touch on topics like class, abuse, addiction, love, and religion, without ever weighing the rest of the story down.
If you are just getting into the series now, you are in luck because you will already have an established fandom in which to fall. The amount of fan art you can find online is impressive, even for a teen bestseller. Archive of Our Own has over 4,900 works of fanfiction for the series so, not only will you have four books, fanfiction and an upcoming SyFy production to look forward to, but the author has also recently confirmed a spinoff series that will focus on the character Ronan Lynch sometime after The Raven Cycle left off.
As of yet, we do not know much about the what the television show will entail other than that Ms. Stiefvater wrote the pilot and Catherine Hardwick will direct. Andrew Miller and Michael London are also on board to write and produce. And, while all book-to-screen adaptations tend to make fans a little squirmy, we hope that having Maggie Stiefvater officially on the team will ensure the magic of the story remains intact.
What do we want? Dark forests, fast cars, and diverse characters!
When do we want it? It doesn’t matter because time is an illusion!
Here’s why you should check it out at your local branch first!
If we had to pitch a Raven Cycle TV series with one line, it would probably look something like this: “Charmed meets Dead Poets Society meets The Fast and the Furious.” – Hypable
As a young adult librarian, I am constantly seeking diverse, quality, young adult literature for the community. The more I read, the more I am astonished at the creative powerhouses publishing under YA. Patrick Ness, Leigh Bardugo, Nicola Yoon, and Shaun David Hutchinson are only a few whose books have made an impression on me lately…
Maggie Stiefvater is absolutely one of those voices.
In 2015, I was handed a book called The Raven Boys that I had to finish for a teen book club meeting the following week. All I had heard about it was that it was about a group of rich prep school boys who did magic in the woods. I think I actually groaned out loud. Great. Another special girl meets rich boy = eternal love, romance I would have to suffer my way through.
That is not what happened. I finished the first book that night, and the remaining two over the next three days – The Dream Thieves and Blue Lily, Lily Blue. After an anguished year waiting for the fourth and final book of the series to get published - The Raven King - I drove six hours to Virginia to meet the author and get my book signed. I fell hard, and The Raven Cycle became my fandom.
Taking a brief look at the main characters, here is why it should be yours as well:
“A soldier in a war where the enemy was everyone else.”
Ronan Lynch: (The Dreamer) Angry, magical, farmer, and illegal street racer. Has a problem with authority, fighting, family, and accidently manifesting his dreams. Just let this boy sleep in peace! Being his friend may get you killed, but let’s be honest, a little life or death action is not going to keep you from his side.
“Adam didn’t like to be accused of lying. He usually had better ways
of getting what he wanted.”
Adam Parrish: (The Magician) Sleepy over-worked ball of anxiety and genius. Not impressed by you. Token poor boy in the rich boy club. History of abuse. Bisexual icon who cannot only drive, but can fix your car!
“She wasn’t interested in telling other people’s futures.
She was interested in going out and finding her own.”
Blue Sargent: (The Mirror) Tiny fierce feminist. Almost as angry as Ronan. Wealthy in love and possibilities. Probably going to kill someone with a kiss. Not to be underestimated. Trees in her eyes, stars in her heart.
“…was smudgy…with a rumpled, faded look about his person,
like his body had been laundered too many times.”
Noah Czerny: (The Smudgy One) Glitter! Basically, an emo-pop-punk teddy bear. Can skate better than the rest of his, or anyone else’s crew. Loyal to a fault. The best friend you will ever have.
“Gansey was just a guy with a lot of stuff and a hole inside him that
chewed away more of his heart every year.”
Richard Gansey III: (The King) Everyone’s first crush. Could cut you with his good looks, but would never do anything so uncouth. Just a bunch of questions and longing tucked neatly into a teal polo shirt and boat shoes.
Other than the great characters, what is best about the The Raven Cycle is that Stiefvater manages to handle teen relationships (friendships, family, and romantic) in a way that does not feel cliché or preachy. She also manages to touch on topics like class, abuse, addiction, love, and religion, without ever weighing the rest of the story down.
If you are just getting into the series now, you are in luck because you will already have an established fandom in which to fall. The amount of fan art you can find online is impressive, even for a teen bestseller. Archive of Our Own has over 4,900 works of fanfiction for the series so, not only will you have four books, fanfiction and an upcoming SyFy production to look forward to, but the author has also recently confirmed a spinoff series that will focus on the character Ronan Lynch sometime after The Raven Cycle left off.
As of yet, we do not know much about the what the television show will entail other than that Ms. Stiefvater wrote the pilot and Catherine Hardwick will direct. Andrew Miller and Michael London are also on board to write and produce. And, while all book-to-screen adaptations tend to make fans a little squirmy, we hope that having Maggie Stiefvater officially on the team will ensure the magic of the story remains intact.
What do we want? Dark forests, fast cars, and diverse characters!
When do we want it? It doesn’t matter because time is an illusion!
- Amanda, Hopewell Branch
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