Dragon wings and billowing sails.

"Peter Jackson has chosen the next tale he'll be adapting after Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones. Naomi Novik's Temeraire is "a terrific meld of two genres that I particularly love - fantasy and historical epic,' Jackson told the Hollywood Reporter. 'I can't wait to see Napoleonic battles fought with a squadron of dragons. That's what I go to the movies for.' Jackson is also planning to turn Temeraire into a computer game franchise." That's what he goes to the bank for. At the Risky Biz Blog, Borys Kit, who wrote the THR story, has more on Naomi Novik.

Back in January, Quint reviewed the first novel of the trilogy, His Majesty's Dragon, and, though he admits he's not much of a fan of contemporary fantasy, he was pretty well caught up with it, adding: "I wouldn't be surprised if we see this series snapped up by the studios... If handled with a respectable budget and with any degree of seriousness, this would make a fucking great film series." You can hear the pitch: "Master and Commander meets Dragonslayer!"

Nine months on, Quint finds himself talking with Jackson about just that - and more: the second installment of what'll eventually be a five-part interview focuses on The Lovely Bones.

Posted by dwhudson at September 13, 2006 4:51 AM