The Faithful and the Fallen TV series is officially in development, author John Gwynne confirmed on October 29, 2026, adapting his bestselling epic fantasy quartet for television. No network, cast, release window, or even format — live-action or animated — has been attached yet.
What Gwynne Actually Confirmed
Gwynne broke the news himself, in a video shared to Instagram by fantasy-book creator Josh Smith: “John Gwynne’s The Faithful and the Fallen, best selling epic fantasy series is now in development for a major TV series.” That’s the entire announcement. There’s no studio attached publicly, no showrunner, no cast, and Gwynne didn’t say whether it would be live-action or animated. Reactor’s own report on the announcement notes he was similarly light on specifics at the London event where he made it.
What Is The Faithful and the Fallen About?
The quartet — Malice (2012), Valour (2014), Ruin (2015) and Wrath (2016), all published by Pan Macmillan — is set in the Banished Lands, a continent built on the ancient split between the Faithful, who follow a creator god called the Maker, and the Fallen, the corrupted descendants of his angels. A prophecy names two champions, the Black Sun and the Bright Star, who will decide which side wins a coming apocalyptic war. At the center of it is Corban, a blacksmith’s son serving King Brenin who gets pulled into that prophecy alongside the swordsman Verandis and Prince Nathair — farmboy-to-war-hero territory, but told through a wide, multi-character cast rather than a single lead.
Why This Series, and Why Now
Malice won the 2013 David Gemmell Morningstar Award for best fantasy debut, and the next three books were each shortlisted for the David Gemmell Legend Award in their release years, with Wrath going on to win the 2017 BookNest Award for Best Traditionally Published Novel. That’s a real pedigree inside the genre — the Gemmell Awards are named for David Gemmell, widely credited as a formative influence on the current wave of grounded, battle-focused epic fantasy, and Gwynne has said Gemmell is one of the reasons he writes at all.
The timing is the more interesting story than the pedigree. Amazon cancelled The Wheel of Time after three seasons in May 2025, walking away from a 14-book source with a built-in fanbase once its $80-100 million-per-season budget stopped justifying the viewership. That left a real gap in the one genre every streamer wanted a piece of after Game of Thrones: a finished, multi-book epic fantasy series with no rights complications and room to run past a single season. A completed quartet that already won its genre’s own award for newcomers is exactly the kind of property a studio burned once by an unfinished, unpredictable source might look for next.
| Series | Source material | Status (Oct 2026) | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Faithful and the Fallen | 4-book quartet (2012-2016), complete | Just announced, no platform or cast attached | TBA |
| The Wheel of Time | 14-book series | Cancelled after season 3 (May 2025) | Amazon Prime Video |
| House of the Dragon | Fire & Blood (complete) | Renewed; final season targets 2028 | HBO Max |
| The Rings of Power | Tolkien legendarium | Season 3 premieres November 11, 2026 | Amazon Prime Video |
What We Don’t Know Yet
No platform has picked this up publicly, no producers or writers are named, there’s no cast, and there’s no release window — not even a year. Gwynne didn’t confirm whether the four books would be adapted as a single series or split the way some epic fantasy adaptations split their source material across spin-offs. Until a studio confirms the deal officially, this is Gwynne’s account of where things stand, not a greenlit, dated production.
Gwynne has kept busy in the same world since: the Of Blood and Bone trilogy continues the Banished Lands story, and his separate, Norse-inspired Bloodsworn Saga wrapped its own three books in 2023. For more on where the genre stands right now, see Comic Book Co’s House of the Dragon guide and our Rings of Power season 3 trailer breakdown, or our roundup of best streaming services for genre fans for where to watch them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Faithful and the Fallen officially getting a TV series?
Author John Gwynne confirmed on October 29, 2026 that the series is in development for television, but no studio, platform, cast, or release date has been announced yet.
What is The Faithful and the Fallen about?
A four-book epic fantasy quartet (Malice, Valour, Ruin, Wrath) set in the Banished Lands, following Corban and a prophecy that pits the Faithful against the corrupted Fallen in an apocalyptic war.
Will the adaptation be live-action or animated?
John Gwynne hasn’t said. His announcement didn’t specify a format, network, or any other production detail.
Has John Gwynne’s work won any awards?
Yes. Malice won the 2013 David Gemmell Morningstar Award, and Valour, Ruin and Wrath were each shortlisted for the David Gemmell Legend Award, with Wrath winning a 2017 BookNest Award.
Is this connected to The Wheel of Time or House of the Dragon?
No, it’s an unrelated book series and adaptation. The comparison is about timing: Amazon cancelled The Wheel of Time after season 3 in 2025, leaving streamers short on finished, multi-book epic fantasy to adapt.
