Nestled between thick tomes and lengthy fantasy epics sits one of my favorite 2023 reads: Rachel Hartman’s Tess of the Road. The novel was published in 2018 to some critical acclaim; frankly, I have no idea where I first heard of the book, but I’m glad I did. As soon as I’d finished turning the final page, I immediately began yearned to see Tess’s adventures brought to the screen…
The Story So Far
Silence, as deep as a lonely night on the open road… A bit melodramatic? Sure! But so far I’ve found a big ol’ goose egg in my search for hints of a planned Tess of the Road adaptation. I also combed the internet (read: did some cursory Google searches) for tidbits about Hartman’s other books within this world and came up equally short.
We all know that isn’t gonna stop me from hoping! Tess of the Road is still relatively new, an offers a touching personal journey that would slot neatly into the streaming era as a limited series.
A Refreshing Perspective
The book’s title tells us a whole lot with only a few words. In this section, let’s focus on the first point of interest: Tess. A misfit within her family who’s been cast aside for transgressions perceived to be unforgivable, Tess abandons the Dombeigh family and sets out on a journey to learn about herself, removed from the context of her upbringing and societal pressure.
Writing that last paragraph, I felt like a jellyfish doing the limbo, carefully squirming beneath the bar that would qualify as a spoiler. Tess’s journey is sparked by an adolescence filled with hard lessons and undue pain and punishment. I won’t say exactly what happens, but I will say that it could bring a uniquely modern perspective to the table. Tess of the Road story grapples with one woman’s place in a culture that doesn’t value her as it should. Tess consistently encounters prejudice and violence for who she is. Navigating the world requires something far deeper than geographical knowledge (though that’s required, too).
Now, I can’t claim to understand most of the burdens Tess carries, and that’s precisely why I’d love to see this story adapted into a visual format, accessible even to the non-readers out there. Hartman’s book baked a lot of valuable lessons into Tess’s story, and its medieval setting provides plenty of modern teachings from which everyone could benefit.
Journey Before Destination
Now we come to the last word of the title. “Road” implies motion, winding paths, growth. Tess of the Road is a journey at its core. Tess herself isn’t out to fetch some powerful orb or an ancient artifact. She just moves. She adjusts her trajectory based on who she meets and which dangers she encounters along her way.
The format makes for a cohesive narrative, threading snippets together into a story that doesn’t let up in its pace. I long for it to come to a streaming service for this exact reason: Tess could function just fine as a movie, but the story is already episodic enough to slot perfectly into an 8- or 10-episode limited run (with a teaser for future stories at the end). The unrelenting forward motion of Tess’s journey would make for the kind of series you’d be tempted to watch all in one sitting, one episode after the next.
Stakes do come into play, particularly in relation to Tess’s friend Pathka, a quigutl (an intelligent lizard-person species). The journey transcends the physical when these two reunite after childhood separation. Tess and Pathka are two of my favorite fantasy friends; their relationship is dynamic and emotional. It plays out like its own journey, providing plenty of conflict, progress, and heartfelt moments. Plus—and this is mostly a side note—SFF TV has a staggering lack of interesting lizard people. Tess could rectify that.
(P.S. That last bit is a hint as an upcoming article; keep an eye out!)
A Fantasy Launchpad
We live in a world of epics. I’m certainly not complaining about that—most of my books are bona fide doorstoppers. While book behemoths of 800+ pages work well in the world of words, they can’t always translate to screens in the way we readers would hope. There are a few exceptions, of course, but maybe it’s time to try something different and tell a more focused, personal story in a fantasy world.
Buy the Book
The Atlas Complex
Tess of the Road has some huge implications, but it smartly subverts familiar fantasy tropes and conventions. Tess isn’t a prophesied hero or a magic-wielder of unprecedented talent. She’s just Tess, and she’s on a journey. The massive world of Hartman’s creation seeps into the story, but it doesn’t ever overpower the personal journey at play. Tess is the star, and Hartman doesn’t bog herself down with a world-ending plot.
What better fit for our TV screens than a sharp, personal tale headlined by a dynamic character on a journey who undergoes real personal change along the way? So many dramas and period pieces engage in this type of storytelling, and I think fantasy could benefit from a fresh take, without the clamor and violence of warring countries and frequent battles of epic proportions.
Outlook: Not Likely… For Now
Based on my quick scan of the internet, for now a Tess of the Road adaptation appears unlikely at best, and that’s a damn shame.
There is, however, a glimmer of hope which I will hang onto for at least a few years. Tess of the Road is a recent book by most standards, released only five years ago. I suspect it will garner more fans as new readers discover the book, and an uptick in popularity could be exactly what Hartman’s story needs to catch the eyes of a Hollywood fellowship eager to take a chance on a new property.
For now, though, I will sing the praises of this exquisite novel from the mountaintops (I live in Chicago, but I recently took a trip to Utah, so I am super familiar with mountains now) and encourage everyone, young and old, to read it.
Cole Rush writes words. A lot of them. For the most part, you can find those words at The Quill To Live. He voraciously reads epic fantasy and science fiction, seeking out stories of gargantuan proportions and devouring them with a bookwormish fervor. His favorite books are the Divine Cities Series by Robert Jackson Bennett, The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, and The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune.
