EastSiders Alum Kit Williamson Adapting Queer Fantasy Series for TV

If you're a queer fantasy/adventure fan and have been desperately craving something new to obsess over and stan, then have we got some news for you! Fantasy author Mercedes Lackey's beloved -- and queer-inclusive -- Valdemar literary universe is finally making its way to the small screen thanks to out actor and writer Kit Williamson!

Teaming up with his friend and author Brittany Cavallaro, the Emmy-winning EastSiders alum (who is a self-proclaimed longtime superfan of Lackey's novels) is adapting part of the Valdemar universe into an upcoming fantasy TV series for Radar Pictures!

"The cat's out of the bag, y'all! Beyond thrilled to be adapting Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar novels for Radar Pictures with my best friend @skippingstones," Williamson wrote in a recent Instagram post when news of his and Cavallaro's adaptation broke.

Writing of the importance of queer representation, especially in a genre as popular as fantasy, he continued: "I can't overstate how important these books were to me as a teenager, both for featuring an inspiring and complex gay hero and for the role they played in my friendship with Bri, as we bonded over our shared love for Mercedes Lackey in boarding school. Stay tuned!"

The first season of the series is set to be based on Lackey's The Last Herald Mage novel trilogy, which broke ground for featuring Vanyel Ashkevron, one of the fantasy genre's first examples of an explicitly gay protagonist in 1989. Magic's Price, the third installment of The Last Herald Mage series, won a Lambda Literary Award in the Best Gay Men's Science Fiction/Fantasy category back in 1991 and has become a cult favorite among many passionate LGBTQ+ readers.

"Vanyel in The Last Herald Mage series was one of the first gay characters I encountered, and as a recently out 16-year-old I can't stress enough the impact that these books had on me," Williamson told Deadline. "The Valdemar series was far ahead of its time in the portrayal of LGBTQ characters, and Lackey's writing afforded them a level of depth and complexity that is still very rare, especially in genre storytelling."

Considering how overwhelmingly hetero so many mainstream fantasy/action titles still are in this day and age, it's exciting to see a queer-centered story being created for audiences to enjoy, and with LGBTQ+ creators at the helm! So we can't wait to see how Williamson and Cavallaro bring the Valdemar universe to life!

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