From SRP author Taylen Carver:
Ah, “high production costs.” The new “it’s not you, it’s me” of the streaming world.
First it was Andor, quietly sliced from five seasons to two. Now it’s The Wheel of Time, which spun valiantly for three seasons on Prime Video before the thread was abruptly severed—despite critical acclaim and a devout fanbase. “Too expensive,” they say. “Too complex.” As if they didn’t know, going in, that adapting a sprawling 14-book fantasy epic might require some…commitment?
We Knew the Quest Was Long
What’s maddening isn’t just the cancellations—it’s the betrayal of the premise. These companies greenlight vast, intricate sagas and loudly promise multiple seasons. They know fans will invest based on that commitment. And then they ghost us. The fantasy TV landscape is starting to look like a graveyard of half-finished epics, each headstone etched with the words “Ran Out of Budget.”
Sound familiar? It should. This is the same move traditional publishers have been pulling for decades: acquire a promising fantasy series, publish book one (maybe book two), then yank the rest of the deal because it “didn’t perform.” Print to net. Abandon ship. Sorry, fantasy fans—guess you’ll never know how it ends.
The Hollywood “No” in HD
It’s hard not to see this as a new variation of the infamous Hollywood No. You know the one: where execs smile, say all the right things, and then quietly do the opposite. Five seasons? Sure. Deep investment in storytelling? Absolutely. Until, of course, the spreadsheet speaks.
And the consequences are cumulative. Fans aren’t fools. Every time a beloved series gets axed mid-arc, trust erodes. People get wary. Viewership drops—not because the shows aren’t good, but because we’ve been burned before. Eventually, audiences will only tune in once the final credits have rolled, which paradoxically guarantees that fewer series will ever reach that point.
It’s streaming’s very own Ouroboros—a system devouring itself. Don’t watch until it’s done. Don’t fund until there’s demand. Round and round it goes, tightening the noose with every “creative decision” press release.
Books Still Finish the Journey—Especially Indie Books
Now for the good news: books, by and large, still honor the long game. But let’s be clear—it’s not traditional publishing carrying that torch anymore. If anything, Big Publishing pioneered the mid-series ghosting move. Fantasy readers know the sting of getting two books into a promised trilogy only to hear that the rest “wasn’t picked up.”
Indie authors, on the other hand, get it. They understand that a finished series isn’t just good storytelling—it’s good business. They thrive on backlist sales. They want you reading book two, three, ten. They want you emotionally wrecked and begging for a spinoff novella. And because they control their publishing timelines, they actually deliver.
Indie fantasy authors are the ones finishing what they start, deepening worlds, and building reader loyalty one completed saga at a time. They want you to invest—because they’re investing too.
Where the Story Actually Ends
So if you’re tired of streaming heartbreaks and mid-season cancellations, maybe it’s time to return to the page. Where the stories still end. The characters still grow. And the only thing standing between you and the finale is how fast you can read.
Taylen Carver
SRP Fantasy Author
Browse Taylen’s books here.
