Deadline reports that Amazon is working on a new fantasy series to air on its Prime Video streaming service: Powerless, based on the Powerless trilogy by author Lauren Roberts.
Powerless originally came out in 2023, followed by Reckless in 2024 and Fearless in 2025. The story takes place in the kingdom of Ilya, which is divided between the powerful Elite and the downtrodden Ordinary classes. Paedyn Gray, an Ordinary, subsists in the slums as a thief. After she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, second son to the cruel king, she is thrust into the Purging Trials, which promises riches and glory for those who survive. Prince Kai, an Ordinary Hunter, is determined to win them. Soon, the pair are drawn together in a hopeless star-crossed romance.
Powerless spent 19 weeks at the top of the New York Times Young Adult Bestseller List, selling over a million copies in its first nine months on shelves. It's a romantasy, a popular subgenre that combines, obviously, fantasy with heavy romance elements. Powerless was also a popular discussion point on BookTok and BookTube, something that will probably become more important when studios like Amazon are looking for book series to adapt. Amazon is also making a TV show based on the romantasy book series Fourth Wing, so this seems to be something they're leaning into.
Before this, Amazon had its sights set on adapting classic epic fantasy. It's making another season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, but it recently cancelled its ongoing adaptation of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time books despite a widely praised third season. So to all the romantasy authors who are hoping Amazon might adapt their work, I would say: be careful. Their tastes tend to shift.
That said, it does make sense that we're seeing more romantasy books getting turned into TV shows and movies, since the genre has been on the rise in the book world for a while. The description sounds to me a little like a fantasy version of the Insurgent series, another YA story where people are very strictly divided into classes, but with a heavier romance element. If it works, it works.
Daphne Ferraro will serve as the showrunner on the Powerless series. There's no release date set as of yet.
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