One Of The Best Sci-Fi Books of 2025 Is Already Getting An Adaptation (It Was Confirmed 3 Years Before Release)

So many great sci-fi shows begin as novels; it’s the perfect way for studios to pick up fleshed-out IP while still delivering fresh stories to audiences. The Expanse was adapted from James S. A. Corey’s sprawling political war novels, Silo came from Hugh Howey’s dystopian mystery series, while Foundation adapted the great Isaac Asimov’s sociological space opera. As old IP wells run dry, studios are increasingly turning to literary sci-fi. 

Luminous is a 2025 science fiction novel by Silvia Park. A cyberpunk neo-noir character study, the story is set in a futuristic reunified Korea, and follows three siblings, two of whom are human and one of whom is a robot. Upon release, Luminous received widespread critical acclaim, but three years earlier, production company Media Res (behind The Morning Show, Pachinko, and Scenes From a Marriage) announced it had acquired the adaptation rights and planned to develop Park’s novel as a TV series.

Silvia Park’s Cyberpunk Sci-Fi Novel Luminous Getting a TV Adaptation with Media Res

In Luminous’ near-future Korea, humanoid robots exist alongside humans but are legally classified as property. The central siblings are Jun and Morgan, who are human, and Yoyo, a robot raised as their brother. Years after Yoyo’s disappearance, Jun works as a detective in the Robot Crimes division, investigating cases involving missing AIs while living with his own cyber-augmentations following injuries from the Reunification War. Meanwhile, Morgan works for Imagine Friends, a robotics company. When a young girl named Ruijie befriends a damaged robot child in a scrapyard, the puzzle begins to come together.

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Critically, Luminous emerged as one of the top sci-fi novels of 2025. Abigail Nussbaum of Locus Magazine called it a “contender for one of the best science fiction novels of the year,” comparing it to other cyberpunk classics like Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Library Journal awarded the novel a starred review, and claimed it a “momentous tour de force” that surpasses most other robot narratives by focusing less on whether robots are human and more on the relationships in which the lines blur. 

Media Res secured adaptation rights in 2022 after reviewing early manuscript material and development pitches. Pre-publication acquisitions are rare but not unprecedented; studios sometimes make fast moves when they catch wind of exciting new material. Reportedly, the company’s executives responded to the manuscript’s character focus and its setting, which offer a perspective distinct from Westernized cyberpunk. By locking in rights early, Media Res also prevented a potential competitive bidding war, which can drive up the price of an acquisition once buzz begins to circulate.

Media Res’ track record suggests they’ll be a perfect fit for this character-driven genre tale. The company has been behind critically acclaimed shows like Pachinko for Apple TV (which earned a Peabody), HBO’s Scenes from a Marriage miniseries with Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac, and even Boots Riley’s surreal coming-of-age comedy, I’m a Virgo for Prime Video. In addition to Luminous, the studio is also developing an adaptation of David Cronenberg’s sci-fi classic Scanners.

Overall, the company seems to have a knack for creating interesting, complex characters and stories across many genres. Though details of the adaptation remain scant, you can read Park’s Luminous today to get the full story before it becomes the next great sci-fi series. 

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