Nightflyers

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I've been reading George R.R. Martin since the 1970s, but, for some reason, I had never read Nightflyers. In fact, I got it confused with a completely different book by Martin Cruz Smith, “Nightwings,” and I thought this was a vampire story. (Or maybe I was led in that direction by Martin's “Fevre Dream.”)

In any event, after watching several episodes of the SyFy Channel's serialized version, I thought it was time to give the book a read (or a listen, since I consumed this as an audiobook.) I was particularly interested in finding out what the significance of the character known as an “L1” telepath was.

Well, throw that out. The SyFy Channel's version is only loosely based on the book. The two have the same basic plot line and the characters are the same, but the setting is completely different. the SyFy Channel puts its story at the end of the present century, whereas Martin placed his in one of his classic story settings, i.e., after the fall of the Federal Empire in the aftermath of the Human-Hrangan War.

So, if you read Martin's version, you start out with a far richer background that fits into other Martin Stories, e.g., “Dying of the Light” and “Tuff Traveling.”

The story makes for a good read/listen. Martin presents his set-up, introduces his characters, and then starts tightening the mystery and the tension bit by bit. This edition is blessed with Martin's introduction where he explains that he likes to mash genres and this is a science fiction/horror genres. The horror element becomes very apparent toward the end with zombies and ghosts entering the plotline, but all with a science fiction twist.

I think the book is better than the series, but both are entertaining.