''Nightflyers''

Nightflyers is a 1980 science fiction horror novella by George R. R. Martin. A short story collection of the same name was released in 1985 that includes the novella. There was a 1987 film adaptation of the novella. A new television adaptation is in development.

Novella

Originally written in 1980, the 23,000-word novella was published by Analog Science Fiction and Fact. In 1981, at the request of his editor at the time, James Frenkel, Martin expanded the story into a 30,000-word piece, which was published by Dell Publishing together with Vernor Vinge's True Names as part of their Binary Star series. In the extended version, Martin supplied additional backstory on the various characters, and named several secondary characters which were not named in the original version.[1]

Nightflyers is set in the same fictional "Thousand Worlds" universe as several of Martin's other works, including Dying of the Light, Sandkings, A Song for Lya, "The Way of Cross and Dragon" and the stories collected in Tuf Voyaging.[2]

In 1981, Nightflyers won the Locus Award for best novella and the Analog Readers Poll for best novella/novelette, and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novella.[3] The novella was also the recipient of the 1983 Seiun Award in Japan for foreign short fiction.

Collection

The collection is the fifth by Martin and was first published in December 1985. It contains the following stories and novellas:

  • Nightflyers
  • "Override"
  • "Weekend in a War Zone"
  • "And Seven Times Never Kill Man"
  • "Nor the Many-Colored Fires of a Star Ring"
  • A Song for Lya

Adaptations

Film

The novel was adapted into a 1987 film by writer/producer Robert Jaffe.[4] The film is about a group of scientists who begin a space voyage to find a mysterious alien creature, and in the process are victimized by the ship's malevolent computer. It was directed by Robert Collector, using the pseudonymn "T. C. Blake" as he left before post-production was completed,[4] and stars Catherine Mary Stewart, and Michael Praed. According to Martin, writer/producer Robert Jaffe probably adapted his script from the shorter novella version, since all of the secondary characters had different names than the ones he chose in the expanded version.[1] The film grossed $1,149,470.[5]

Television

In 2017, a pilot for a possible TV series based on Nightflyers was being developed by Syfy.[6][7] The series would be based on the 1987 film, with Jaffe serving as one of the producers. The script for the pilot was written by Jeff Buhler. Martin will not be involved in the production or writing for the new series, since his contract with HBO contains an exclusivity clause.[1] The series will be shot in Ireland and will premiere in July 2018; the producer will be Daniel Cerone.[8]

On December 6, 2017 Jodie Turner-Smith was announced as being cast as Melantha Jhirl,[9] George R. R. Martin expressed his enthusiasm for the casting on his journal, and pointed out that it more accurately represents that character in the novella than the film did, which cast a white actress.[10] On January 4, 2018 it was reported that Netflix will co-produce the show and hold first run-rights outside of the United States.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 grrm (16 May 2017). "Here's the Scoop on NIGHTFLYERS".
  2. ↑ "OLDIES BUT GOODIES - George R.R. Martin". www.georgerrmartin.com.
  3. ↑ "Awards DRAFT - George R.R. Martin". www.georgerrmartin.com.
  4. 1 2 James, Caryn (1987-10-24). "Film: 'Nightflyers' Science Fiction Thriller". The New York Times. Retrieved 2017-12-06.
  5. ↑ "Nightflyers (1987) - Box Office Mojo". www.boxofficemojo.com.
  6. ↑ "George R.R. Martin Novella 'Nightflyers' Headed for TV on Syfy".
  7. ↑ "Syfy Adapting George R.R. Martin's Novella Nightflyers for Television". 11 May 2017.
  8. ↑ grrm (27 November 2017). "The NIGHTFLYER Flies Again".
  9. ↑ Here's The First Cast Member Of George R. R. Martin's New TV Show
  10. ↑ Melantha, Done Right At Last
  11. ↑ Petski, Denise (2018-01-04). "George R.R. Martin's 'Nightflyers' Gets Syfy Series Order; Netflix To Co-Produce". Deadline. Retrieved 2018-01-04.


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