Not bad, but starts out strong and ends formulaic.

A real page turner. Short as well, finished in 3 nights. But leaves most of the world building behind, and maybe I'm used to expecting more of that in sci-fi.

Would be a great "Twilight Zone" episode. ( )

Phenomenal. I'm not joking - this is the best work of science fiction I've ever read. ( )

I was very curious to see what a horror story by George R.R. Martin would look like, given I only know him from Game of Thrones and other fantasy works. Nightflyers is, at times, really effective and, at other times, really flat. The characters in particular often feel like cliches. There are some really effective horror moments, though.

So, all in all, a mixed bag. Definitely worth a read for his fans, though. ( )

Shocked to receive such a slim book, but the story within is only a novella. It will be interested to watch the Nightflyers Netflix series after reading this to see how they’ve extended the material, for surely they have — there’s hardly enough here to make a long film. I found the story a little hard to get into, though once things go wrong, it got interesting. The concept behind this sci-fi jaunt is interesting, though hardly unique, and something about the overall story seems weak. I wish I’d seen this can also be bought with other stories rather than have paid for it as a separate book. I’m glad to have read it, but don’t feel I would have missed much if I hadn’t. ( )

Avoid all spoilers. This review has none.

"A haunted house story on a star ship" GRRM

The ship Nightflyer is chartered to meet up with a mythical ancient species called the volcryn. A team is gathered. Experts in alien language, psychology, biology, technology. The novella starts when they get picked up on their planet (Avalon) and head out on their mission.

I had to re-read the first 40 pages because I struggled getting into the story. I consider it a rough start because sometimes he uses their first names, sometimes last names and yet still, at other times, their job titles. Until I got it all matched up, I struggled. None of the below is spoilers but it may just help you get over the hurtle I faced. (I pretty much copy and pasted the descriptions GRRM used in the book).

Characters:

volcryn “an ancient alien species thought by some to be mythical/legendary. It will soon pierce the Tempter's Veil. Nightflyer is following.

Royd Eris - the mysterious owner and captain of the starship Nightflyer, who is never seen except as a hologram therefore is often thought of as a "ghost".

5 women and 4 men boarded the ship from Avalon

Karoly d'Branin (male) the leader of the expedition. He chartered the ship to find the volcryn. He is the one with the passion to make contact with the ancient species. He often says "my volcryn".

Melantha Jhirl (female) a genetically engineered 'improved model/human' from the planet Prometheus, who is larger, faster, brighter, and stronger than a normal human. She is the child of 2 genetic wizards.

Thale Lasamer (male) level 1 Telepath (capable of reading the thoughts of others around him.) Frail, young, nervous, temperamental, afraid of everyone yet given to bouts of arrogance in which he taunts his companions with thoughts he snatches from their minds.

Agatha Marij-Black (female) level 3 psipsych (idk what that is but she is also called an empath "a person with the paranormal ability to apprehend the mental or emotional state of another individual.") hypochondriac, given to black depressions. FYI 'querulous' means "complaining in a petulant or whining manner"

Lommie Thorne (female) cyberneticist (computer/systems master) talked to her computers, preferring them to humans. She has a port in her arm to direct connect to the system.

Rojan Christopheris (male) xenobiologist (studies extraterrestrial life forms) Surly, argumentative. A cynic whose contempt for his colleagues was barely kept in check. A drinker.

Dannel (male) linguist (studies languages) *

Lindran (female) linguist (studies languages) *

* The above two behaved as a couple in public but in private they quarreled bitterly. They "sexed often but not with each other" (Idky GRRM says that because later they do "sex").

Alys Northwind (female) Xenotech (studies alien technology) she ate constantly and never washed.
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"Nightflyers, as well as the Hugo and Nebula-winning novelette Sandkings, was the direct result of a writer being told he couldn't do something: "The inspiration for both of those stories," Martin explained, "was a statement I read somewhere by a critic, to the effect that SF and horror was opposites, and fundamentally incompatible. As a lifelong fan of both, that assertion struck me as nonsense, so I set out to prove it wrong by blending the two genres together. Worked out pretty well for me."

Everything You Need to Know About George R.R. Martin's Nightflyers Tor.com
https://www.tor.com/2018/03/27/everything-you-need-to-know-about-george-r-r-mart....





too big to be a novella but it's not really a novel. ( )