A short fun read ♡

Not much to say about this one. It's original writer Brian Hayles' perfectly good novelization of his own perfectly good TV serial - and, because it's one of the earliest novelizations, he's taken the opportunity to flesh out the backgrounds of the characters and the situations a little bit. I'm not sure Peladon comes over as a more realistic society, but King Peladon himself carries a bit more weight when you learn some of his childhood, his relationship with his mother, and so on. The big change - the one that everyone remembers - is that here, Hayles is free to depict Alpha Centauri without the limitations of budget. He has fully-functional tentacles, a "watery eye," and the ability to change color depending on his emotions. He's a walking mood ring! ( )

http://nhw.livejournal.com/1037395.html#cutid2

Hayles adapted his own TV script again; and it is generally a good version of a good story, with the excellent point that Alpha Centauri is much less silly on the page than on the screen. I felt that Hepesh, the high priest, was a little more three-dimensional in the original but basically it is a good effort. ( )