3 reasons it’s time to read George R.R. Martin’s Nightflyers

With a show based on Nightflyers on the way, Tor has reissued the novella by George R.R. Martin. Here are three reasons to put it on your summer list.

George R.R. Martin might be better known for his fantasy these days (probably due to a little show called Game of Thrones, if you’ve heard of it), but long before the first volume of A Song of Ice and Fire hit shelves, Martin also penned Nightflyers. It’s much, much shorter — only a novella — and Tor sent me a copy of its newest reprint, which also has five more short stories to read. Even with all of that, it’s still shorter than A Game of Thrones.

Now, Nightflyers is not perfect. It has some weird moments (I can’t tell you how many times I read the word breasts, or how many times I thought that the narrator and the characters are all really preoccupied with everyone’s sex lives), but it does do horror pretty well.

With Syfy also leaning into the horror with its teaser for the show, here are three reasons it’s time to get acquainted with Nightflyers.

Effective claustrophobia

The entire book takes place around and on one ship: the Nightflyer. In comparison to the world of A Song of Ice and Fire, it’s absolutely minuscule. Sure, there’s a great big universe to explore; there are multiple planets mentioned, for example. But we don’t really visit them. The world is restrained to the ship itself, and only about half of the ship is accessible to its passengers. A decent part of the story takes place outside of the ship and in the vastness of space, but it only serves to reinforce how tiny the Nightflyer actually is.

Sci-fi with a side of mysticism

In the world of Nightflyers, there are those who have telekinesis and telepathy, among other psychic gifts. While they are treated pretty scientifically (there are levels of aptitude), there are also mentions of things like souls and ways to live after death, as well as myths about the volcryn, a traveling species of alien. All in all, it feels like it owes something to legend just as much as it does science.

Pace

Look, yours truly enjoys a long fantasy novel as much as anyone. But Nightflyers is refreshingly quick and tightly paced, building the tension and punctuating it with strong (and gory) moments. I can easily see how this could stretch out into at least a season of television (but it really does seem like it should be a single shot more than anything, lest it drag out too much).

Next: 20 books you'll absolutely want to binge at the beach this summer

Either way, Nightflyers is a great weekend read.