Warning: Nightflyers Spoilers Ahead
Nightflyers is a novella written by George R.R. Martin. It was originally published back in 1985, but has since been repackaged and reprinted a few times. Most recently though, it was turned into a TV series by Syfy. Syfy had likely hoped to make more than one season out of the novella, but they recently announced that they’d be leaving the series alone after just one season.
The novella and TV series follows a small crew of scientists as they try to make contact with a mysterious alien race – the volcryn. They run into countless problems along the way, creating what can be truly described as a science fiction thriller.
Naturally, whenever a novel gets adapted into a TV series or movie, there are a lot of changes made along the way. For Nightflyers, the changes were fairly significant.
The Circumstances
The circumstances between the two were fairly similar. Both are showing us a team of scientists with the same goal in mind – to find and communicate with the volcryn. They charter a ship called the Nightflyer to get them there, but along the way, they run into dozens of different problems.
In the novella, every issue is relatively out in the open and well discussed. They may not agree with what is said or decided upon, but there is a definite lack of mystery to what is happening at times.
In the Syfy series, every issue is ramped up to the tenth degree. The crew frequently doesn’t know what is going on, and everybody on board has their own set of secrets. Nobody is willing to confide in the whole of the crew, even when it could save all of their lives.
The Nightflyer
The Nightflyer did have some changes made between the novella and the TV series. For one thing, while relatively large, there isn’t much room for crew. Only a pilot is technically needed, and even then, that’s a bit of a gray area.
Because there’s no real need to have dozens of humans on board, most of the ship isn’t designed for them. There are living quarters on one side of the ship for the Captain, but it is completely sealed off from the other half of the ship. The other half has a mess hall and a few extra rooms, but is mostly dedicated to cargo. The cargo rooms themselves all have airlocks, meaning they’re relatively close to open space, all things considered. It isn’t an ideal habitat for humans. There are no designated bunks or rooms for the science team on this ship. Instead, they’re simply supposed to pick out a location they like. They sleep in sleepwebs, which they brought with them. There’s almost no privacy to be had.
Meanwhile, in the Syfy series, the ship is massive; with room enough for every crew member to have their own room. It’s also not an automated ship, from appearances. Thus there’s a massive crew on board as well as the science team.
There’s a semblance of privacy, but of course we all know that it’s just an illusion. Royd is fully capable of looking into any room he wishes – regardless of the designated purpose of the room.
The Captain And His Mother Issues
Royd is the captain of the vessel, but in both the novella and TV series there’s a… complication with that. In both versions he’s a clone with some pretty significant mother issues, to put it lightly. He’s constantly fighting with his deceased mother for control of the ship. In both versions of the series, his mother passed away but managed to successfully integrate with the ship first. In both instances his mother is an active threat to the crew members, fighting Royd’s control over the ship. The why and how vary slightly.
She built the ship to be fully automated because she hated being around people. She eventually caved and had Royd created, but that was more out of boredom than loneliness. And even then she had no intention of raising the clone as a child – she’d prefer he stayed in his tube until he didn’t require any assistance. She was scarred from her time spent with humans. She did not grow up on a world that looked kindly on those with powers. Thus they did everything possible to suppress her abilities. It was only in death that they truly gained control.
Because of the way Royd was raised, he’s completely incapable of interacting with any humans. He has no immune system, and since he grew up in zero gravity his body just can’t take any level of gravity. Having a crew on board is agony for him, since it requires the gravity to be turned back on.
In the TV series she’s just as cruel and controlling. But throw in an abusive father instead of an abusive culture. She’s portrayed as a broken and angry woman, one who is more afraid of the volcryn than anything else.
The Characters
The characters are probably the most drastic change between the two versions. The main characters names are all the same, as are their jobs, but with the exception of Royd and Mel, that’s about it.
In the novella, Karoly d’Branin is the lead scientist on this mission. His team is only nine members large, including himself. He personally picked out the telepathic Thale to join his team. He’s obsessive but relatively friendly, calling everyone ‘friend’ and being overly concerned with their wellbeing. His concern for them doesn’t exceed his obsession with the volcryn, of course.
Rojan Christopheris is also a member of the crew. Unlike the TV series, he is not best friends with Dr. d’Branin. He’s angry and suspicious, frequently being the first one to lay out accusations against Royd or the mission. Agatha never hid her abilities. She’s a level three empathy and not ashamed of it. It’s possibly even the reason why she was brought on board. Thale is an accepted member of the team. He’s a bit crazy at times, and he starts having a really rough time during their travels. He keeps sensing that they’re being watched, and that there’s danger aboard the ship. It eventually gets to be too much for him.
In the TV series the crew is significantly larger. There are some new characters added to the series, but all of the main members are still there. D’Branin is a grieving father who lost his daughter. His obsession with the volcryn is clearly his way of coping with what happened. If that wasn’t enough, he’s losing his wife as well, because she’s wiping all the memories she ever had of him and their daughter. The crew is less inclined to share their problems or discuss theories. That’s both good and bad. They don’t exacerbate each other’s fears, but likewise they find no solutions along the way.
The Plot
Both versions of the crew just want to reach the volcryn. The TV version adds a whole bunch of personal drama to the mix to increase the tension. They also add a few more adventures, likely to stretch the season out more (it is based on a novella, after all).
The family drama with Royd is altered for the TV series, as hinted at above. There aren’t nearly as many people involved, for one thing. His mother doesn’t have a lover, and Royd is certainly not related to Mel. Likewise, because of his inability to interact with people directly, we never see Royd outside of his suit with the others (and that was only one time).
The characters were fleshed out more for the TV series, but again a lot of that came with the drama that was added in. Christopher fell in love, Thale had trouble being accepted and was even actively hunted for a while, d’Branin has his family to obsess over, and so much more. It all added to the emotional weight of the series.
The Volcryn
The volcryn are another dramatic change between the two. In the TV series, a lot of hints are dropped about the truth of the volcryn, but nothing is ever directly answered. In the novella, Dr. d’Branin goes on and on about the history of the alien race. We also are given a definitive answer about them as well.
In the TV series, it’s implied that the race is telepathic and empathetic. It’s hinted that they can travel through time, and that they may be omniscient as well. This all amplifies Dr. d’Branin’s obsession with them. In the novella, they’re a race that travel very slowly through space – using no form of warp drives. They’ve shown up in dozens of alien histories, but never been properly documented. In the end, it is revealed that they read as telepathics because they are very strong telekinetics – it is how they pass through space. Likewise, all of their brain functions are spent moving them forward, meaning they aren’t much more than very large animals in space.
