If you're like us, the news that Game of Thrones isn't returning until 2019 hit you like a ton of bricks — along with the realisation that it's also the show's final season. And, if series author George R.R. Martin has anything to do with this (he's known how the story ends and has even dropped hints), we're sure that some beloved characters are going to meet their untimely demise.
It's easy to think that Martin harbours a strange hatred of his audience, which is why he keeps killing off main characters, but the exact opposite is true. He delights in giving us difficult stories to stretch our imaginations, and a new Syfy series, based on his 1980 science-fiction novella Nightflyers, is a testament to his creative prowess.
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The new show will be lead by The Notorious Bettie Page star Gretchen Mol, who will play Dr. Agatha Matheson. She'll be joined by rising star actor David Ajala, Eoin Macken (The Tudors), and Maya Eshet (Teen Wolf).
We think of Martin as primarily a medieval fantasy writer, but his science-fiction works are just as intriguing — he did, after all, write many episodes of The Twilight Zone in the 80s. Nightflyer is about a crew aboard a spaceship who slowly begin to succumb to the horrors of being alone in outer space. It's a deeply human examination of isolation, trust, and family ties that transcend blood. And yes, there probably will be lots of gore and sex.
Martin won't be helming the series, but his story is in good hands at Syfy. Jeff Buhler, who wrote Midnight Meat Train and the upcoming film adaption of Stephen King's Pet Semetary, is writing and exec producing. The show will premiere sometime in 2019.
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