Wednesday, October 26, 2022

The Peripheral: First Impressions

I've made no secret about how much I like William Gibson's novel, The Peripheral. IMHO it's the best science fiction novel of the century to date. So I was more than a little apprehensive when I heard that it was being adapted for streaming; I've seen too many promising projects turn into crap. 

Based on the first two episodes of Amazon Prime's adaptation, I needn't have worried. It's brilliant. 

First, it's true to both the basic storyline of the novel and to the characters, especially that of Flynne, ably played by ChloĆ« Grace Moretz. She's exactly as I had imagined her from the novel. And the other characters are just as well done. The showrunners (interviewed here) have done a great job of both portraying the future setting and technology that Gibson envisions while adding new plot elements that aren't in the novel but still feel just right. 

The show could still go off the rails in future episodes, but I'm very happy about what I've seen so far. And from what I've read on Twitter, Gibson likes it too. 

I am very much looking forward to the rest of the season. If you've watched it, what do you think?


 

1 comment:

Michael Gardi said...

I totally agree. My only disappointment is that they didn’t release the whole season at once.