Please allow me to introduce myself, I’ve been a fan of Seth MacFarlane’s work since well before I even knew his name.
Going all the way back to Johnny Bravo and deepening with Family Guy, American Dad, The Cleveland Show, Dads, Ted, Ted 2, and particularly A Million Ways To Die In The West, I’ve dug his work.
I was down with The Orville from the jump because, much like I’ve said in the past on this site about Firefly, this one is mine, I found it all on my own with no influence from anybody.
But there was something missing from this truly brilliant utopian Sci-Fi show, something I desperately want and crave from most anything I love, tie-in novels.
Monk, Psych, both Star Wars and Trek, Marvel, & DC, while I love the original medium of them all, (TV, Movies, and Comics) there is no form of entertainment I love more than a good ol prose novel, as evidenced by many of the reviews on this very site.
So when this Novella was first announced, I was bummed that it was an ebook exclusive, I’m not a fan of ereading due to eyestrain and a love of physical media.
But then good ol Fitty Man swept in and lent me an electronic tablet internet computer device and I was ready to dive in face first…which you should probably never do, but with a face like mine it’s actually a bit of an improvement…nevermind all that…
So, how will this novella compare to the actual show itself?
Or will this be a sad attempt at a novel that will be relegated to a footnote in the history of a brilliant show that I have been tubthumping for for 4 years now?
Let’s dive in and find out together, gang.
This is your mega ***SPOILER ALERT***, gang.
I mean it this time, I don’t think I can talk about this one with spoiling the fuck out of it.
Final chance to turn back now!
***SPOILER WARNING***
In 1914 New York, a couple bursts into the lobby of a high end hotel and the mother foists her baby son on the front desk clerk before running back into the cool April air.
Soon adopted by a German couple and renamed Otto Vogel, the boy grows up just as a plague of humanity starts to rise in that region and he’s slowly swept up in their hatred and bullshit.
Years go by and the boy becomes a man who he rises through the ranks of Hitler’s group of shitheads, marrying a general’s daughter and having a son of his own, until he is put in charge of a concentration camp and must prepare for a red cross inspection.
The inspectors turn out to be Captain Ed Mercer & Commander Kelly Grayson of the Planetary Union Starship The Orville.
They break the news to Otto Vogel that he is really Adam Collier.
When his parents were captured and imprisoned by the Krill, Adam was left in an adaptive simulation where he spent more than 30 years growing up in a program his birthparents frequented and, using historical data incorporated real earth into it and, grew into a Nazi, building a family, living nearly 500 years in the past.
After a prisoner exchange, his parents made it a priority to find out if he was still alive.
Once pulled out of the simulation, Doctor Finn begins the long process of trying to bring Adam to the present day while Ed, Kelly, and his parents try to decide how or if he should be punished for the crimes he whole-heartedly believes in and commited.
What a brilliant sci-fi concept, being raised in a simulator for your entire life?
Holy fucking shit biscuits!
And the fallout of this specific situation, where an argument can be made for and against punishment or imprisonment, though the latter isn’t really an option in the 2420s, beyond a ship’s brig.
This dilemma is a classic thought provoking Star Trek style problem with an ambiguous ending that you are left to discuss and come to your own conclusions on where you think Collier/Vogel should go.
And I love that this is the ultimate landing point for this story, no preaching or talking down, there is no right answer, and the characters convey that.
Personally, I felt that the entire situation was just sad.
Adam’s denial of his reality and desperation to return to his wife and young son truly make the title of this novella fitting, but his willingness and enthusiasm for the cause makes that sympathy something you struggle with.
And in that vein, there is a magnificent scene where Ed confronts Adam, who thinks he’s a hardened killer, and knocks him on his ass to teach him that, though he is convinced he’s a bad motherfucker, he has never felt pain or faced a single struggle in his entire life due to the cottled protection of the simulator.
It’s a wonderful scene that I would’ve loved to have seen onscreen.
Which, funnily enough, this was originally the ninth episode of the recent third season of The Orville.
But due to that little bothersome thing that people like to pretend no longer exists, Covid, it was scraped and repurposed by Seth into the first prose tie-in for this incredible show.
Much like his novelization of A Million Ways To Die In The West, this is a solid effort for the multi-hyphenate series creator Seth MacFarlane.
But I will admit I was a bit bummed by how little time we spend with the crew of The Orville.
Over half of this 101 page novella is spent in Nazi Germany and not with the crew, and that is just not enough for me.
I would have loved the prologue to spend just a few pages with the crew before throwing you into the lion’s den or maybe even a slight subplot/detour with some of the other crewmembers who are relegated to barely more than a cameo.
Something to prevent this story from being mostly a tale of a Nazi on the rise.
Seth has said this was intended to be experimental, and it is, I just wanted more.
To wrap up, my hope is that this is just the first in a long line of prose stories from The Orville universe.
Especially as season three, despite it’s lack of the trademark humor of the first two seasons, has been a well plotted and layered elevation of everything the show is.
Seth is clearly a talented writer, though this was a little thin and I was left wanting far more.
I am still want this as a physical book, and maybe that will happen if Seth or somebody else on the team decides to write a few more short stories and collects them together, which I highly encourage.
If you haven’t checked out this show yet, stop waiting.
Watch all the way up through to season three episode eight and load this up on your reader and zip through it for yourselves, gang, because it is a worthy addition to the overall canon of The Orville and is well worth the time and effort.
Let us know what you think of this review in the comments below or share this post on Twitter with the Hashtag #TNBBookReview, or tweet with us @NerdBlitzPod.
Check out our first foray into publishing with our original short story collection, The Camping Trip And Other Stories!
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And finally, given the state of the world, do what you can to leave it a little bit better than you found it.
As difficult as that may be currently, it can have an impact far greater than you know.
Until next time, stay safe out there, gang.
