Beyond the Aquila Rift

My rating is based on the quality of Reynolds original material, a short by one of the great living SF writers, Beyond the Aquila Rift.

The plot is classic - there's a glitch in the ancient alien jump gate system humans have been using to traverse the universe, one that sends our hero far, far out in the dark.

Even die hard science fiction fans are often unfamiliar with the short fiction of their favorite authors. Its a thing, probably something to do with the epics we all started out with. Here's your chance to read it in CGI. If you feel the sense of wonder watching this 15 minute story do yourself a favor and read the original. There's an audio book out too, it'll have you pulling over at a rest stop, mark my words.

The quality of this entire production from start to finish is so far beyond what used to be an almost derogatory term, "TV," that it's almost comical.

From the animation quality, that at times I had me forgetting it was CG, to the acting and the wonderful, subversive storyline that fooled me into thinking I was watching a full blown movie.

This is one of the highlights of the season.

No sci-fi fan should go without seeing this mini epic.

The ending was so immensely chilling and shook to to the very core of what I find scary. The number one fear of mine is knowing that you are so soul-crushingly far away from any sort of safety that all you can do is lay in shock at what hellscape awaits you. I cannot find words to describe how hard this hit me. It's my every nightmare realized on screen, and I would watch it again.

The only conplaint I have with this is that it had to end. Seriously, this could he made into a feature length film. So far the best short in the series

What starts out as a straight "hard" science fiction story along the lines of Mass Effect, takes a turn for the surreal in this immaculate short.

A truly shocking ending, the kind that sticks with you because it touches that one last nerve you thought no silly animated short could ever touch.

This short and Suits need to be turned into series, NOW.