The neralin peoples we recently discovered have introduced all sorts of wonderous technology to the Protectorate, and one of the more interesting is moving pictures, called film.

The neralin possess highly developed forms of passive entertainment because, prior to our meeting, it took them almost 30 years to travel between their three planets, and even intra-stellar travel to outposts around their solar system would take months. They can live for a little over 500 years and much of that time will be spent in transit, or aboard space stations.

For them, the Peldak Protectorate is a novelty, and they’ve scrambled to learn of our history and culture. Filmmakers especially wanted to learn of our fiction so they could adapt it into their work, and they quickly realized that the most influential work in our history was Deliverance Of Salvation.

It released on the neralin worlds last month and I’ve seen the film three times. It was shown on a massive, room-sized screen, audio from large speakers linked with the events on screen, and a translation was added to the bottom of the screen.

In the first viewing I was so in awe that I could hardly focus.

During the second I was somewhat used to it and really enjoyed myself.

The third was when I noticed flaws.

Deliverance of Salvation is a long book, perfect for 30-year journeys, while the movie was only three and a half hours.

There are scenes, characters, and entire subplots removed from the film. The action was nice but so much was stripped away that, once the novelty faded, I couldn’t help but feel a little dissatisfied.

I predict a proper adaptation would need to be at least 16 hours long.

I look forward to seeing what elves can do with access to this technology.