Just finished the first season of The 100. Okay so I came to the party a little late, but what can I say? I've been uber busy writing. There's no time for TV series in my world. And who can fault me after seeing that horrible cover art, it looked like another bad CW attempt to be trendy. No not the one above, which is from Kass Morgan's novel. That cover art rocks hardcore. Damn, if I saw this cover I'd have clicked on The 100 without even pausing to refill my koolaid and asking for another hit.
So anyhow, the other day I actually read the premise for the series. "Earth has been devastated by a nuclear apocalypse, with the only survivors being the inhabitants of 12 international space stations. Three generations later, 100 young prisoners return to the planet to determine whether it's habitable." Wait a minute...whaaat? Hell yeah, I'm down yesterday. You mean like Lord of the Flies meets Planet of the Apes, except without the apes. In fact what's down there is much worse...but I'm not into spoilers kiddies. This is some good old fashioned science fiction and daddy digs.
Except it isn't. Sure on the surface the story has all the right elements of a great science fiction epic, and it delivers. But this story is more than that. Kass Morgan has truly impressed me, enough so that now I have to read through the damned novel, and there's a lot to be said for actually wanting to read the books after watching them on the screen. The last time that happened to anyone I was still wearing all black and actually had a hairline (it was sexy too). That was when Interview with a Vampire came out and everyone rushed out to read the series.
What makes The 100 unique for me, what makes me smile and want to keep going on the journey playing out in Kass Morgan's mind, is the redemptive quality of her storytelling. Instead of choosing to paint the same bleak picture of a dismal society where humans are despicable creatures who have no hope for salvation, Kass gives us true humanity. I'm sure she surprises her readers and now TV audience with the clever twists and turns her story snakes through the familiar yet altered setting. But for me the real surprise here is her inherently deep insight into the potential of the human condition.
Hey, maybe I'm full of it. Maybe I just found a new show I love. But at the end of the day I'm a busy scrivener spending my waking hours spitting out the books in my head for a big 2015 (shit 3 books coming out next year is no small thing in my world). So if I made the time to plow through her series on Netflix, and being the book snob I am still want to grab a copy of the novel and dig through that as well (do you honestly think I give two flux states that its a YA?) then you know this is worth checking out.
You can find Mrs. Morgan on twitter @kassmorganbooks or just hop into your Netflix and start up the damn series. Tell me what you think? Do you love it, hate it, meh, etc? Thoughts below.
