🚀 go-pugleaf

#R:ariel:-19900:sri-unix:3800004:000:1090
sri-unix!mclure    Jan 14 09:25:00 1983

The book by James Gunn you're referring to is THE IMMORTALS.  This is
an entertaining tale about a man and his family who have a special
chemical in their blood that greatly slows down cell degeneration and
speeds up healing of wounds.  An old wealthy recluse gets a transfusion
from the immortal (who didn't know he was immortal at the time of the
blood donation) and is temporarily rejuvenated.  Naturally he goes
after the immortal, hoping to breed him, his family, and their
descendents like cattle.

The book was filmed in considerably different form first as a TV-pilot
movie and then as a series called THE IMMORTAL, with Christopher George
as the immortal.  I seem to recall watching a few episodes back in the
early 1970's when it was out.  The show considerably trivialized the
medical slant Gunn wrote the novel in.  In the movie/series there is no
family, just the immortal, and it was essentially a simple chase and
adventure potboiler.  While I'd recommend the book, I don't recommend
the series or movie.  The last few pages of the book are an excellent
denouement.

	Stuart