Big Damn Hero: The First Firefly

I am a patient miser who almost never buys books new, preferring to wait until used copies hit the market. But when I learned that there was a Firefly novel scheduled for release, I preordered and didn't blink. Set during the run of the show, Big Damn Hero delivers as close as we'll get to another episode of the shiniest show that ever ran. At its opening, Mal Reynolds and the good ship Serenity are looking for work, trying to recover their reputation after the Niska disaster, and necessity compels them to take a questionable payload of explosives from the even-more questionable person of Badger. Mal's been asked to see a local businessman about a smaller delivery he can handle on the way, but something goes awry: emerging from an epic bar fight, Zoe and Jayne quickly realized the captain's been kidnapped. With destabilizing explosives in the hold, and Mal in the hands of parties unknown, Zoe and the whole Serenity gang have to work double time to figure out what's gone awry before matters get worse. Big Damn Hero offers a fast-moving plot (a two-day story) and all the flavor of the show that Browncoats should enjoy; Lovegrove has a good ear for the show's peculiar mix of frontier drawls peppered with Chinese expressions, and none of the characters from the ship are overlooked in contributing to the resolution: it's very much an all-hands on deck kind of story, bringing even Book and Inara into the thick of things. The show's humor runs throughout, from Mal's verbal harrying of his captors, to Zoe and Wash's playful banter and Jayne's mix of wiles and tactlessness. River is...well, River, playing a flute to calm the explosives down and providing just the right amount of insight to get the team out of tight corners. There are plenty, too; with so many members of the crew separated in the search for answers. Zoe, never a weak character -- never -- is in fine form hre, hobbling round town on a fractured leg, keeping the crew focused despite River's episodes and Jayne's fits and Kaylee's near panic at the idea of leaving the captain behind. The only fly in the ointment is the questionable backstory about the Alliance and the Independents, as the settling of this system is portrayed simplistically with rich people buying the core planets and leaving the poor people to the frontier planets, and then there being some confusion about the independents "seceding" from the Union...which they were not part of to begin with. That's relatively minor, though, perhaps on the scale of arguing about Klingon head makeup. Big Damn Hero will find an audience, I think, not just because it's a new story in a beloved franchise, but because it also adds to that Firefly universe by fleshing out Mal's past and the people he loved and fought by. I enjoyed it thoroughly and hope this series keeps flying.

I really have to love a movie or TV franchise to follow it into the books and/or comics that continue it's story. Didn't do it for Buffy, didn't do it for The X-Files, didn't do it for Babylon 5...in fact, the only time I ever really did dive deeply into the literary well of a franchise I first enjoyed on the screen was Star Trek and later, Star Wars, and I don't read the novelizations of either much at all any more. But the idea of a Firefly novel, based on a show that we never got enough of in any form in the first place, seemed to be a good place to dip my toe in the water and try again. Is Big Damn Hero perfect? No. It has the humor and the characterizations you'd expect from a new take on the best show in the 'Verse, but there's very little world building going on, because this world is built and the characterization keeps getting hamstrung by the fact that this movie takes place in between the series and the excellent feature film "Serenity," so we know everyone's going to be OK by the end, if for no other reason than we know that creator Joss Whedon is going to wait to kill half of them off in the movie. So, since they can't take the story forward, the authors wisely take the story back to Mal's time as a member of the Browncoats and the friends he had growing up. Mal's reputation, such as it is, is based on his time with the Rebels and in particular, the Battle of Serenity Valley, so when one of his oldest friends calls all that into question and actually puts Mal on trial for betraying a cause that's already been lost years before, it's an interesting spin on a story we thought we knew. But because of where they placed it in the chronology, not much else you'd want to see happen, happens. There's no forward movement between Mal and Inara or Kaylee and Simon, Wash and Zoe are still Wash and Zoe, because all of that gets dealt with in the movie and Jayne is still Jayne and River's secret skills as a psychic ninja and still, well, secret. The book does try to give you a little background on Shepherd Book's secret past, but there was only so much they could do without getting deeper into the mythology than perhaps Mr. Whedon wanted them to go. If you've never sampled Firefly before, this is NOT the place to start. Watch the series first (only 14 episodes, so it's easily bingeable), then the movie and then this book. If you're looking to find out why so many people love the Firefly universe and hate Fox for treating it so badly, you're not going to find it here. However, if you're already a fan, come on in. Big Damn Hero is a nice snack after the larger meals of the series and the movie and after, you can always give the comics a try. Shiny.

I purposely wrote the review now because I’m 30 pages from the end of the book. Up to this point, I have LOVED this book. It is definitely written to feel like the show and you can hear Mal’s wit, Jayne’s gruff sarcasm, and Wash’s goofiness. I think this book would be one episode and the chapters are written like they’re a scene, so some are 18 pages long...some are a quick 2 pages. I’ll come back and update the review based on the ending of the book itself. Right now it gets 5-stars purely because the feel of the book and the enjoyability of the content thus far. Let’s see how they tie it all together... UPDATE: Finished it. Loved it. Good ending. Gave us a little glimpse into Mal’s past and a touch of Book’s. I bought the entire series, so the Magnificent Nine is next, which appears to focus on Jayne. I’m excited!

If you're reading this, or considering reading this book, then you must be a Browncoat. If you are, and you know you can't stop the signal, then read this book. If you don't understand a gorram thing I'm saying, then go watch the sci-fi western series, Firefly. Then watch the follow-up movie, Serenity. Then you'll be a full-fledged Browncoat, and you'll devour this book. It felt like a lost, never-before-aired episode of Firefly. Great backstory on Mal, and a peek behind Book's curtain of mystery. The only downside to finding this book is needing to read all of the other books. Don't stop the signal. Keep flyin'.

Serenity liegt in Persephone um einen neuen Auftrag aufzunehmen: HTX20, ein etwas empfindlicher Sprengstoff für Minenarbeiten. Auf Persephone steht zu dieser Zeit der 'Tag der Allianz' an und in einer Kneipe, in der Mal und die anderen einen Kunden mit mehr Fracht erwarten… hören die ehemaligen Rebellen eine Menge Gerede über die Untaten der 'Unabhängigen' während der Bürgerkriegsjahre. Für die ehemaligen Rebellen bzw. Braunmäntel ein wirkliches Reizthema. Und dann wird Mal von den angeblichen Auftraggebern entführt und von Persephone weggebracht um für vorgebliche Verbrechen zur Rechenschaft gezogen zu werden. Schnell macht sich seine Mannschaft auf die Suche nach ihm, wobei sie gleichzeitig die Tams von den Häschern der Allianz fernhalten müssen Dabei und auch beim Erzählstrang um Mals Entführung erfahren wir eine Menge über Mals und Schäfers Vergangenheit. Firefly- bzw. Serenity-Fans werden natürlich ihre helle Freude an diesem Roman haben, aber ich denke auch Neulinge für diese Franchise werden ihren Spaß daran haben. Empfehlenswert.

This IS Firefly. The writing is bang on--the character voices are perfect. These writers are both clearly enamoured with the show AND great writers in their own right. The combination is fantastic and a long-held dream come true: Season 2. My most sincere thanks to all involved in bringing this series of novels to market. I know you didn't write them for me...but it feels like you did.

Gostei de quase tudo, vc se sente como se estivesse assistindo a série. Personagens carismáticos e plausíveis. A trama eu achei um pouco fraquinha mas entreteve do começo ao fim. Mas o que eu odiei na história foram os flashbacks que se tornam muito presentes no meio para o final da história. Porém é só pula-los que tudo se resolve, vc não vai perder nada fazendo isso.

If, like me, you are appalled at the nonsense that Greg Pak has been writing for Boom! Studio's Firefly comic, buy this novel! I had a great time reading Big Damn Hero, I don't think the smile left my face while this book was in my hands and these characters walked back into my life like old friends. I think the author's biggest triumph is how well he's captured the voices of these characters. It's always a difficult task, particularly when characters have as distinctive a manner of speech as Whedon's, but James Lovegrove absolutely nails it (Badger's in particular, Bravo!). There wasn't a line of dialogue that missed the beat. (For how not to do it, look at literally any page of Boom!'s rubbish). The story is a bit derivative hitting similar beats as 'Safe' and 'War Stories' but I truly I don't mind; I want these novels to feel like stepping back into the show. Having said that the novel takes the brave decision to hugely expand on Mal's backstory in a series of flashbacks. In my opinion the author was very successful; I could believe in the teenage Mal and it was interesting to see into the mind of the man before he decides to enlist with the Browncoats. The continuity is good, the story is set between 'The Message' and 'Heart of Gold' which is an excellent choice as Inara hasn't decided to leave the ship but the characters are very familiar to one another. I really liked that every episode prior to 'Heart of Gold' got a nod and even events from 'The Shepherd's Tale' graphic novel are referenced. These nods convinced me that James Lovegrove is a real fan of the show and a safe pair of hands to write these novels.

I love this book! It is very well written and true to the show. It is just like watching an episode of Firefly. This book is full of adventure and humor and all the wonderful characters from Firefly. I could not put this book down. This is a must read for any Firefly fan.