Firefly - Big Damn Hero: The First Firefly (Firefly, #1)

by Nancy Holder and James Lovegrove

The first original novel from the much-missed Space Western Firefly, produced with Joss Whedon as consulting editor, set in the heart of the series.

A perilous cargo
It should have been a routine job, transporting five crates from the planet of Persephone to a waiting buyer. And Lord knows, Captain Mal Reynolds needs the money if he’s to keep Serenity flying. But the client is Badger, and nothing that involves him is ever straightforward. The crates are full of explosives, which might blow at the slightest movement.

A missing captain
Just before take-off, Mal disappears. As the cargo grows more volatile by the minute, and Alliance cruisers start taking an interest in the tenacious smuggling ship, it’s down to Serenity’s first mate, Zoë, to choose between rescuing her captain and saving her crew.

A vengeful army
Meanwhile, rumours are spreading on Persephone of a band of veteran Browncoat malcontents who will stop at nothing to be revenged on those responsible for their terrible defeat. Is Mal harboring a dark secret from the war? And can the crew of Serenity find him before it’s too late?

• ISBN10: 1785658263
• ISBN13: 9781785658266
• Publish Date: 20 November 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Titan Books Ltd
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 384
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781785658266

Reviews

[kalventure]

It's been almost sixteen years since Firefly was cancelled by FOX, and honestly I'm still not over it. As a person that lives in a reality where Serenity does not exist, I was more than eager to dive back into the black with the crew that started my love for space opera and ragtag crews. But I was also apprehensive: would the series hold up? For me this book was everything that I was looking for and I am so excited for the next books in the series!

Firefly: Big Damn Hero contextually happens in the middle of the short lived tv series, which means that some jobs and events from the eleven episodes are referenced, but the great thing is that a reader new to the Firefly franchise will not feel lost among references. Holder and Lovelace did an excellent job of including references for fans of the tv series without alienating an entirely new audience.

The plot (re)introduces the reader to the cast and the world, and in my opinion does a good job of recalling the necessary worldbuilding framework to slowly bring you into the world. It didn't read like too much information that I already knew as a fan of the 'verse, which I have to commend the authors on. The witty banter between the characters and the sprinkling of Chinese phrases brought me so much enjoyment and nostalgia!

The Serenity crew is on the planet Persephone preparing to take a shipment off-world for Badger, but Mal goes missing during a meeting with a new client. Due to the sensitive nature of Badger's shipment, the crew has to split up between tracking Mal down and delivering the shipment. But don't forget that the Tams are fugitives and the Alliance will stop at nothing to track down River.


Mal goes missing on Alliance Day, and it turns out that his kidnappers are Browncoats who feel betrayed by losing the war. I thought this was such an ingenious way to frame the exposition of more history, especially since so much of Mal and Zoe's identity is in the Battle of Serenity and the cause they fought for. Where Serenity provided "closure" following an abrupt cancellation, this book series is going to provide more transport jobs, more answers about our characters, and more worldbuilding. I love the politics of the Alliance and how the world got to a point where the only two superpowers remaining in the world were the US and China... what led them to abandon the Earth-that-was and take to the sky. (This may be fleshed out more in the movie, but I am not joking when I said that I live in a reality where the movie doesn't exist - I watched it once in 2005.) This television series honestly has some of the most loyal fanbases I have ever seen, and I think this book did us browncoats proud. It wasn't perfect, but I am so happy that it exists.

As much as I loved the worldbuilding and plotline of the book, I would be remiss to not mention the characters. Mal, Zoe, Jayne, and Shepard Book felt 100% true to the characters that we know and love; however, I do think that Simon, River and Kaylee felt a little off. I am not sure what exactly it was but they didn't sound right to me, but that could be related to them getting less "page time" in this book. I look forward to their characters shining in the next book because it is obvious that the authors can nail the character's voices.

As weird as it might sound, I was really happy that Badger is in the book. Mark Sheppard literally was the early 00's actor for so many science fiction shows (Romo Lampkin in Battlestar Galactica, and most notably his long run as Crowley on Supernatural).


I think my favorite character of the book has to be Preacher. I loved getting inside of his head and watching him approach the problems at hand, and I am even more intrigued about his past. Of everything that getting back into this world brings, the answers about Book's life before he became a Shepard kind of top my list.

I honestly loved the plot of this book, it was such a great way to slowly introduce some backstory on the Battle of Serenity, the politics still at play in relation to the Browncoats vs. the Alliance, and the characters backstories. This was an excellent first-in-series start that feels true to the television show without needing to retcon the movie completely. (Because let's be real, I am not interested in anything post-Serenity, and I will never get over the sudden and inevitable betrayal.) I finished reading this book sixteen minutes before 2018 ended, and it was a great way to finish 2018! Overall, this was a wild ride back into the world of Firefly that I sorely missed; I loved learning some of the backstory that Fox robbed us from fifteen years ago and look forward to the next installment! (Which, speaking of the next installment... The Magnificent Nine comes out in March and Jayne and his hat are on the cover and I am ALL ABOUT THE HERO OF CANTON & HIS STATEMENT MAKING HAT.)

~~

10/30/2018: tfw you want a book so badly that you accidentally pre-order it twice

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[Quirky Cat]

Firefly has been a fan favorite for years, and yet it’s never really felt like it got a fair chance. If you followed the drama of how the tv series was released, then you already know all about it. But thanks to the fans love and dedication, the series has continued on in other forms, from movies to graphic novels, and now to novels.
Big Damn Hero is the first novel ever for the Firefly universe. What makes the adaptation even better is the fact that it’s the first of three novels in a series. The second novel, The Magnificent Nine is due out sometime in 2019, while the third novel doesn’t have a name or release date as of yet (though hopefully we’ll hear news soon!).
This novel is set after the events in Firefly’s ‘the Message’ but before the series concluded. I love that they gave us such a specific time period, as not only is it helpful and nice to know, but it sets the tone for this novel.



Warnings first: You’ve seen this a bit before in the tv series, but there’s a bondsman system in Firefly. Which is a nice way of saying that people can buy and own other people. Admittedly it seems like people enter into these deals willingly, but sometimes ‘willingly’ isn’t saying enough (when it’s the choice between life and death, what choice is there?). It’s shown a lot more in this novel. The bondsman is cruel and while they dance around it a little bit, it’s very clear that he beat and raped the woman he held in bond.
I was both excited and intimidated about starting Big Damn Hero. On the one hand I couldn’t wait to read a novel based in one of my favorite universes. On the other hand I knew that the novel had very big shoes to fill…and I was afraid of being let down. Now that I’ve taken the time to read the novel I can safely say that I am very happy with both it and my decision to read it.
Knowing that the novel was set after ‘the Message’ was important, and it resulted with a feeling of melancholy being cast over everything. This worked well, and considering the events that follow it was also oddly relevant. I think they made the right choice by citing that specific episode for the timeline.
There are a lot of perspective shifts in this novel. Mal gets a lot of camera time (so to speak) but Book, Zoe, Jayne, and everyone else get a little bit of time as well. More than that though – all of the characters already read and felt exactly like I expected and hoped. Maybe that was my mind filling in the gaps, I can’t say for certain. I can say that they all seemed to be the cast we know and love.
The novel itself started out a bit slow; but in the slow buildup sort of way. It’s clear that they were trying to take their time building tension, and it worked. I’d actually argue that there were points where too much time was spent building it up. I feel like I hit a point where I just desperately wanted to know why everything was happening like this, and why these other characters were so angry. The flashbacks did help to fill in some points, but I was happy when everything was finally explained.
The conclusion to this novel was a bit on the rough side. It seems like it always goes a certain way when Mal and Zoe are dealing with their past. On the one hand it’s nice for consistency and thematic, but on the other it’s just heartbreaking to see.
I can’t wait for more information to be revealed about the next couple of novels. I’m fully intending on reading both of them, but that’s probably no real surprise. It sounds like James Lovegrove will be on board for writing both of them, which should be good for consistency. And of course I’m assuming/hoping that Joss Whedon will do the editing again.


For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks