3.82 AVERAGE


I'm popping the rest of the Firefly book tie-ins to my 'want to read' list, as these have been scratching my itch something great.

While in [b:The Ghost Machine|49249066|The Ghost Machine (Firefly, #3)|James Lovegrove|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1563500889l/49249066._SX50_SY75_.jpg|72181881] I lamented the lack of the crew interacting with one another, this had more of it. Yes, the crew did pair off when searching the ship (Mal and Zoe, Kaylee and Jayne- the latter of which was quite fun, I love seeing these two interact), but they were still interacting with one another a bit. Wash also got some time in the limelight, and I liked the handful of scenes we had with him talking to Simon and Jayne.

It still felt a little scattered in parts, but I loved the exploration of how the Firefly 'verse responds to Earth-That-Was, and how distant the world is now. Even the snippet of how things have changed was great. I'd like more of this.

The growth of the Alliance and the Hands of Blue pair being a creation in of... itself? Themselves? The two of them being referred to as we was great.

How I miss this show. And though I'm not a person who longs for a Firefly revival (it's been too long now), I do adore how its being continued like this.

"Generations" war wieder eine wunderschöne Rückkehr in das Firefly-Universum und passte thematisch super rein. Ich finde ja, dass diese Bücher echt jeweils wie eine neue Episode der Serie wirken: jemand steht mehr im Mittelpunkt als andere, deshalb wechseln die POV und wer überhaupt POV wird in dem Buch. Hier fehlen Inara und Book, die sich relativ am Anfang mit dem Shuttle zu eigenen Aufträgen aufmachen, so dass die Crew für das Buch etwas kleiner wird.

Das einzige, was ich insgesamt schade finde: da die Bücher zwischen Serie und Film spielen, sind den Autor*innen die Hände gebunden, was zwischenmenschliche Weiterentwicklung angeht. Mal und Inara können nie ein Paar werden (außer in Halluzinationen wie im vorherigen Teil), Kaylee und Simon sich nie richtig aussprechen und zusammenkommen, etc etc.

In Generations lernt River jedoch einiges über ihre Vergangenheit - und mögliche Zukunft. Denn sie ist die einzige, die eine spezielle Sternenkarte lesen kann, die Mal beim Glücksspiel gewinnt. In der Annahme, auf eines der alten Generationenschiffe zu treffen, die damals die Erde verließen, macht sich die Crew auf, da es keinen anderen bezahlten Job gibt. Da ist die Aussicht, unvergleichlich wertvolle Gegenstände aus der Geschichte zu bergen, noch die beste. Doch auf dem Schiff wartet etwas ganz anderes, das die Allianz vor den Menschen verbergen will ...

Es war spannend. Es war lehrreich. Es hat neue Aspekte hervorgebracht. Und es hat mir beim Lesen die ganze Zeit dieses herrlich warme Gefühl gegeben, wieder Zeit mit meinen Lieblingscharakteren zu verbringen und allein dafür war das Buch eines meiner Highlights 2023.

Perfect for when I’m feeling sorry for myself and in need of some old familiar friends and a little space western.

Cap’n Reynolds comes across a treasure map which no one can quite decode, until of course genius-psychotic River Tam takes a look and guides the team into the deep dark. There in an abandoned historical wreck the team finds a little more than they bargained for. Jayne fires big guns. Wash plays with dinosaurs. Zoe gives Mal grief. Kaylee says “Shiny” a lot. Classic browncoat stuff.

I love these novelisations which extend the firefly/serenity story. Well worth a read for fans of the show and those adventure & sci-fi lovers who never got to experience the original
adventurous dark funny lighthearted reflective tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
serena2286's profile picture

serena2286's review

4.0
adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I am (and probably always will be) a little biased toward anything Firefly.
I have so much love for these characters and the 'Verse they belong to, that no matter the quality of the story, I am predisposed to enjoy it at least a little. Luckily with this series of Firefly novels, whomever the author, the quality is always high and there is always some element that hooks me and keeps me enjoying my time with it.

*Spoiler-Free*

In Generations, the crew of Serenity find themselves a space chart, and coordinates to a potential treasure trove of old "Earth-That-Was" loot - only what they find, probably predictably, isn't what they are expecting.
I'll admit, it's not the most imaginative premise, but it's engaging enough and it gives the characters a chance to really be themselves. Much like with Lovegrove's work with them in these books, the characters are by far the strongest element. As with most of the episodes of the show, not all characters are present here, both Shepherd Book and Inara sit this one out.
But everyone else is present and my gosh do they come alive. Kaylee and Jayne are paired up during a large portion of the book, including the climax, and having those two interact more together is fantastic. They are definitely a pair of characters that weren't given enough of a relationship on-screen before the show was scrapped.
River plays arguably the biggest role in this book. Without wanting to spoil anything, we get more information as to her history and experience at the Institute and with the creepy fellas with "blue hands", we come to understand her psychology a bit better and are given some frame of reference regarding her powers and how she uses them.
Take from that what you will.

But yes, the story has plenty of action, great pacing and a host of the trademark wholesome moments we all know and love from this series. Generations leans much harder into the Sci-Fi side of Firefly's DNA, setting it apart from the Western inspired/styled stories we see more frequently from Serenity and her crew.

3.5 stars, rounded up.

I am looking forward to the next book in the series, Life Signs!

-

Thank you for reading my review.
There is still plenty of Firefly out there for me to consume, both prose and graphic. I'm not done with the 'Verse yet, not by a long shot!
madisonreadsbooks's profile picture

madisonreadsbooks's review

5.0
adventurous fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Supplemental books in a well known universe set before explicitly cannon events are extremely challenging to write. You can't exactly show significant character growth, because that would affect what we saw later in the movie. Plus it's difficult to tell a Big Important story because that wouldn't make sense for where our favorite misfits end up. Tim Lebbon did a good job threading the needle for the first challenge by pairing Jayne and Kaylee and exploring that partnership, which is a combination we don't get to see elsewhere. When it came to telling a Big Important story, though, things get a little weirder. Canon seems to indicate that the Hands of Blue were two specific individuals, not two among many which this story would imply. Further, it's difficult to process the ramifications of the entity being hidden on the edge of the 'Verse in the context of the rest of what we know about the series.

And, yes, not having Inara or Book present made the story feel less enjoyable overall.
On the bright side, James Anderson Foster did the audio version for this, and he does such a great job with the character voices.
I think in general I prefer James Lovegrove's writing style, but this book was still better than The Ghost Machine.

4 stars. Easily the best book in the series so far. I thought this was probably the closest to the feeling of an episode of the show of the bunch. The stakes were high. I loved the plot of this one. It was intense and action packed but still had its humor.

I loved that the crew were together and shared equal amounts of time. Usually, the books follows primarily like one or two of the characters whereas this one we followed the whole crew which was fun. Also, I have to give credit where it’s due; I think the author did a pretty good job with River’s character here. I’ve said it before that she is a tough character to get right and in the other books she doesn’t feel as true to herself but here I thought she was pretty spot on. Kudos to the author.

I’m very interested in book 5 (this book was published after book 4, which I’ve already read) since it follows my girl Inara and the plot sounds like it has a lot of potential to be something really awesome.

Heyyy it’s alright!

I think novels are the way forward for the firefly franchise - they offer a scope and a vision that can’t can’t be paid for on a television budget so this novel feels like a sized up version of the show. Also the characters are charming and fun and it’s a real joy getting to look inside their perspectives. They feel like friends.

Tim Lebbon really plays around with perspective and interior monologue to give variety and to add weight to his plot. The plots just pretty average and feels like a mid-season episode so three stars from me!