Kurt R.A. Giambastiani

As regular readers know, I’m a Browncoat for life. However, I am not the sort of über-fan who will buy anything they slap a “Firefly” logo on. Yes, I have Firefly-related t-shirts, a couple of “behind the scenes” books, and on the back of my car there is an “I aim to misbehave” sticker, but I’ve passed on most of the comic books, the graphic novels, and other paraphernalia that’s out there vying for my Browncoat credits.

A series of novels, though? Sign me up.

The Magnificent Nine is the second installment in the new Firefly novel series, penned by James Lovegrove, who also gave us the first in the series (a review of which can be found here.) I was underwhelmed by Lovegrove’s first title, but I enjoyed the book despite its flaws.

Alas, this title also has its flaws, some of them serious.

But first, what’s good . . .

As he did with Big Damn Hero, Lovegrove successfully avoids the annoying Wild West patois while still keeping the unexpected turns of phrase that made the original Firefly unique. And though the plot is a rather old chestnut—save an outpost from marauding gangs—the book concentrates on a hefty backstory involving Jayne Cobb, a definitely under-served character in the Firefly ‘verse. This, in particular, makes the book worth reading for Firefly fans, but I’m not sure if it’s enough for newcomers, especially when one considers the not-so-good aspects of the book.

And now, the not-so-good . . .

As with Lovegrove’s previous book in the series, he’s allowed very questionable character actions. There are just too many contrived moments where characters—be it our somewhat noble crew or their antagonists—do not act at maximum capacity. They make decisions that are either sub-optimal or plain old foolish, such as when the big, bad boss agrees to a man-to-man combat when he’s got our heroes outnumbered ten-to-one. Why would he do that? In another example, the author allows Zoë, in the middle of a climactic gunfight, to take a few moments to wax rhapsodical about her relationship with Wash. Not only do I have a problem with Zoë waxing rhapsodical at any time, about anything, she’s certainly too much a soldier to give up focus at such a critical point.

In short, the main plot is a collection of heroic clichés, facilitated by lazy plot devices, in support of much more interesting secondary plot and backstory revelations.

My second main gripe with this book has to do with world-building, and yes, some are nit-picky, but not all.

I accept that, in Firefly’s far future, set light years and centuries distant from this world we inhabit today, Mal and his crew still have strawberries and horses, but for my money Lovegrove relies too much on terms and objects from the old Earth-That-Was. Such as likening a set of raised bumps to Braille lettering. Such as using the term “Joshua tree” when referring to local flora. These are specific to us, here and now, on Earth, and while it’s conceivable that Braille would still be used and get taken out to a new planetary system, who’s going to bring a Joshua tree?

The non-nit-picky stuff, though, really rankled me. The action takes place on Thetis, an incredibly arid planet with very little flora and no rainfall to speak of. We’re not talking an arid section of the planet; we’re talking the whole rutting thing, dry as a bone, where water from underground aquifers is the only source of moisture. And yet, the people who inhabit this world still have horses. Not only horses, but hay, up in a loft in the stable. Anyone care to guess how much water a horse needs per day? (Five to ten gallons.) And hay? Where is it grown? Not on-world, that’s for sure, which means that these poor itinerant townsfolk will have to import hay from off-world. Now, on a world where sunlight is abundant, would they really have horses, rather than solar-charged mechanicals? Again, just plain sloppy.

In the end, I was able to disregard these issues, skim over the potholes in the plot, and have a bit of fun with this quick read. However, I cannot recommend it to anyone who is not a Browncoat for life.

The next book in the series has a different author, so I’m crossing my fingers that it will be a better overall experience.

k