jebmo’s posthaven

Ever since Fox canceled its science fiction / Western TV series Firefly in 2003, fans have been clamoring for more stories from the world. Now, we’re going to get another series of adventures in book form.

EW reports that Titan Books will release three new novels, the first of which will hit bookstores in October, with the publisher confirming that franchise creator Joss Whedon will be involved as a consulting editor. In Firefly: Big Damn Hero, written by author Nancy Holder, Captain Malcolm Reynolds (played in the show by Nathan Fillion) is captured by a band of Browncoat veterans. The next book, The Magnificent Nine, will be written by James Lovegrove for a March 2019 release. That story will take the crew of the ship to a desert moon after the ship’s mercenary Jayne Cobb (originated by Adam Baldwin) gets a distress call from an ex. In Tim Lebbon’s Firefly: Generations, the crew discovers an Ark ship that led humanity away from Earth. That book is set for release in October 2019. It's not entirely clear when the books are set in relation to the timeline of the TV series.

Created by Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon, the original Firefly series was set hundreds of years in the future, and it followed the crew of a space freighter called Serenity. Led by Reynolds, the characters would take on any job that was willing to pay them money, while always staying a step ahead of the show’s central authority, the Alliance. After the series ended in 2003, the franchise experienced newfound popularity after it was released on DVD, and was eventually resurrected with the 2005 feature film Serenity. Since the film, Dark Horse Comics has published a handful of comic books.

While Firefly only lasted for a single season, the strength of its large, vocal fanbase helped convince Universal Pictures there was enough interest for a spinoff movie after the show’s cancellation. Serenity was ultimately a theatrical flop, but rumors have circulated ever since that Whedon would bring the world back for a new show, and in this day and age of television revivals there would certainly be a dedicated fanbase ready should it return in some form down the road.

A novel series seems like the next best thing, and to its credit Titan Books has assembled a roster of recognizable genre authors to take on the challenge. Hopefully, the books will preserve the things fans love best about the show. If they’re successful, they could be the first step toward further adventures in Whedon’s world.