FIREFLY: BIG DAMN HERO by James Lovegrove – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Firefly: Big Damn Hero by James Lovegrove, Nancy Holder
Series: Firefly #1
Published by Titan Books on November 20 2019
Genres: Adult, Science fiction
Pages: 384
Format: Finished hardcover
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: An outstanding tie-in to the beloved TV series, this book is shiny in every way possible.

“I have a problem with authority,” Mal said, “not least when said authority is a big, fat, corrupt lawman with poor personal hygiene and a face that’d give a moose nightmares.”

Bundy strode down the front steps and sauntered over to Mal, thrusting his face up close.

“Say that again, boy,” he growled.

“Did I mention bad breath too?” Mal said. “Because seriously, Sheriff, would it kill you to try a mint every once in a while?”

This book set my Firefly-loving heart aflutter! I had so much fun with this first installment in what I hope turns out to be a long series set in one of Joss Whedon’s best franchises. For those of you who aren’t in the know, Firefly only lasted for eleven episodes before being yanked from Fox network due to lack of popularity, but it ended up with a huge fan base on DVD, and best of all, it gave us the incomparable Nathan Fillion. Fans of the TV show will be very happy with James Lovegrove’s foray into the world of Firefly. I was thrilled at how authentic most of the characters’ dialog sounded, and indeed, I gleefully read the book with the voices of Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Adam Baldwin, Ron Glass and the others playing out in my head. Lovegrove jumps right into the story with very little explanation on the background of the world, so readers who aren’t familiar with the show will probably not enjoy this as much as I did.

The story starts out on the planet Persephone, where Mal and his crew have decided to take on a couple of transport jobs. One of them appears fairly easy, but when they find out they will be transporting some highly dangerous explosives, the crew wants nothing more than to finish up the job as quickly as possible and get the explosives off the ship. But Mal’s caught wind of another job, and as the crew are hard pressed for coin, he decides to check it out. He, Zoë and Jayne head to a sketchy tavern called Taggart’s to meet Hunter Covington, but it turns out it’s all a set-up, and Mal is snatched from under Zoë’s and Jayne’s noses. Someone from Mal’s past has a grudge to settle, and it doesn’t look good for Mal.

As Zoë and Jayne start searching for their missing Captain, and Shepherd Book dives into his own investigation, Mal has been manhandled onto a shuttle, headed off to who-knows-where.  Meanwhile back on Serenity, Wash gets wind of an Alliance ship headed their way, which can only mean one thing: they are probably looking for fugitives River and Simon Tam, who have been hiding from the Alliance on board Serenity. Add in the fact that the explosives they’re carrying are starting to heat up, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.

The story bounces around from character to character, so we get into everyone’s head at some point, which was a lot of fun. I absolutely loved reading about Mal, who has always been my favorite character in the series. He’s such a cool customer, and even as he’s being kidnapped and roughed up, he uses his particular brand of wit and charm to stay focused while he tries to figure out what the hell is going on. Lovegrove uses the backstory of the war between the Alliance and the Browncoats to build on his plot, which worked really well. The other characters made me smile too. River is suitably nuts (I won’t go into her backstory, but fans will understand!), Zoe is totally kickass, Jayne is still a bumbling but dangerous hick with a trigger finger, and Wash still has his dinosaur collection set up in the cockpit of the ship. Lovegrove even throws in Chinese phrases just like in the TV show, which is one of the elements that makes this world so unique.

Although most of the characters’ voices were spot-on, I did have some issues with a couple of them. Now, you have to understand that I have watched Firefly at least twenty times, and I am a HUGE fun of the show. So I know each character inside and out. When I say a particular character’s dialog didn’t feel completely right to me, it’s because I’m comparing it to the character on the TV show, and I know how it should sound. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I am extremely picky! In particular, I had some issues with River, Kaylee and Simon. And the reason for that is most likely that they aren’t in the story much, so they don’t really get a chance to shine. Kaylee was everyone’s sweetheart on the show, friendly, upbeat and as sweet and loyal as she could be, but I felt like her dialog was almost too sweet and innocent. Likewise, the dialog of brother and sister fugitives Simon and River Tam didn’t feel quite right to me, and their side story about the Alliance looking for them almost felt tacked on, as though the author needed to throw that bit of information in even though it has nothing to do with the plot.

But Lovegrove nails the voices of Mal, Zoë, Jayne and Book. He also does a bang-up job with pacing. There is a lot going on in this story, and with a large cast of nine main characters and lots of secondary ones, Lovegrove has his job cut out for him, keeping everything straight and weaving together all the different parts and pieces of the story. The main event—Mal being kidnapped and the crew of Serenity trying to find and save him before it’s too late—is interspersed with other side stories that all lead up to finding Mal. Because Mal is taken in the beginning of the story, I thought the author did a great job ramping up the tension. The novel format is much different from a 42 minute television show, since Lovegrove had the luxury of more time to develop his story, and yet the construction of Big Damn Hero felt very cinematic indeed.

One advantage to a novel-length story is that the author is able to go into more depth with his characters’ backstories. I was especially thrilled to learn more about Mal’s early, teenage years. We’re introduced to teen Mal and his friends, who called themselves the Four Amigos, and the events that led up to Mal’s kidnapping. These flashbacks are scattered throughout the story and really added to my overall enjoyment. We also learn a little more about Shepherd Book (a Shepherd is like a priest in this world) and his mysterious past. Whedon always hinted that there’s much more to Book than meets the eye, but he never really dug deep into his life. I’m hoping this series will go even further with this in future installments.

Overall, this book was a fantastic trip down memory lane, and it has not only made me anxious to read the next book in the series (coming out in March!), but it’s made me realize it’s time for another Firefly binge-watch! Fans, rejoice! And get a copy of this book as soon as you can.

Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.