Firefly: Magnificent Nine

The Firefly Series, Book 2

By: James Lovegrove

Narrated by: James Anderson Foster

Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's Summary

The second original novel from the much-missed Space Western Firefly, produced with Joss Whedon as consulting editor, set between the TV series and the movie Serenity

A cosmic cry for help

Captain Mal Reynolds is in a fix. He’d like nothing more than to find honest smuggling work that stays under the Alliance’s radar and keeps the good ship Serenity in the sky. But when an old flame of Jayne Cobb’s sends a desperate plea across the galaxy, his crew has other ideas.

A cutthroat bandit

On the arid, far-flung world of Thetis, the terrifying Elias Vandal is threatening to overrun the town of Coogan’s Bluff with his trigger-happy army. He wants control of the only thing standing between its people and dustbowl ruin: their water supply.

The magnificent nine

When the crew land at the hardscrabble desert outpost, they discover two things: a savage outlaw gang who will stop at nothing to get what they want, and that Jayne’s former girlfriend, Temperance, is single-handedly raising a teenage daughter, born less than a year after she and Jayne parted ways. A daughter by the name of Jane McCloud....

©2019 James Lovegrove (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

A must for browncoat fans

A lot more story to help ease the ending of the tv show and it has the feel of it too

Love Firefly?

This book reads exactly like a Firefly episode. The narrator doesn't try to sound like the actors with the dialogue; but differentiates the voices enough that allows you to picture them in your head. The only thing I find distracting is that the author seems to have a checklist of saying or reminders from the TV series. Otherwise the story is very enjoyable for anyone who enjoyed and misses the Firefly 'Verse.

could not even finish

I LOVED the series tried hard on first book, this is horrible. so bad I couldn't finish

better than the 1st

I hope the make more, to fill in the gap between the show and the movie. the narrator does great. but having the original cast read it would be awesome!

A Real Treat for Firefly Fans

If you loved the Firefly series, you'll enjoy this. The whole gang is involved in another adventure, only this time the story revolves around Jayne, and we discover a side of him never before revealed. The writing is pitch-perfect, and the reading keeps the characters as quirky and distinct as they were on the screen. You won't regret your time spent with these old friends.

Another Firefly Adventure

The story was entertaining and the characters came to life in my mind. I enjoyed a very bit of it.

Go Serenity

I am a HUGE fan of the firefly so I am biased towards loving this series. I was a little worried that the narrator wouldn't get the tone right but he was great and got the little mannerisms of the characters spot on.

another great book in the series

another great prompt with crew of serenity. man they called Jane Cobb is not my favorite character but I enjoy him for who he is yeah he might turn you in for money but he also might save you at the last second. I sure do miss this group

A welcome return trip to the verse we all adore!

I was skeptical when I found these books but when I saw that Joss had been a contributing editor all doubts flew away and everything was shiny! It’s wonderful! I will definitely be following the series! The The narrator has a really great voice for this!

spot on mal

this narrator has a great Mal voice. only issue with the book is the confusion between character names.

Wonderful

Decent paced and full of life. A must read for Firefly fans. Can't wait to read the next

Lots of fun

Lots of fun in the Firefly vein. More exposition than an hour of TV could ever give, so it’s a little like a mini series version of a single episode. If you’re not already sold on Firefly, watch the series first. This book appears somewhere between the series and the Serenity film.

A must for Firefly lovers..

This book was an incredible ride with the people we know and love. The story no doubt has been done before in similar ways, but this didn't detract from the audio or text story presented here.. the character building is solid, and each Firefly character is well voiced from the start. Bittersweet that it's ended in mainstream media, but there is legs for Firefly/Serenity to continue in books if the calibre is this high. thank you.

The fly, flying once again!

A much missed show, brought to life every well indeed! A third one please, perhaps leading us up to the film. would make these a very good trilogy!

Fantastic

Please make more! This and the previous book are both superb in story and in performance. The way the voice actor finely recreates each memorable character's subtle speech styles is so immersive. These books are by far the most shiny thing 'Firefly' since it was on the screen.

Keep flying

If you like the TV show then you will like this great story and excellent characters I love it

Another chapter in the Verse

Second in the novel series, building well in the universe and dropping enough lines to make any fan jump at what they know is in store for these characters down the line. Always difficult dropping stories in between existing material but finding out what lead to the start of the Serenity movie is really interesting. Brilliantly brought to life again by Foster, a joy to listen too.

well read, brilliant continuation

well read and a brilliant continuation of the Firefly verse, well recommended for fans of the series

Just like old times...

An excellent story, which captures the warmth, spirit and humour of the original characters and TV series. As was mentioned by another reviewer, it only makes me miss the cast and series more. if you are a fan of Firefly or Serenity, you won't be disappointed by this book. Laugh out loud moments, mingled perfectly with sadness. Epic Firefly.

An old flame creates a rescue mission!

Firefly: The Magnificent Nine by James Lovegrove Informational Note: I am reviewing this audiobook release completely of my own free will. However I have had some previous contact with the narrator of this audiobook prior to my reviews of the Firefly book series as a whole and as such must be honest with my readers Hello again to my readers! Now if I remember correctly last time I promised you all a return to Firefly? A return to the ‘Verse’? It’s been quite some time since the release of Big Damn Hero so why not have some good old fashioned space western fun! For those of you who need a slight refresher, Firefly was an American space western TV show which followed the misadventures and chaotic lives of the crew of the Firefly class transport, luggage and generally all purpose vessel known as Serenity. She was captained by Malcolm ‘Mal’ Reynolds and had quite the rag-tag crew. Unfortunately because American companies are sometimes ridiculous the show only lasted one television series before being unceremoniously cancelled. The show did get a film sequel which was thankfully received but there were no official continuations beyond that point. The book series is one of a decent handful of modern Firefly related projects and has a fairly heavy level of involvement from the original television crew including creator Joss Whedon and writers and producers such as Nancy Holder and Tim Lebbon. The plot of The Magnificent Nine is as follows: The crew of the Serenity are experiencing money troubles. Again. The ship herself is in desperate need of new parts to the consternation of ship mechanic Kaylee, running low on medical supplies despite medic Simon Tam’s best efforts and Mal is searching for some good paying work. Unfortunately the planet Thetis has certain other ideas. On the planet Thetis lives a Temperance McCloud…an old friend of Jayne Cobb…and Thetis is having bandit troubles with a unsavoury Elias Vandal and his Scourers. Out of desperation Temperance reaches out to Jayne and when the crew of the Serenity land on the dustbowl to protect the inhabitants of one small town, they meet Temperance…and her daughter Jane McCloud. This story is quite the page turner for Firefly fans! (Affectionately known as Browncoats.) Very obviously inspired by The Magnificent Seven and Seven Samurai the book is very entertainingly written by Lovegrove. All the major characters are written very convincingly with their reactions to events coming across as completely genuine especially with regards to Jayne. Just as Big Damn Hero was very much Mal’s character piece, Magnificent is the same for Jayne. As things gradually become more and more serious over time you feel yourself getting pulled into the character’s mindsets. Regardless if they wait to stay and fight, to break certain captainly orders, or to fly like a leaf on the wind. The same can also be said for the various book original characters who feel very true to Firefly as it was in its TV days This book – and I believe the entire series of books – is set after the television series but before the events of the movie. There are multiple references throughout to events in the show such as the Heart Of Gold ‘incident’, the little ditty known as Hero of Canton and Mal’s duelling history to name just a few examples. As this may indicate, the series is very much written for and aimed at an audience of already existing fans. As such although I highly enjoyed the book (to the extent that the ending made me cry! Congratulations Misters Lovegrove and Foster!) I would not recommend it unless you’ve already watched or could be interested in watching the television series (which I do think would be a worthwhile time investment with the current lockdown!) The narrator of this audiobook is a James Anderson Foster who performs his duties very well. Between the combination of Lovegrove’s already excellent writing and Foster’s narration style which captures the western adventure vibe of Firefly, the audiobook comes across as a true return of the show. Several characters sound like they came out of the television. He also does a brilliant job of making the threat of Elias Vandal particularly clear. He is NOT the kind of man you want to run into! The only criticism I have for the audiobook – and this is very much something which is on a person by person basis so it may just be me – is that the voices for Jane McCloud and River Tam, good old moonbrained River Tam, are just slightly too similar. You can still separate them and the audiobook is very enjoyable but it is something I noticed over time. Even still though it’s very much a personal nitpick over a very enjoyable story. In my personal opinion Magnificent Nine is superior to Big Damn Hero which I also enjoyed immensely. In conclusion I highly recommend both The Magnificent Nine and Firefly overall as a series. I had a great deal of fun going back out into the black and experiencing life aboard Serenity once again. The audiobook of book three in the series The Ghost Machine was originally due for release at the end of April but has been pushed back to mid June. Hopefully these books and their audio versions do well so we can get some more adventures! Now if you’ll forgive me, before I start singing Hero Of Canton it is time for me to go. Sayonara! Nephrite