Few things rankle more than a great show being cancelled; Dead Like Me, Veronica Mars, Deadwood (that one hurt), were all cut down in their prime after just a few seasons. What’s infinitely worse is a great show that was never given a real shot. Firefly is the poster boy for that category.
Created by wunderkind, Joss Whedon, Firefly ran on the FOX network from September to December 2002. Out of chronological order. So out of order in fact that the pilot – which pedants will insist should be shown first – was aired as the final episode of FOX’s original run. Three episodes, The Message, Trash, and Heart of Gold didn’t see the light of day until they were aired on the Sci-Fi Channel in 2005, a full three years after its cancellation.
Monica Valentinelli’s latest book, Firefly Encyclopedia, is a tribute to a show that, despite its mishandling and cancellation by FOX, found a fanbase so dedicated and motivated, they managed to do the impossible, and in 2005 Serenity hit the big screen and fans were granted some small degree of closure. Firefly Encyclopedia covers all aspects of the verse to a greater or lesser degree, kicking off with the Earth-That-Was, going into some detail of the sociopolitical tensions and reasons for the devastation and humanities migration away. Following this entry, Firefly Encyclopedia spends 80 gorram pages breaking down the whole saga from pilot to movie. It’s well written and entertaining, but at a third of the book’s overall page count and not really offering any new information, we can’t help but think this was perhaps overkill, especially when you consider the audience for this are almost certainly very familiar with the narrative.
The book continues with fun crew and cast bios, including the tenth crew member, The Serenity herself, represented with early sketches, models and floorplans. As with all Whedon’s shows, despite its short run, Firefly had a very strong rogues gallery, and all are presented here from the creepy, bestial reavers to psychopathic Adelai Niska and philosophical Jubal Early along with their weapons of choice and early character sketches. In fact, there are character sketches throughout, along with some great interviews and prop photos, but the omission of a glossary sometimes makes finding something specific difficult.
While not without fault and decidedly more a companion, Firefly Encyclopedia is a great looking, well presented tome and while most of its information can be found elsewhere, it’s great to have it collected and curated. We just wish it went a little deeper.
FIREFLY ENCYCLOPEDIA | AUTHOR: MONICA VALENTINELLI | PUBLISHER: TITAN BOOKS | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
