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Serenity: A Novel (Pocket Star Books Media Tie-In) [Mass Market Paperback]

Keith R. A. DeCandido (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Book Description

Publication Date: 25 Nov 2005 | Series: Pocket Star Books Media Tie-In
Five hundred years in the future, Captain Mal Reynolds, a hardened war veteran (on the losing side), ekes out a living pulling off small crimes and transport-for-hire aboard his ship, "Serenity." He leads a small, eclectic crew who are the closest thing he has left to family -- squabbling, insubordinate, and undyingly loyal.

When Mal takes on two new passengers -- a young doctor named Simon and his unstable, telepathic sister, River -- he gets much more than he bargained for. The pair are fugitives from a coalition that dominates the universe with unlimited wealth and power -- and that will stop at nothing to control River and her abilities. The crew of mercenaries, used to skimming the outskirts of the galaxy unnoticed, soon find themselves caught between the unstoppable military force of the Universal Alliance and the cannibalistic fury of the Reavers, savages who roam the very edge of space. Caught up in the fight to stay alive, they don't yet realize that their greatest danger may be on board "Serenity" herself....

Product details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 260 pages
  • Publisher: Pocket Star; 1st Pocket Books Pbk. Ed edition (25 Nov 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1416507558
  • ISBN-13: 978-1416507550
  • Product Dimensions: 17 x 10.4 x 2.5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 845,384 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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About the Author

Keith R.A. Decandido is a top genre author whose tie-in novels for Pocket include several Star Trek titles across all series as well as Buffy the Vampire Slayer novelizations. He is also known for his Star Trek: The Next Generation comicbook miniseries Perchance to Dream, and is the editor of several science-fiction and fantasy anthologies. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars A better than average tie-in to the film 20 Oct 2005
By Mr. Geek
Format:Mass Market Paperback
It is worth noting that by its very nature, a film tie-in is usually inferior to the film itself, practically the script turned into a novel, and usually very dependant on the reader having seen the film.

However, I was pleasantly suprised with this Serenity novel. Although it does follow essentially the same story as the film, it also adds in scenes cut from the final version of the movie and a few prelude chapters which definitely help to set up the premise of the film, which does help make the book accessible without having seen the film.

The author, Keith R. A. DeCandido, does an admirable job of capturing all of the characters in the film, and is evidently a Firefly fan as there are several references to events from the TV series. He also uses the book as a chance to view events in the film from a different perspective, which makes for an interesting read.

Joss Whedon has said that Serenity is essentially Mal's story as seen through River, and several times in the novel we may see things from her eyes as she interacts with the other characters, which can add some extra depth to the story.

However, I do feel that this book is more for fans of Serenity than literature lovers, and to be honest seeing the film would be preferable to reading the book in order to ensure none of the major plot details are spoiled. I do think anyone who enjoyed Serenity should give it a go, although the Serenity Official Visual Companion is probably the first related book you should consider buying.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Not just a novelization 12 Aug 2009
By M_rose
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Not only is this a spot-on novelization of the Serenity movie, it is a homage to the Firefly series. DeCandido makes reference to events from throughout the series, adding depth and flavour to the Serenity storyline. He knows and understands the characters and Whedonesque turns of phrase and it shows. Highly recommended.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com: 3.5 out of 5 stars  76 reviews
168 of 171 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars An overly-straightforward adaptation of the screenplay 14 Sep 2005
By David C. Hill - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A decent, but almost blandly faithful, rendition of the screenplay in novel form. For three-quarters of the book, the only differences between the two are the insertion here of scenes (from the TV show) of the Battle of Serenity Valley, and Simon trying to convince his parents that something is wrong with River, and even that is played with very straightforwardly.

The problem is, with an adaptation of a movie like this, what the fans (or even the interested) want is something that provides some extra depth, added details, background from Joss translated into novel form, whatever. Instead, we get something that neither adds to nor detracts from the movie -- the screenplay without the visuals, which ends up making it fairly ho-hum. Even in the last quarter, when we begin to get some perspective work, the book remains fairly unilluminating.

My recommendation? Purchase "Serenity: The Official Visual Guide" -- and get both the screenplay *and* copious photos *and* notes from Joss.
44 of 47 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Tragic 3 Jan 2006
By V. Patel - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
DeCandido ignores characters' depth from the series and makes their motivations seem juvenile. He takes us into River's mind only to tell us she's bored. Bored of what? Bored of the ever-present Alliance threat? Bored of the guilt that her brother gave up his life to save hers? River the bored school girl that's way ahead of her classmates is understandable. But, River the bored psychic fugitive privy to a secret that can change the 'Verse is not understandable. I flung the book when River repeatedly kept thinking that Simon is "too stupid to live."

He makes Inara seem like a school girl. Her decision to leave Serenity at the end of Firefly was something I would consider character defining; something she did despite of and because of her feelings for Mal. But, in the book, she just remembers leaving as doing something stupid -- there is no hint of WHY she left and what it meant for her. There is no depth.

To have a script that oozes personality with every word turned into a mind-numbing slog is a tragedy.

It's like reading a lazy adaptation of the script with some padding thrown in to make it long enough to be a novel. There is just no subtlety. Everything is either laid out bare or made dramatically mysterious. The script's stage directions offer more insight than this novel. I don't recommend purchasing it except to re-fuel your "holy crap, someone got paid to write this?" reserves.

Maybe it's not entirely his fault, though. Just as book-to-movie adaptations are usually bad, maybe the reverse is also true. The actors and the script really spoiled me.

By the way, if you want indepth essays on the series, lookup _Finding Serenity_.
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Strange reflections on a masterpiece 1 Oct 2006
By G. Varghese - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Need to emphasize that I LOVE the Serenity/Firefly 'verse. One of the biggest tragedies of modern television is how a unique, fresh and special series got cancelled by Fox, and then (in my opinion) the movie gets launched with an unfounded belief that underground "buzz" would launch this movie to huge sales. So, with that said - what I didn't like about this book was the author's interpretations on how the characters on Firefly think and are perceived. For example, in the book everyone hates Jayne. But, being a fan, I don't think it's that straight-forward. Like this, there's something or the other that I just don't believe was Whedon's intent when he created the characters. All in all, this is a pretty good movie novelization, with great detail and nice job relating incidents in the movie with the TV series. But, really should have been co-written with Josh Whedon to be 5 stars.
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