Firefly: The Official Companion

There aren’t too many discerning sci-fi fans who don’t like FIREFLY and its movie spin-off SERENITY. With its great cast of characters and fantastic scripts written/directed and overseen by über-geek genius Joss Whedon, it has become possibly the most successful and popular cancelled TV series in recent years, if not ever. The whole concept of a sci-fi western in space was bound to get some resistance from audiences and bean-counting TV execs. After the success of Buffy and Angel, FIREFLY seemed like a huge departure that alienated Whedon’s existing fanbase. It also didn’t help when the studio/networks showed the initial episodes out of sequence, creating further confusion to the new audiences. However, the fans soon recognised the quality of the writing and acting and bought the whole conceit behind the show, but it disappeared from the airwaves before it was given a chance to get established.

Thanks to DVD and the enthusiasm of its growing fanbase FIREFLY started to get the recognition it deserved, and to date it has sold over 500,000 copies. For fans, having the DVD was not enough and their enthusiasm for the characters is what convinced Universal to greenlight the SERENITY movie. Now fans of the FIREFLY series have a long overdue companion book (which does not mean that the ship’s priest has changed his professional calling).

Titan Books, publishers of the excellent Serenity: The Official Visual Companion have just published another one of their fantastic official companions; Firefly: The Official Companion Volume 1. This is full-colour book that covers the first six episodes of the series, with annotated shooting scripts, with comments from the writers, cast and crew. The book starts with an interview with Joss Whedon, who gives some background into the show’s creation. It also includes pages of the actors’ insights into their characters. And there are lots of pictures. Apart from full-page portraits, there are stills from each episode to accompany the scripts and there are pages of prop shots that show the attention to detail that went into creating the FIREFLY universe, from currency to weaponry. There is a whole chapter dedicated to costume design, filled with sketches and more photos.

Of course, the best thing about FIREFLY is the show itself, which is such a joy to watch, something that is very hard to get over in words and pictures, but this volume certainly goes some way to capturing the show on paper and giving plenty of insights to its production. This is a must have for any fan of the show and the movie. Volume Two is due for publication in Spring 2007.

FIREFLY: THE OFFICIAL COMPANION VOLUME ONE is published by Titan Books at the end of September for £16.99 (rrp) and can be ordered from Amazon for just £11.21. But we have two copies of the book to give away now, courtesy of Titan Books. Go to the competitions page of the forum for more details.