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52 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fun Addition But Not Great, June 3, 2010
This review is from: Firefly: Still Flying: A Celebration of Joss Whedon's Acclaimed TV Series (Paperback)
If I could have, I would've given "Still Flying" a 3.5 -- but I erred on the side of swinging higher, if only because it's, you know, "Firefly!"
The parts I liked about the book are the same things I liked about the first two books from Titan--great photographs of characters, sets, and props; intriguing behind-the-scenes interviews (this time with a costume designer and a double, among others); and some great collections of quotes from the actors, harvested from different interviews and appearances at conferences. That last is part of my "not so great" angle, though. Parts of this felt more like aggregation than original work.
As for the original work--the four new stories! First, I wouldn't count Edlund's "Fun with Dick and Jayne" as an "original story" -- it's two comic panes illustrating Jayne in childhood (with some dialogue), and that's it. So okay: Three new stories? My favorite was the first, by Jayne Espenson, set before the movie Serenity, throwing Kayli and Wash into an action adventure those two characters rarely got to experience on the show. Another, by Brett Matthews, shows River's point of view--also pre-"Serenity"--in which she has a premonition of what is to come, which I also enjoyed. The last, by Jose Molina, struck me as a particularly depressing spoiler alert for anything else ever to happen to these characters... unless it was just an alternative future, in which case I hope someone corrects me.
I would love to see Whedon okay (and perhaps edit, or at least approve) "Firefly" novels, like the popular novel series about "Star Wars" characters and the "Star Trek" series. I want to see these stories and characters continue--in adventures and romance and snappy dialogue--rather than simply dwelling on what they once were. "Still Flying" focuses, for me, a little too much on the latter.
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60 of 67 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You can't take the sky from me..., May 25, 2010
This review is from: Firefly: Still Flying: A Celebration of Joss Whedon's Acclaimed TV Series (Paperback)
For those of you who have Firefly: The Official Companion: Volumes One, or Two, or Serenity The Official Visual Companion, this book will seem very familiar. It, like the previous three mentioned, is from Titan Books and it's format is basically the same. Lots of pictures: studio shots, behind the scenes, prop close-ups, and stories to go with the pictures. There are also memories of the series and movie by the cast and crew. As for what is new, there are fresh stories in this book written by writers of the original TV episodes. I've only read one so far, "What Hold Us Down" by Jane Espenson, but it was fantastic. The way in which it was written, and the dialogue, was true Firefly. Another thing this book has going for it, is that it touches on areas of Firefly outside of the series and movie. There is a section on fan films in which projects like Done the Impossible ( a documentary, available here at Amazon), and the up incoming Browncoats: Redemption (a full length feature film premiering at Dragon*Con 2010), are showcased. And for those of you who like shiny merchandise, there is a section on Firefly merchandise in which they mention among other things, a lot of the shiny stuff put forth by Quantum Mechanix. Oh, and who could forget the section dedicated to us, the Browncoats? The ones who have kept Serenity flying, all these many years after she should have gone down. There's a lot more to this book, and if you are a fan of Firefly, I urge you to buy it. You will not be disappointed. If you have the other three, you'll understand why you need this one; if you don't, I'd recommend buying those too.
Stay Shiny --- BrowncoatKal (A.K.A. SurvivorSteve)
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A fun collection for Firefly fans, but not a must-have., July 10, 2010
This review is from: Firefly: Still Flying: A Celebration of Joss Whedon's Acclaimed TV Series (Paperback)
I'm sure you've had the experience of finding a box of mementos in your attic. While the items have little meaning to anybody else, the apparently-random collection is a "memory box" for you. A copy of the poem you wrote in 8th grade, a lost earring from a set you wore in high school, a dorky knick-knack that was once precious to you because it was a gift from a friend. Such boxes don't have much organization, but they can elicit complete sensory recall of an earlier time of your life.
Still Flying is such a collection for Firefly fans. It's more like a "high school yearbook" than it is a set of short stories (there are a few, and they're good). Each cast member shares stories from the TV show, from how they got the part to their appreciation of the Browncoats fans to tales from the set. It's not just the actors; there's also input from behind the scenes people such as the stunt guy. Lots of photos of memorabilia, like the head of Jayne's statue or the Lassiter gun (which, I learned, was named after the Lassiter guy who started Pixar, apparently a friend of Joss' -- see, good trivia too).
If you're a Firefly fan who is enthusiastic enough to identify the episodes by name (which I confess I am), you will enjoy this book. It's good bathroom reading, and I mean that in the nicest way; it's unlikely you'll want to read everything in one fell swoop. And like the memory box in your attic, sometimes it's more fun to contemplate and savor one item at a time.
You don't NEED this book. But I think you'll like it.
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