Get on the ship, space cowboys and cowgirls. We’ve got another job.
Two things stuck out to me when I first watched Firefly back in middle school. The first was the characters. The second was the cosmic horror. Sure, gun fights and cowboys in space is cool. But I remember the Reavers and the unethical experiments of the Alliance far more than a dusty shoot out.
What’s this? A Firefly horror novel? But my birthday was last week!
Serenity has taken a job from their familiar unfriendly employer, Badger, to collect and transport stolen Alliance tech. However, when the device activates in the ship’s hold, our crew find themselves trapped in their most pleasant dreams. But dreams soon become nightmares, and the ship threatens to come crashing into a nearby moon without the crew to maneuver her. Now, only one member of the crew can save Serenity: River Tam.
This book takes place between the end of the show and the events of the movie, ‘Serenity.’ As such, we are down two of my favorite characters, Shepherd Book and Inara. While both do appear in this book through the crew’s dreams, their absence in the waking world has a noticeable effect on the remaining ship mates.
Including me. I miss them…
Each character gets their own little story in their own dreamscape paradise. Mal dreams of a happy family life with Inara. Wash, of building a financial empire with Zoe. Simon and Jayne both dream of living at home with their families, everyone healthy and safe. Zoe dreams of a world in which the Brown Coats defeated the Alliance, while Kaylee dreams that she’s back home with her father, alive and well. Seeing them all find their ultimate happiness is wholesome, yet it also feels oddly unsettling.
Especially when their dreams become nightmares.
Seeing each character’s wildest fantasy become their darkest fear is a horror to behold. Their stories each take a grim, gruesome turn. Sometimes to an uncomfortable degree. There’s some fairly effective horror in this book!
Connecting to them all is River. You might say that her being able to enter dreams is a plot convenience. But the show was always vague on what she could do with her psychic abilities, so I buy it. Though it is disappointing that dream River is sane; the book would have been much more entertaining and intense if she had to save the day through mad riddles and psychotic outbursts. Even so, what we got is perfectly fine.
My only major complaint is the ending. While the climax is fantastic, the falling action leaves something to be desired. None of the characters remember their dreams or change because of them. Probably an unfortunate side effect of this book’s place in the canon; can’t go making any major changes that would contradict the show or movie.
Despite these issues, I still loved my time with ‘Firefly: the Ghost Machine.’ Of the Firefly books we’ve discussed so far, this one is my favorite. If you’re in the need for some decent character-focused sci-fi horror, this one is a fine choice.
Jonah's Books & Rants 
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