An old flame of Jayne Cobb’s, Temperance McCloud, sends a message to Serenity, begging him for help. She lives on the arid, far-flung world of Tethys, and bandits are trying to overrun her town to gain control of their water supply: the only thing standing between its people and dustbowl ruin. Jayne tries to persuade the Serenity crew to join the fight, but it is only when he offers Vera, his favourite gun, as collateral that Mal realises he’s serious.

When the Serenity crew land at a hardscrabble desert outpost called Coogan’s Bluff, they discover two things: an outlaw gang with an almost fanatical devotion to their leader who will stop at nothing to get what they want, and that Temperance is singlehandedly raising a teenage daughter, born less than a year after Temperance and Jayne broke up. A daughter by the name of Jane McCloud… [NARRATOR VOICE]

In these uncertain times, we….blerghhhg.

Sorry. It’s just, ahem, now more than ever, AGHHH FUCKING HELL, I’m so tired of these expressions!!!! But…BUT!!!!

As I think I mentioned in a recent review, there’s something about tie-in fiction that’s insanely appealing & comforting to me at the moment. The world is a scary fucking place right now, but that combination of new stories with familiar characters and elements is just like a giant blanket fort to me.

The Magnificent Nine is the second Firefly novel to be published, but doesn’t connect to the first one, Big Damn Hero, so you could read the books in any order. I’m still cautiously optimistic about Firefly novels on the whole, but I’m really curious if/how they will continue to set these books between the events of Firefly and Serenity (a period of time that I can’t seem to nail down online, but which seems to be roughly a year). Either way, The Magnificent Nine was another incredibly fun tale by James Lovegrove, and as long as the books are being published, I’m along for the ride!

As evidenced by the cover, this is a Jayne-centric story. The crew of Serenity receive a message from a woman named Temperance McCloud, an ex-girlfriend of Jayne’s. She’s living in a relatively desolated town called Coogan’s Bluff, and the water supply is being threatened by a group of bandits who call themselves the Scourers. They are led by a man named Elias Vandal, and they’re a pretty nasty bunch.

Oh, and Temperance also has daughter, thirteen going on fourteen. Her name is Jane. And, well, it’s been about fourteen years since Jayne Cobb last saw Temperance.

Huh, interesting!

Let the record show that Mal, Captain Tight Pants himself, thinks going to Coogan’s Bluff is a very bad, no good idea. But he relents to the crew’s wishes & they make their way to the dusty surface of Tethys, where Coogan’s Bluff is located. And of course it turns out to be a very bad, no good idea. Much shooting & chaos ensues.

This was such a delight to read, and just fits so perfectly with the tone of the show. Like, each of the Firefly books I’ve read feel like episodes of the show that didn’t air. Lovegrove effectively captures the voice of all these characters & stays true to who we know these people to be.

It’s also worth mentioning how gorgeous the Firefly books are…they all have those fancy (shiny) ribbon bookmarks stitched into the binding, the dust jackets are really beautiful & textured, and even the naked hardcovers are incredibly striking. These books look AWESOME sitting together on the shelf!

If you’re a Firefly fan, The Magnificent Nine is well worth your time. Fast paced, fun, and just plain badass. Loved this one!