Mal and the crew take receipt of a sealed crate which they are being paid to transport to Badger, no questions asked. Yet once their cargo is safely stowed aboard, River insists Mal should “space” it out of the airlock, for it contains, she insists, ghosts. With supplies running low, the crew desperately need another pay day, but soon find themselves paralysed by hallucinations of their deepest hopes and desires, so vivid they cannot be distinguished from reality. River is the only one unaffected, and desperately tries to awaken her crew mates, while the fantasies turn sour, and the ship begins to spin out of control.
Ok, so first thing to note is, the blurbs for The Ghost Machine are calling it the fourth Firefly novel, when it’s actually the third. I believe Tim Lebbon’s upcoming contribution to the series, Generations, was scheduled to be the third, but they must’ve been flipped for some reason. And none of that really matters at all, because all three of the currently-available Firefly novels could be read in any order.
Which is kind of at the heart of my concerns about the future of Firefly novels. Well, maybe concerns isn’t the right word. Hmm…I ultimately enjoyed The Ghost Machine, but it makes me feel curious/cautious about what the future will/won’t hold for Firefly novels. The long & short of it is, how much longer can they continue to be set between the end of the show, and the movie, Serenity? It’s a finite period of time, and so I just wonder if we will ever see a Firefly novel set after the events of Serenity. Personally, I would love to see it, but I suppose it’s a “riskier” proposition, whereas the current novels are all relatively safe in terms of not impacting the existing canon/continuity of the show & movie.
Also, there’s no real way to talk about The Ghost Machine without revealing a decent amount of the plot, so if you want to go in without knowing anything…now’s the time to leave.
So…the novel plays out like one, or rather, several, extended dream sequences. And right away I’ll tell you that, while I don’t have anything particular against dream sequences, I don’t have a lot for them, either. I was initially frustrated by this aspect of The Ghost Machine, but I’m glad I pushed through that, because James Lovegrove ends up creating something that’s really clever, and gives a new look at some very familiar characters.
The story opens like any episode of Firefly might. Mal & Jayne & Zoë have arranged to pick up a mysterious item for Badger, only upon closer inspection, Mal gets bad vibes and attempts to back out of the deal.
Things get shooty/bloody, and against Mal’s wishes, said item is brought aboard Serenity by one Jayne Cobb, who is desperate for a payday. Turns out the item in question is a weapon of sorts, which results in the crew of Serenity all losing consciousness and experiencing their most desired dreams. Which slowly turn into nightmares.
The only one not impacted by this device is River, who is left to figure out how to wake up the crew and keep Serenity from crashing.
So again, for me, there was some frustration about the fact that much of this novel didn’t really “happen,” but we really do get some interesting & often heartbreaking glimpses at the innermost thoughts & dreams of the crew of Serenity. There’s also a BONKERS and unprecedented level of violence and gore in this one, particularly in Jayne’s dream. Like….fucking whoa.
All three of Lovegrove’s Firefly novels have been incredibly enjoyable, and as I’ve mentioned in the two previous reviews, he has an uncanny knack for recreating the tone & mannerisms of each character. I’ll keep reading the Firefly novels as long as Titan keeps publishing them. But I really hope they broaden the scope of this universe, either by creating stories with all new characters, or at the very least, continuing the story beyond the events of Serenity.
Huge thanks to Titan for the copy!!
Grimdark Dad 