My Own Kind of Freedom: A Firefly Novel

This has been on my “currently reading” shelf for what seems like years, but it really was a fast read. I was just about to start it when I switched from the Palm to the iTouch, and I didn't get around to converting it from a .prc file to an .epub until this week.

Yes, I know that Calibre, which is a marvelous and indispensable piece of software for anyone who reads e-books (and I firmly recommend that everyone should run out right now, download it, and show some kind of support to the author, especially in the form of donations if at all possible), can do that kind of conversion automatically. It does them very well.

But I am OCD Woman. Hear Me Whine. I edit the epub files I buy. No, really. I feel it necessary to strip out extraneous crap in them before I read them or I'll be bitching about it the entire time I'm reading the book. Or I make my own table of contents the way I like it. I'm serious.

So yes, I had Calibre convert the .prc generously provided Mr. Brust, and then I went through and did all my editing.

THEN I loaded it onto my device and started reading it, and honestly, my only complaint at that point was that I would have been happy to have many more hours of material to read.

Brust got the character interplay so precisely right that I felt like I was reading a script for an episode of Firefly I had somehow missed viewing. I could hear the voices and see them clearly. Sometimes it's so right that one thinks the dialogue might be quoted from actual episodes, but it isn't - I've seen all of them, and this material isn't there. River's lines and thoughts, in particular, are eerily good.

I don't read fan fiction. I simply don't do it. I'm not going to engage in a debate about it. Let's just say that it isn't my preferred entertainment. But I am a Brust fan, and a Firefly addict who is missing her fix.

This novel probably counts as fan fiction, so I've broken my rule, and I don't regret it. I would happily do so again - for Brust.

http://dreamcafe.com/index.html has a copy of this free fan fiction piece. It is a short novel based on the Firefly/Serenity universe. It was pretty good, especially with the characterization and internal thoughts of the main characters. It is set between the TV and movie.

Full review at http://www.mrshields.com/?p=443 on Feb 1.