Browncoat Fox reviewed Firefly - The Ghost Machine by James Lovegrove (The Firefly Series, #3 of 8)
Lovegrove amazes again with this sci-fi focused tale
5 stars
Even after 8 releases now in this series published by Titan, The Ghost Machine remains one of the few with a very sci-fi oriented plot. As Lovegrove had also written the previous entry, Magnificent Nine, I was quite optimistic going into this book as I had really enjoyed the second entry in this series.
Initially, as I recall, while reading this book, I felt a bit disappointed, and the only reason for this is because much of the story doesn't really happen. As the teaser states, a mysterious machine is somehow responsible for rather lucid dreams and that constitutes much of this book. However upon completing the novel, there were no regrets. This was based on a distinctly sci-fi sort of premise, which is great to help prevent the western angle from dominating the span of all Firefly stories, but most importantly, the dreams themselves are a huge contribution …
Even after 8 releases now in this series published by Titan, The Ghost Machine remains one of the few with a very sci-fi oriented plot. As Lovegrove had also written the previous entry, Magnificent Nine, I was quite optimistic going into this book as I had really enjoyed the second entry in this series.
Initially, as I recall, while reading this book, I felt a bit disappointed, and the only reason for this is because much of the story doesn't really happen. As the teaser states, a mysterious machine is somehow responsible for rather lucid dreams and that constitutes much of this book. However upon completing the novel, there were no regrets. This was based on a distinctly sci-fi sort of premise, which is great to help prevent the western angle from dominating the span of all Firefly stories, but most importantly, the dreams themselves are a huge contribution to the Firefly universe.
Being dreams they are not canonical history of events for anyone; nevertheless, they are rather precious because of what is in those dreams, and what is happening. For every character involved, the reader will gain immense insight into the lives of everyone. For some, it's about the past and their previous lives, while for others it will be about what they may have wished life was like, instead of what it is on Serenity. This is a massive dose of character development in the sense of learning so much more about the crew, and since that is one of the strongest suits of the entire show, it must be why this book might hold as one of the overall favourites among fans.
Additionally, River's role in this tale is interesting as it is crucial, but given her unique condition and backstory, any new development or insight about River Tam is always a treat. This is a rare opportunity to see River in a way she would otherwise never be seen before, but made possible thanks to the driving plot of this story.
Although The Ghost Machine does not ultimately build upon the story of Firefly going forward in terms of the ongoing lives of the crew of Serenity, this may be the one story that unveils more depth to the characters than any other single story ever will.