Firefly: The Ghost Machine by James Lovegrove

The crew of the Serenity is in dire straits after Jayne sneaks aboard a piece of stolen technology in Firefly: The Ghost Machine by James Lovegrove. The story takes place in the time between the end of the series and the movie Serenity. Inara and Book have left the ship by this point.

Mal has agreed to transport a package for notorious smuggler Badger. Mal reaches the pickup point and has second thoughts when he discovers the package is a piece of stolen technology from the notorious Alliance corporation, Blue Sun, with potential military applications. While Mal rejects the job, Jane refuses to pass up a payday and sneaks the crate aboard the Serenity.

Soon after, the crew begins to experience vivid dreams where they each are living out their wildest fantasies. Mal is raising a family with Inara, Jayne is back on his farm with his mother and his brother who is mysteriously cured of his deadly ailment, Wash is a successful businessman, Kaylee is back home running the mechanic shop with her father, and Zoe dreams of a universe where the Alliance lost. The dreams begin pleasant enough but soon turn into deadly nightmares. Only River is unaffected. With Wash literally asleep at the wheel, Serenity is on a collision course with a moon. If River can't break them from the grip of the ghost machine they will all die in a fiery crash.

Lovegrove has a firm grasp on the Firefly characters and universe. It extends beyond the vernacular and a few Chinese curses. He knows what makes each of these characters tick and how they relate to each other. Ghost Machine allows you to spend a little time with each of the characters and explore how their lives may have turned out if the universe were a little more friendly. Seeing each of them glimpse their fondest desires makes it all the more chilling when they are overtaken by their worst nightmares.

The collision course that the ship is on lends a ticking time clock element to the story. It adds a physical emergency to the desire to see each of the characters rescued from their own personal nightmares. Even though the crew isn't technically part of the same adventure each of the individual narratives is equally compelling. This is a great testament to Lovegrove’s skill in designing dreams and nightmares for each character. For a show that most thought ended far too soon these books are a great way to spend more time in this amazing universe and with the outstanding characters that were created by Josh Whedon. James Lovegrove is particularly adept at working with these characters. This is another great entry in the series and I am looking forward to many more books set in this universe. Highly recommended.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher.

I will also point out that not only is the dust jacket great to look at but the actual design and binding of the book’s interior is outstanding. This is a great book to own in hardcover, as are the other books in the series.

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