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We don’t need to tell you that Firefly has transformed from failed TV series to cultural phenomenon in the years since its 2003 cancellation after an inauspicious 12-episode run on Fox. Joss Whedon’s Western-styled space opera might be missed, but in the years since, its fans have found ways to cope with its absence, turning to other TV shows, writing fan fiction—or searching out books that scratch their Big Damn Heroes itch. We always find ourselves reaching for a solid space opera novel during the summer months, so we’re offering up 15 space opera books for Firefly fans, each embodying one or more of the qualities that made that show so great.
We don’t need to tell you that Firefly has transformed from failed TV series to cultural phenomenon in the years since its 2003 cancellation after an inauspicious 12-episode run on Fox. Joss Whedon’s Western-styled space opera might be missed, but in the years since, its fans have found ways to cope with its absence, turning to other TV shows, writing fan fiction—or searching out books that scratch their Big Damn Heroes itch. We always find ourselves reaching for a solid space opera novel during the summer months, so we’re offering up 15 space opera books for Firefly fans, each embodying one or more of the qualities that made that show so great.
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| 1 |
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The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1)
by
Becky Chambers (Goodreads Author)
4.17 avg rating — 179,642 ratings
score: 298,
and
3 people voted
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| 1 |
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Fortune's Pawn (Paradox, #1)
by
Rachel Bach (Goodreads Author)
3.94 avg rating — 16,093 ratings
score: 298,
and
3 people voted
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| 1 |
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Dark Run (Keiko, #1)
by
Mike Brooks (Goodreads Author)
3.59 avg rating — 2,588 ratings
score: 298,
and
3 people voted
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| 4 |
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A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe (The Salvagers, #1)
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3.78 avg rating — 7,971 ratings
score: 200,
and
2 people voted
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| 5 |
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A Closed and Common Orbit (Wayfarers, #2)
by
Becky Chambers (Goodreads Author)
4.37 avg rating — 86,437 ratings
score: 199,
and
2 people voted
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| 6 |
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Consider Phlebas (Culture, #1)
by
3.85 avg rating — 99,112 ratings
score: 192,
and
2 people voted
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| 7 |
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A Soldier in Love
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3.23 avg rating — 189 ratings
score: 100,
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1 person voted
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| 7 |
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Shadow Run (Kaitan Chronicles, #1)
by
AdriAnne Strickland (Goodreads Author)
3.74 avg rating — 1,436 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 7 |
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Revenge (City of Kaus, #1)
by
Dani Hoots (Goodreads Author)
3.54 avg rating — 125 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 10 |
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Mission Pack 1: Missions 1-4 (Black Ocean #1-4, #4.5)
by
J.S. Morin (Goodreads Author)
4.15 avg rating — 657 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
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| 10 |
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Shadow Call (Kaitan Chronicles, #2)
by
AdriAnne Strickland (Goodreads Author)
4.05 avg rating — 293 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
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| 12 |
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Mission Pack 2: Missions 5-8 (Black Ocean #5-8, #8.5)
by
J.S. Morin (Goodreads Author)
4.27 avg rating — 400 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
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| 13 |
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The Cold Between (Central Corps, #1)
by
Elizabeth Bonesteel (Goodreads Author)
3.62 avg rating — 1,450 ratings
score: 97,
and
1 person voted
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| 13 |
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Tech, Lies, and Wizardry (Black Ocean #0.5)
by
J.S. Morin (Goodreads Author)
3.99 avg rating — 425 ratings
score: 97,
and
1 person voted
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| 15 |
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Downbelow Station (The Company Wars, #1)
by
C.J. Cherryh (Goodreads Author)
3.90 avg rating — 16,279 ratings
score: 96,
and
1 person voted
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| 16 |
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Falcon
by
Emma Bull (Goodreads Author)
3.82 avg rating — 534 ratings
score: 95,
and
1 person voted
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| 17 |
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In the Company of Others
by
Julie E. Czerneda (Goodreads Author)
3.89 avg rating — 1,419 ratings
score: 94,
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1 person voted
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| 18 |
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Coming Home (Alex Benedict, #7)
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3.88 avg rating — 2,266 ratings
score: 93,
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1 person voted
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Comments Showing 1-1 of 1 (1 new)
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First of all, some of these are nothing at all like Firefly.
Downbelow Station is one of my favorite books of all time, but Firefly was a space western, with humor; it could be by turns ludicrous, serious and sometimes ironically self aware.
Downbelow Station on the other hand is a vast, gritty, political novel about a terrifying war for humanity's future. A novel which gazes into both the large scale and the intimate horrors humans can visit upon one another.
(Some of Cherryh's other works come closer to the ideals of Firefly, such as: Merchanter's Luck, Finity's End, or Tripoint. All of those take place in the same universe as Downbelow Station, but Downbelow Station is the big picture, the canvas of the era. Whereas the other stories I've listed are more focused on the individual).
For people who liked Firefly, I would instead suggest looking to the heart of the story, rather than the (space opera) trappings. I would suggest looking at Chris Wooding's Tales of the Ketty Jay series. Those fall into the "Steampunk" sub-genre, but are much more faithful to the style and substance of what the Firefly series was. That is: A group of misfits, thrown together by fate, struggling to survive, a series laced with humor, grand ideals, pragmatism and ridiculous misjudgments, much like the Firefly series.