Discover new books on Goodreads
Meet your next favorite book
Sign in with Facebook
From Barnes & Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sc...
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.
Score
A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
| 1 |
|
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1)
by
Becky Chambers (Goodreads Author)
4.17 avg rating — 179,644 ratings
score: 298,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1 |
|
Fortune's Pawn (Paradox, #1)
by
Rachel Bach (Goodreads Author)
3.94 avg rating — 16,094 ratings
score: 298,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1 |
|
Dark Run (Keiko, #1)
by
Mike Brooks (Goodreads Author)
3.59 avg rating — 2,588 ratings
score: 298,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 4 |
|
A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe (The Salvagers, #1)
by
3.78 avg rating — 7,971 ratings
score: 200,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 5 |
|
A Closed and Common Orbit (Wayfarers, #2)
by
Becky Chambers (Goodreads Author)
4.37 avg rating — 86,439 ratings
score: 199,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 6 |
|
Consider Phlebas (Culture, #1)
by
3.85 avg rating — 99,112 ratings
score: 192,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 7 |
|
A Soldier in Love
by
3.23 avg rating — 189 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 7 |
|
Shadow Run (Kaitan Chronicles, #1)
by
AdriAnne Strickland (Goodreads Author)
3.74 avg rating — 1,436 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 7 |
|
Revenge (City of Kaus, #1)
by
Dani Hoots (Goodreads Author)
3.54 avg rating — 125 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 10 |
|
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
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 10 |
|
Shadow Call (Kaitan Chronicles, #2)
by
AdriAnne Strickland (Goodreads Author)
4.05 avg rating — 293 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 12 |
|
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
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 13 |
|
The Cold Between (Central Corps, #1)
by
Elizabeth Bonesteel (Goodreads Author)
3.62 avg rating — 1,450 ratings
score: 97,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 13 |
|
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
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 15 |
|
Downbelow Station (The Company Wars, #1)
by
C.J. Cherryh (Goodreads Author)
3.90 avg rating — 16,280 ratings
score: 96,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 16 |
|
Falcon
by
Emma Bull (Goodreads Author)
3.82 avg rating — 534 ratings
score: 95,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 17 |
|
In the Company of Others
by
Julie E. Czerneda (Goodreads Author)
3.89 avg rating — 1,419 ratings
score: 94,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 18 |
|
Coming Home (Alex Benedict, #7)
by
3.88 avg rating — 2,266 ratings
score: 93,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
Michael
128 books
80 friends
80 friends
Bish
141 books
86 friends
86 friends
Raven
4221 books
150 friends
150 friends
RruinerR
1084 books
5 friends
5 friends
Shannon
4698 books
37 friends
37 friends
Nancy
3893 books
26 friends
26 friends
Deathofrats
2761 books
8 friends
8 friends
Matt
559 books
41 friends
41 friends
More voters…
Comments Showing 1-1 of 1 (1 new)
Anyone can add books to this list.
How to Vote
To vote on existing books from the list, beside each book there is a link vote for this book clicking it will add that book to your votes.
To vote on books not in the list or books you couldn't find in the list, you can click on the tab add books to this list and then choose from your books, or simply search.
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.