So unbelievably thrilling. Lots of twists and turns. This book addresses some rumors regarding Inara. I also enjoyed how this author would go back in time a few seconds and tell the story from the enemies perspective. Very well done!

These books are really strong. Love seeing the continuing stories of the Serenity crew.
Hope they keep it going!

These books are truly an extension of the show and it’s so good. I don’t want these stories to stop. Keep flying.

*As per all of my reviews, I like to preface by saying that I listened to this book in audiobook format. This does indeed slightly skew my rating. I have found that audiobooks, give me a better "relationship" with the characters if done well, but also kills the book for me if narrated poorly. Also due to the nature of listening to the text, names and places may be spelled incorrectly here as I often do not have the physical volume in front of me.

Alright! Another rip roaring fun adventure with my crew. I swear I've come to love the crew of Serenity even more if that's possible through the books. I really can not express how attached to the crew I've become, even after all of these years later. This time the crew is sans Book (who does show up atleast) and they're on a mission to help Inara who's (suddenly...) become ill with a terminal cancer. It's sort of been retroactively been inserted, seeing that the author reveals that she's been battling it for years now even while aboard the ship during the show. It's finally come to a head while she's been away, and she's now bed ridden. Mal goes on a furious chase to track down a doctor on Book's lead to see if he has any way to cure her.

The adventure that ensues is pretty fun. A ice cold prison planet, more awkwardness between Caliee and Simon (though they're split up most of the book so it's short lived) The entire run in with the Alliance and plan felt natural Firefly faire which is what I expect, but does mean that it is a bit predictable. It's not to say it's a bore, but I found myself being able to see what was happening in many situations. I will say that I enjoy the 'cold openings' that the books continue to use. The first 10 or so pages present a wrap up to a prior job that has nothing to do with the main plot of the book but just serve as a nice way to start the book. As if we're just peering into the crew's daily life and caught them at the end of a mission. In a way it really allows the imagination to flourish and let us know these guys are almost trusted brothers and sisters at this point.

The book takes us on a trip through infiltrating a prison, with some Mal and Zoey team work which I always love. They're hot on the trail of this fabled doctor and Mal becomes increasingly dead set on finding him, even going so far as to pretty much dooming them to death if they fail. It's a bit far even for Mal, but it speaks very much to his intent love of Inara. And if it's not clear to her (and anyone) by the end of this, then they may as well be deaf dumb and blind. And speaking of being blind to infatuation, Simon has his own fan club expand by one. A girl has fallen smitten with the doctor and has played tag along with the crew. They find themselves trying to make friendly with the higher ups on the staff of the prison. Interestingly the overseers are prisoners themselves. The prison planet is pretty much un-policed on the ground. There's alliance ships in orbit to prevent anyone from somehow leaving the planet, but on the ground the prisons are left for themselves creating their own hierarchy. After a prison fight, and some information gathering, they manage to learn that the Doctor in question, Doctor Wang has left the facility and gone to try to live in the cold wastes of the elements.

Wash, Caliee, and River keep the ship in the air, dealing with their own Alliance run ins. They play tag with three Alliance Corvettes and the bored and ultra determined officers become hellbent on catching Serenity. After a series of betrayals and back stabbings and atonements the book ends with Inara being saved, all the new people we meet end up either dead or on new paths which is...good and bad. I love the closed nature of these books, and how episodic they are (just like the show) but it does sort of feel a bit of a miss knowing that nothing in these books can effect the story or anyone they meet can stay with them. Which still offers tons of amusement in a fun action packed ride, but it does feel a bit empty...That sounds way too harsh as I really enjoyed this. But I knew going in that the people they'd meet would probably die...and they did. So meh okay, we knew that coming in... Anyway for just going for the ride and spending more time with this crew I love, I really enjoyed it.

The ends that Mal Reynolds goes through to save the woman that he refuses to admit that he loves.