Browncoats everywhere will be able to head back out into The Black once more and explore The 'Verse like never before, thanks to a new series of guide books based on the legendary science-fiction series Firefly. The two guide books, published by Insight Editions, will offer the most in-depth examination yet of the interior of the spaceship Serenity and the many worlds to which it traveled.
First airing on Fox in the fall of 2002, the deck was stacked against Firefly from the beginning. Despite being the passion project of Buffy The Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon, the network's executives were not impressed by the revolutionary series, which looked more like a Western than a traditional science-fiction show. Throw in a Friday-night time-slot and a story with intense continuity that was ruined by the episodes being aired out of order, and it's small wonder the series was quickly cancelled, with the last episode to air being the series' pilot! Despite this, the show developed a massive cult following after being released on DVD and led to a fandom that is as devout as ever over 15 years later.
Related: Serenity Flies Again in Firefly 15th Anniversary Video
Screen Rant is excited to share an exclusive look at both Firefly guide books. The first, Hidden Universe Travel Guides: Firefly, will offer fans of the series an in-depth examination of all the planets making up the solar system which the crew of Serenity traversed over the course of the show and the Serenity movie. The book is full of vibrant, full-color pictures of the various worlds and encyclopedia-style entries regarding them.
Insight Editon elaborates:
Hidden Universe Travel Guides: Firefly will help one navigate through the Black, from Core Planets such as Ariel to the outlaw badlands of the Rim worlds. Featuring a mighty amount of insight on the history, geography, and culture of these far-flung worlds, this travel guide takes fans on a whirlwind tour of the many worlds visited by the intrepid crew of Serenity. With in-depth information on each known world in the ’Verse, in addition to annotations by Captain Malcolm Reynolds and the rest of the crew, this informative guide is also lavishly illustrated with concept art, original illustrations, and images from the show.
The second book, The Serenity Handbook: The Official Crew Member’s Guide to the Firefly-Class Series 3 Ship, is more focused in its scope. This guide details the interior and inner-workings of a standard Firefly class spacecraft, with various technical notes. It also features additional notes from the crew of Serenity, regarding the ship they call home.
Insight Editions explains:
The Serenity Handbook: The Official Crew Member’s Guide to the Firefly-Class Series 3 Ship is designed as an actual crew-created manual. Featuring technical blueprints, personal mementos, and humorous commentary from Mal, Kaylee, and the rest of the crew, this book will allow fans of Firefly and Serenity to explore the iconic spaceship in an entirely new way.
Based on these preliminary pages, there will be a lot of new material in both books for die-hard Firefly fans to absorb. The books are also brilliantly designed, with some fantastic visuals and a writing style that hints at the humor of the original series and the voices of the beloved cast of characters. Thankfully, Browncoats will not need to wait several centuries to get these books into their hands. The Serenity Handbook is already available in bookstores everywhere and Hidden Universe Travel Guides: Firefly will be available on August 28. 2018.