Interesting. Have met Steve and his son, Corwin, a few times as they are local and friends of friends. Haven't spoken to the friends or the Brusts in quite some time however, or I would attempt to get some inside scoop.

zeitgeist | October 24, 18:55 CET

It's my recollection from KRAD's posts on the Universal board that Steven was writing "on spec." I'll edit if I can find the link. I'm pretty sure I remember Keith saying that two books had been approved for Pocket to release, but no authors or titles had been chosen.

Edit:
Here's the link. Registration is required. Keith's post on this topic is toward the bottom.

[ edited by zeitgeist to link-ify on 2005-10-24 17:18 ]

XanFan32 | October 24, 18:56 CET

In his next journal entry (5th October) he includes the following:
"Thanks to netmouse, who answered some OpenOffice questions, I've finished the second draft of the Firefly novel. I'm going to read it over, mark it up, and then see if I can reach Pocket Books to find out if they have any interest in seeing it."

purplehazel | October 24, 19:16 CET

Please note Pocket Books has not approved this book. He's set it in the wrong timeframe to the spec, so it would need rewriting to be approved.

Still, I'm not dissing the guys efforts - I'd love to read this (release it as fanfic!)

gossi | October 24, 19:44 CET

Thanks, zeitgeist. I have issues with link-ifying. My comments shouldn't be seen as dissing Mr. Brust. I'd be very interested in reading what he's written. Or really, anything continuing the Firefly/Serenity 'Verse.

XanFan32 | October 24, 20:24 CET

Steve wrote his novel on spec and submitted it to Pocket. It's being considered, along with about a dozen other proposals by a dozen different authors (including me), for the two available slots.

krad | October 24, 21:15 CET

BTW, the headline and subhead are inaccurate. Steve has already written it, there's no guarantee it's going to be published, and it's not a novelization. What I wrote was a novelization; Steve has written an original novel in the Serenity/Firefly 'verse.

krad | October 24, 21:16 CET

Tis changed.

Simon | October 24, 21:22 CET

Steven freaking Brust? Wow. I've read some of his stuff, very good, he's a big name. And he wrote this on his own? Interesting.

Very cool, I'd love to see this published.

kishi | October 24, 22:02 CET

That's exciting! I think some Whedonesque readers aren't aware that Brust is way, way beyond the usual league of franchise novel writers- He is a highly idiosyncratic, well respected and successful writer, translated and marketed in countries where Firefly wasn't even broadcasted.

[ edited by zeitgeist for spelling on 2005-10-24 21:04 ]

PeliG | October 24, 22:41 CET

Yeah, he's very well known and respected. This is like having... I don't know, I'm trying to think of a comparison. It's not the sci-fi/fantasy equivilent of Stephen King saying he's written a story for your universe, but it's not that far behind. Brust has been publishing books for the past twenty years, and he's a name that gets respect with much of the fanbase.

Here's hoping he does as good a job with getting in to the character's heads as krad did for the novelization.

kishi | October 24, 22:59 CET

*scratches head* Wow, I have never heard of Brust...what kind of stuff does he usually write?

Nevertheless, in whatever shape or form, I'd love to read any continuation of the 'Verse. Fanfic is great, but I'd much rather have a novel I can bring into the train and read on my way to work...

GVH | October 25, 00:58 CET

No offense to any of the potential authors here, but as much as I'd love to read a Firefly novel, I'd want it to be written by someone who had at least some connection to the show. Obviously this is unlikely, but if it doesn't happen the book will seem like nothing more than unofficial fan-fic to me. And that doesn't interest me at all.

gooball | October 25, 06:14 CET

^ Well, the offense is accepted anyhow. First of all, the novels are subject to Joss's approval. Second of all, if Firefly had continued, would you have considered any episode not written by Joss, Tim, or somebody on the actual writing staff "unofficial fanfic"? What if they added people to the writing staff? Would those writers not get your seal of approval?

krad | October 25, 06:54 CET

This sounds great! I haven't heard of the author, but any continuation of Firefly in any form....I'm so there. krad, could you email me information about how I could get my hands on your work? But, only if it is available for public viewing.

Harmalicious | October 25, 07:37 CET

^ Er, well, just walk into a bookstore or library. *wry grin*

My work is available in book form, generally in the science fiction/fantasy section. A full bibliography can be found on my web site at DeCandido.net.

krad | October 25, 10:17 CET

Thanks for the corrections -- as I was posting this, I had the hardest time describing the link.

And yes, it'd be so cool for Joss to right a FF novel, but realistically, I don't know if what he'd produced would be very good. There's a league of difference between being a screenwriter and a novelist, though I would totally buy the result. The bigger issue for me would be the transition from screen to page -- the actors and visual style of the 'verse are vital to my enjoyment of the show.

I'm interested in this b/c I have read some Star Wars novels, written by Timothy Zahn, that I really liked even though I wasn't familiar with his other work, or even that crazy-in-love with the SW universe. If the FF novels are as good as that, as enjoyable as pure stand-alone work, I'll be happy.

dottikin | October 25, 10:47 CET

The Serenity novelization was certainly good, better than I expected given some of the other movie novelizations I have read which either reproduced the movie word for word (why bother?) or left me wondering if we had even seen the same movie (referred to in my household as my "WTF-books", because that's all you hear from me as I am reading).

If the next novels are by krad, I am in but if they are by others, then I will be a little more cautious, I think.

catalyst2 | October 25, 11:37 CET

krad said:



I think that is probably the key issue that many of us would have with books set in the verse. Joss has stated that he had nothing at all to do with the Buffy novels released, which leads to the feeling that they are little more than flashy fanfic. If he has an input with Firefly projects that will probably change a lot of fans' minds as it would allow for the sort of character growth and developments that we expect, foreshadowing of things to come, hints at backstories etc. that are all in the continuity of where Joss wants to take the series, rather than different authors writing different stories that don't fit together or contradict each other and all that.

eviltobz | October 25, 13:48 CET

I have read all of Steven Brust's books - several times (in other words I really liked them). Personally, I have faith he'll do a fab job. Check him out at Amazon - or even better your local independant SF/Fantasy bookseller.

redfern | October 25, 16:02 CET

Good luck krad :)

Shakespeare | October 25, 17:45 CET

eviltobz: In fact, the reason why there still isn't any solid news on the next two books is because we're waiting for Joss's feedback. So yeah, he's a big part of this.

catalyst2: FYI, usually when there are differences between the novelization and the film it's because changes were made and the novelizer wasn't informed, or they happened too late in the process to fix the book. Books have a much longer production time than a movie, and movies can make changes up to the last minute. If there are differences between novel and film, that's usually not the author's fault. For example, the ending of Resident Evil: Apocalypse differs from the ending to my novelization of same, precisely because nobody bothered to tell us they were changing the ending. *grin*

krad | October 25, 21:21 CET