Free Firefly novel "My Own Kind of Freedom"

[Steve Jordan]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

The label gives me an idea of what kind of book I'm going to read, and the author an idea of what kind of book she is trying to write.

However, a label can also be misleading, and can keep a person away from a story they would otherwise have enjoyed. Better to look past the labels, and find out about the story, than to depend on labels... there's plenty of SF out there that can be highly disappointing to a reader, if they don't know in advance what it is they're about to read.

[AnemicOak]

So many times, especially in the last few years, I've found that half the time publishers don't know how to label certain books & end up getting it wrong, at least from the reader & authors point of view.

[nekokami]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

It probably wouldn't be too hard to list an assortment of successful, selling games that meet your criteria. Dunno who the adults in the game biz are, but they sound like the have the same mindset as the folks coming up with TV programming.

Couldn't agree more. Unfortunately, when I list these games to executive types, they then decide the market is too crowded with such games already.

I don't think Firefly being a "western" is what killed it early. The Wikipedia article says the network execs wanted Mal to be more "jolly." If true, that kind of conflict could have killed the series right there. Then there's the fact that the story had a continuing plot line, and frequently made references to previous episodes. This might have worked in a country like Japan, but American TV execs don't seem to like such stories. (Which is why I don't watch TV.)

[Steve Jordan]

Originally Posted by nekokami

I don't think Firefly being a "western" is what killed it early. The Wikipedia article says the network execs wanted Mal to be more "jolly."

Isn't that sort of like asking Patton to be a conscientious objector?

I guess they wanted him to throw off James Bond-ish sexist and black humor quips every few seconds. ("Think of it, my dear, as your contribution to support the Browncoat movement... heh, heh...") Besides, Wash wasn't jolly enough for them? Or maybe they just couldn't relate to a "western" without a John Wayne type strutting around mouthing earthy platitudes and chuckling at the "city-folk."

Either way, TV execs are renowned for reducing everything to labels, and Firefly was about as far from any familiar labels to them as it could possibly be. After all, westerns are out, so there's nothing to directly compare it to... and sci-fi all looks like Star Trek to them, flashy and shiny and plastic. I'm sure their eyes just glazed right over...

BTW: I just finished My Kind of Freedom the other day, and I loved every minute of it! Brust nailed the characters, and captured the essence of Firefly, the conflict, the history, the tensions, masterfully. If I could talk him into writing more of these, I would. If anyone else decided to write more Firefly stories, I'd advise them that they will all be held up to Freedom's standards. I'd strongly recommend it to every Firefly fan.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by nekokami

Couldn't agree more. Unfortunately, when I list these games to executive types, they then decide the market is too crowded with such games already.

I would be really hard pressed to keep from responding "So what you're saying is, you don't have what it takes. You don't have the creativity to design and market games that will sell in that space. You aren't good enough to compete..."

I don't think Firefly being a "western" is what killed it early. The Wikipedia article says the network execs wanted Mal to be more "jolly." If true, that kind of conflict could have killed the series right there. Then there's the fact that the story had a continuing plot line, and frequently made references to previous episodes. This might have worked in a country like Japan, but American TV execs don't seem to like such stories. (Which is why I don't watch TV.)

It worked for five seasons for Babylon 5, though there were grey hairs and ulcers each season about whether it would get renewed. Of course, Joe Straczynski established that he could bring shows in on time and within budget, and was profitable from season one, which helped immensely.
______
Dennis

[JSWolf]

It's back to watching more Firefly later today.

[Steve Jordan]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

It worked for five seasons for Babylon 5, though there were grey hairs and ulcers each season about whether it would get renewed. Of course, Joe Straczynski established that he could bring shows in on time and within budget, and was profitable from season one, which helped immensely.

Yeah... on the other hand, Babylon 5 wasn't exactly playing on one of the big 4 networks. It had to be syndicated right out of the box, and played on whatever local station would take it. And this, despite the fact that it at least looked enough like Star Trek to be passingly understood by any TV exec. To be sure, its release at about the same time as Deep Space Nine probably resulted in pressure from Paramount against it, but I don't know how much of an impact that actually had on B5.

[tsgreer]

I've never seen a single episode of Babylon 5. I should really try to check it out. But the bald dude with the great fan of hair along the sides and back always made me decide that I could never get into it. He just looks so silly.

But admittedly, that's a poor reason not to check out something that everybody says is so good. So I will give it a shot.

[Bob Russell]

I just finished the book also... My Own Kind of Freedom, and it's wonderful, just as Steve said. I watched the series first (only around 15 episodes, so it's not a herculean task).

The impression I got was that it was almost like reading a movie script. (Wouldn't that be nice - a movie based on the book!) But wow, it was good if you are a FireFly fan.

I would gladly buy a second Firefly book if he wrote one. Well worth reading and just a lot of fun.

Now I'm on to watching the Serenity movie. And then, just like the first time I finished the FireFly shows, I'll sadly say good-bye to the crew until I forget enough to start all over.

[nekokami]

Originally Posted by tsgreer

I've never seen a single episode of Babylon 5. I should really try to check it out. But the bald dude with the great fan of hair along the sides and back always made me decide that I could never get into it. He just looks so silly.

But admittedly, that's a poor reason not to check out something that everybody says is so good. So I will give it a shot.

Oh, I know, he does look silly. But he's an absolutely great character. Steals the scenes he's in-- and not just for comic lines (though he has this great dry delivery....)

Anyway, give it a try. It may not be your cup of tea, but if you like media SF, it's worth a shot. (I didn't like all the episodes myself-- I don't think JMS wrote particularly good dialogue for his main characters, though his secondary characters got some great lines.)

@DMcCunney, if I could have a long enough conversation to say all that, I'd spend the time actually playing the game with them!

I'll get it to market eventually. It's just hideously expensive to print card games, compared to RPG books and the like. I'm working with someone to develop an online card game server that can be used for commercial purposes, in the meantime. I'm hoping to provide a service to others who have good card game ideas they want to try out. It'll be sort of the equivalent of ebooks, but for card games. (Printing cards on stock and cutting them apart is just not the same.)