During the show Firefly, one of the more entertaining and mysterious characters was Shepherd Book. He was a man of faith who wasn’t a stranger to violence*. His past was hinted at being more complex and mysterious and not spoken of. You could almost sense the other crew members wanting to ask him, but refraining. With the early cancellation (as well as Book’s part in Serenity), one of the big questions never answered was about Book’s past. Now, with Serenity: The Shepherd’s Tale, written by Joss Whedon and his brother Zack, we finally get our answers. So what is Book’s story?

*One of my favorite scenes in Firefly is when the crew is going in to rescue Mal and Zoe asks Book about his faith:Zoë: Preacher, don’t the Bible have some pretty specific things to say about killin’? Book: Quite specific. It is, however, somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps.

The book starts with Book’s death and works its way backwards hitting on scenes (on Firefly, prior to Firefly and his previous days). We spend a few pages (a scene at most) in each time frame illustrating the life of Shepherd Book. The story does a great job illustrating the person who is Shepherd Book. We can see his life, a slice at a time and can get a better view of who he is. The problem I had with the book is that the story itself, is not very interesting. It’s a lot of scenes of Shepherd Book, but I’m not sure I understand how the story hangs together. I see what happened to him, but have no clue why he made the choices he did and what changed him.

The art by Chris Samnee is serviceable to the story, but doesn’t stand out. I like the book, but wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who isn’t a huge Firefly fan. Mildly recommended.