Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  I run this segment in conjunction with the Can’t-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  For this latest Waiting on Wednesday article, I check out the next exciting Firefly novel, Carnival, which is set to continue one of the best current tie-in series.

Over the last couple of years, Titan Books has been killing it with an amazing and clever Firefly tie-in series, which have brought the iconic characters of the fantastic Firefly television series to life in some great new adventures.  As a self-professed Firefly mega-nerd, I have been deeply enjoying this amazing series, which contains some incredible books.  Each of the novels in this series, which includes Big Damn Hero, The Magnificent Nine, The Ghost Machine, Generations and Life Signs, have been extremely awesome and I have had an outstanding time reading each of them.  As a result, I am always on the lookout for the next entry in the series and I was excited when I heard about the next entry in the series, Firefly: Carnival by Una McCormack.

Una McCormack is a fantastic science fiction author, known for writing various tie-in novels from several different franchises.  I know McCormack best for her work on the Star Trek franchise, where she has written some excellent and compelling novels including The Way to the Stars and The Last Best Hope.  Both novels have been outstanding pieces of tie-in fiction and I am rather looking forward to reading her latest novel, Star Trek: Wonderlands.  Carnival will be McCormack’s first Firefly novel and I am very much looking forward to seeing her take on the franchise’s well-established characters and storylines.

Carnival, which is currently set for release in early November 2021, will provide another fun instalment in the Firefly series.  While there is only a short synopsis out now, it sounds pretty damn cool, and I think has some real potential for a great and entertaining story.

Synopsis:

A heist by the Serenity crew goes badly wrong in a captivating original Firefly tie-in novel from the award-winning series by Titan Books

When a job on one of the Rim worlds goes wrong, Zoe and Book are taken hostage by some very unsatisfied customers, and Mal is given three days to find 8,000 platinum to get them back. The crew are now in a race against time to save their friends – calling on contacts and calling in favours, and some revealing talents that have hitherto remained hidden. Meanwhile, the hostages have their own plans…

I really enjoy the awesome synopsis above, especially as it opens a lot of fun potential.  Stuffing up heist and having to pay for the consequences is a classic Firefly story for a reason, and it is always entertaining to see Serenity’s crew attempt to find a way out of their predicament.  I am looking forward to seeing the crew try to raise a lot of money quickly, especially as it sounds like that will result in all manner of shenanigans and unusual situations.  I am also intrigued by Zoe and Book getting captured and held hostage.  We did not see the combination of Zoe and Book together a lot in the television series, and it will be interesting to see what sort of character dynamic they have when caught in a situation like this.  As they are the two most capable members of the crew (well capable and sane, sorry River), it is likely that we will several escape attempts from them, and it will be great to see how they fare.  I am also rather intrigued to see if Zoe will have any insights into what sort of person Book truly is, especially if they have to engage in violence while escaping.  All of this has the potential to be a great Firefly novel and I cannot wait to see how it turns out.

Firefly: Carnival sounds like it is going to be a really fantastic and captivating read, which I am really looking forward to.  Due to how much I love the Firefly franchise, as well as my previous positive experiences reading McCormack’s books, I know that I am in for an amazing time with Carnival, and I am excited to see how McCormack goes in this new franchise.  All of this sounds so very, very awesome, so make sure to check back in a few months to see how my latest adventure in the Firefly verse turns out.