My reaction to this graphic novel is quite mixed. For the record, I am a long-time fan of Firefly and Serenity. I'm always on the lookout for more stories from the 'verse, and two of the unresolved issues that continue to fascinate me most are the mysteries behind Shepherd Book's identity and Inara Serra's choice to leave the core planets. I was thrilled, therefore, to read that this book would offer an in-depth study of Book Shepherd's history and character. I'm very pleased that The Shepherd's...

The Shepherd's tale, finally.For me, Firefly's biggest mystery was not about the mad skills of River. It was the enigmatic Shepherd Books and his promise of a dark past. The viewers of the show were teased now and again about this evasive past and was not resolved during the movie.Finally, we have an answer.I truly enjoyed the structure of the story. Starting from the movie serenity, Jumping to firefly and then further back to the very beginning. (They could've called this 'The curious case of S...

4.5 StarsWow. I never really saw that revelation coming. A different tangent for sure especially as this presents Book’s life from death to birth. Thing is, he has some major skeletons in his closet, and there's always the other side of the coin that contributes to one’s truth.Smart and deftly told in a short 59 paged comic, making it no less impactful.

We finally get to know the story behind the Shepherd, this man has some past. He seems all kind and loving, he is a man of God after all:He doesn't judge.....Then we see the signs:The hair is the first to show....what a horrible thing....I still have nightmares about it.....Then we have him cursing people to hell... he had a reason...but still....Then he is okay with hurting people....they are bad people...very bad...but still.....But I love him nonetheless, he was sch a brilliant character, the...

I had to re-read this today, in honor of the sad passing of the amazing Ron Glass. (aka 'Shepard Book', for those of you who do not wear Brown Coats.) This remains a great read, made greater by my being able to hear the words in Glass's unmistakable tones in my head whilst reading. Thank you for what you gave to the Big Damn (uni)Verse, Mr.Glass, through your amazing work on 'Firefly' and 'Serenity'. I am so happy that I own this book, especially today. You can't stop the signal. --Jen from Queb...

After seeing a couple of conflicting summaries of what this book reveals about Book's background, I decided to just read it myself. If you've seen Firefly/Serenity, then you know Book is more than he seems, but we never got his backstory. This comic provides that backstory in Memento-style story telling, glimpses and jumping backward through the highlights of his life. Knowing where he comes from and how he eventually made his way to the Serenity crew adds a poignancy to his story that we didn't...

I got this because I'm a huge Firefly fan. I loved the series and movie and like I would suppose most fans own the DVDs. This reportedly was a story that would tie up the mysteries about Shepherd Book's background.If you watched the series this was one of the building plot points that didn't get tied up. The series was canceled (mainly in my opinion because the executives didn't get it. The series had and has a large and loyal following.) during the first series. Book was an interesting characte...

According to the author's afterword, this was written based on an outline by Joss Whedon. I found this statement particularly interesting, as the graphic novel itself struck me far more as a writers'-bible character outline than an actual story in its own right. Does it answer our questions about Book and his past? Mostly, yes. Does it make sense within the context of the character and the series? Sure. Does it bring any new insight to the character, or even stand on its own as an interesting st...

On the one hand, it was nice to finally get a story about Shepherd Book's pre-Serenity years. On the other hand, after thinking about it, I was disappointed. I didn't like that Book was still heroic, still so much of a "good guy". And I admit, that's on me - personal preferences and all. I just don't think that Book would've been so reticent to talk about his past with Mal if he actually had been a Browncoat spy.Objectively, however, what I very much did not agree with was how Book left the Alli...

This is fanfic for the TV series Firefly/movie Serenity; previously published on Amazon.- - - - - - - - - -It's good to know what Joss intended for Book's backstory and the plot of this comic sort-of fits the character, but the major moments of Book's life are far too briefly dealt with, too disconnected & present a coarsely violent Derrial Book who never gets anywhere near evolving into the educated, thoughtful Shepherd seen in Firefly & Serenity. Shepherd's Tale reads like a synopsis and it...

There were so many loose ends that Firefly's premature end left dangling. Shepherd Book's backstory was one of them, a major one. This rather short graphic novel attempts to answer many of the questions, while still leaving holes and questions to maybe play with later. Book's story is told backwards, in short scenes that were important to his life told in reverse order, starting at the end of his life and going back to the beginning. It's an interesting way to do it, and probably more effective

Shepard was most intriguing charter in firefly and now we finally get his tale.Story starts from time of his death in Serenity than jumps couple of years in the past several times showing events that shaped his life.I expected lot from Shepard's story and I was not disappointed it's just too bad we couldn't see it in the show.

How cool to find out about Shepherd Book's backstory!

While I still don't love the way the Serenity crew is animated, I enjoyed the self-contained story elucidating Reverend Book's mysterious background as opposed to the scattershot approach of Serenity: Those Left Behind, the last Serenity graphic novel I read. I also appreciated the risky reverse-linear, Memento-style presentation of the comic, which, if it had been done poorly, could have come off as contrived or gimmicky, but really helped add dramatic tension to Book's tale.

One of the big storyline mysteries that never got answered due to the show Firefly being canceled was “Who is Sheppard Book?” We are given hints that he is more than he seems. He is a man of great faith, with a shadowed and secret past. In the graphic novel The Shepherd’s Tale, we are shown who this mystery preacher really is, and how he ended up on the firefly captained by Mal, Serenity.One thing I enjoyed about the book was the fact that it starts at the end of Shepherd Book’s life and goes ba...

Overall, I am really disappointed in this book.Book is one of my favorite characters in one of my favorite short-lived sci-fi series, so you might think I would be a naysayer going into this one, but I honestly wasn't You'll have to take my word for that, of course, but I promise I wasn't one of "those people." I was looking forward to this one. I couldn't wait to hear more on the life of this fantastic character who ended up on the "wrong ship" somehow. That, unfortunately, is not what I found

Much, much better than Better Days (I haven't read the other Serenity comics yet, so can't judge them in comparison). The art fits really well, I love the constant shifts backwards in time, and finding out Book's story is so ridiculously cool anyway - loved this. Not perfect but pretty gorram good.

I found out this hardcover comic existed last fall thanks to another reviewer on 50bookchallenge, and then purchased it for my husband's Christmas... and I just so happened to read it as well.[return][return]This slender book provides a much-wanted back story for Shepherd Book, one of many memorable characters from the show Firefly and movie Serenity. I won't go into incredible detail on the content, but the reverse order of the tale ends at his childhood. It shows the hardship of his life in st...

I love that this book took all the theories about Book and the answer to them was "yes." Book's story is sad but not surprising. My only complaints are that the art doesn't always work for me, and I wish this volume was longer.

This was my favorite. Glad we finally got to know Shepherd Book's story, and glad to know it was worth knowing. It adds a lot of depth to his character, knowing his history. I loved the order of the events how we kept going back in time, i found that very interesting, as opposed to the story just being told in a chronological order.