With some “Firefly” novels, a reader can sense an author is willing themselves to summon the TV series’ vibe. It’s just in M.K. England’s bones, though, as the Serenity crew members’ personalities and speaking styles flow through the author in “What Makes Us Mighty” (2022).
Plot might sound familiar
The plot starts off similar to the previously published novel, “Carnival.” A direct comparison to that weak sixth entry clearly illustrates how good this seventh book is. The crew takes a shipping job and is invited to stay for R&R on the planet Kerry, in the royal walled city of Kenmare.
The duke, Tarmon, is a gracious host, but Zoe senses things aren’t right on the wider continent. England builds up a mysterious mood through Zoe’s vibes, as well as Shepherd Book’s journey outside the walls, where he finds citizens relying on church food handouts. But the duke claims everyone’s tax rate is close to zero, and he is not to blame. (SPOILERS FOLLOW.)
“What Makes Us Mighty” (2022)
Author: M.K. England
Series: “Firefly” No. 7
Genre: Science fiction
Setting: Before “Heart of Gold”
When the answer to this mystery comes, it’s straightforward. Some readers might say disappointingly straightforward. While Tarmon’s taxes are low, his regulatory manipulation is extreme. Farmers aren’t allowed to try their own methods; they are required to use pre-packaged Alliance methods and equipment.
This is a sharp parallel to the regulatory state of the modern USA (as all of the Alliance’s activities are), where indeed some states make it illegal for farmers to repair their own agricultural equipment.
Where’s the media coverage?
In one notable way, Kerry is different: It doesn’t have any watchdog media. Granted, England does note that Cortex access is hard to come by (a parallel to rural America lacking affordable Internet access).
But other “Firefly” stories have painted the ‘Verse’s mainstream media as being like that of the modern USA – technically not controlled by the state, but featuring many statists in its employ (simply because a cross-section of any industry will be majority statist).
Media coverage of Kerry on the Cortex — accessed from Serenity itself — could give the crew the information they need (even if they have to read between the lines or go outside the mainstream). But apparently there simply is no media coverage on the mid-rim planet.
That makes “What Makes Us Mighty” similar to a “Star Trek” tale wherein the Enterprise arrives on a planet and needs direct examples of the situation before drawing parallels to human/Earth history and helping them. They’re rarely able to do in-depth research beforehand.
A specific horror of war
Still, at the point where the novel could become disappointingly straightforward, England adds in a wrinkle of a horrific weapon of war: Devil’s Thorns, shrapnel grenades that torture people rather than granting them a quick death. This is as dark as “Firefly” has gotten this side of the big reveal in the “Serenity” movie that the Alliance turned people into Reavers. Maybe even darker, since there’s no “by accident” this time.
England knows the characters and their place in the continuity, right before “Heart of Gold” (episode 13). Everyone is in character, and their moral codes and skill sets are in place, highlighted by a nice exploration of where the line resides for Jayne. He’ll do almost anything for money, but that “almost” is what makes him more good than bad.
If this is one character’s novel, though, it’s Inara’s. We learn about tea ceremonies and the spiritual aspect of engaging a Companion, and what Inara’s moral code allows her to do when given troubling information by a Kerry military general.
We’re kept at a certain distance from the battle scenes, even in a harrowing segment where our heroes must administer mercy killings; in this way, England’s YA background perhaps shows. But England lets personalities pop regularly, notably in a verbal showdown between Zoe and the duke.
“What Makes Us Mighty” is a universal story of a kingdom abusing its citizens to the logical endpoint of either revolt or mass starvation, and of morally upstanding heroes doing the right thing at the end of the day. England relates the situation on Kerry logically, except for the mysterious secrecy and media silence. It deserves consideration for being the best “Firefly” novel to date; it’s certainly the purest.