Fox TV was no fan of Joss Whedon’s 2002 TV show Firefly. After initially giving him a free hand in producing a new series for them (Whedon being everyone’s darling at the time following his successes with Buffy and Angel), they didn’t like what they got, requested a new pilot episode and ended up airing the episodes out of order. Fox couldn’t seem to figure out why the ratings were constantly low, so they cancelled the show only twelve episodes in; three episodes were never even shown in the United States.

In that short span however, Firefly amassed a huge following, which expanded to a global fanbase thanks to Internet communities. When the DVD set containing all fifteen episodes was released, it sold furiously. This prompted movie studio Universal to grant Whedon another go at his Firefly universe, in form of a movie: Serenity.

Whedon was faced with the daunting task of creating a movie that would please both the fans (who were the sole reason why he had this chance now) and an audience that was unfamiliar with the series, which certainly was required to wash the production costs back in. Whedon found a smooth solution in reintroducing the general situation in the Universe (Earth that was, the Alliance and the Independents), the backstory of Simon and River Tam (central to the film’s plot), and the sometimes-crooked characters on board the ship Serenity, all within the first ten minutes. By showing new details (especially in the flashback of how Simon rescues his sister) Whedon makes the opening just as interesting for those familiar with the series.

In that sense, the character exposition works just fine; there is no denying however that you will appreciate the characters and their relationships more if you’ve seen what they’ve gone through in the course of Firefly. One of the film’s strong points is its focus on the characters, and Serenity gives most of the character dynamics known from the show enough time to unfold on screen: Simon protecting his sister at all costs, Kaylee trying to win Simon’s affection, Jayne being wary of River’s abilities, Mal and Inara’s communicative problems, Zoe and Wash’s marriage. The only character (introduced in the show) to really fall short is Shepherd Book.

What sets the the plot on course is the appearance of the Reavers (humans removed from civilization a decade prior and now completely gone wild and blood-thirsty) attacking a settlement on a planet where the Serenity crew is staging a heist. This is the introduction of the first antagonistic force in the film (one that was frequently mentioned but never directly shown on the show), the second follows shortly after in a special so-called ‘Operative’ of the Alliance (played Chiwetel Ejiofor), who’s trying to track down the fugitives Simon and River Tam who are stowed away aboard the Serenity.

Next to Ejiofor’s excellent portrayal of the bad guy (somewhat remiscent of Hugo Weaving’s Agent Smith in The Matrix trilogy), it’s particularly Nathan Fillion (Captain Mal Reynolds) and Summer Glau (River) who shine in Serenity, which might just end up opening some doors in Hollywood for them. Another one of the film’s major players that dare not be forgotten is the Serenity itself: cleaner, more detailed and technologically advanced than on the show (no doubt thanks to the bigger budget), the ship itself (and on a broader scope the rest of the film) still has its characteristic ‘trashy and used’ feel to it. What is mostly dropped, however, are the ‘Western’ elements: no one rides any horses in the film, there’s no kettle to be transported.

This move represents Whedon’s step towards a larger audience, but he requires and delivers more: the plot moves on at a breakneck pace, forcing the Serenity crew to find out why exactly the Alliance is stopping at nothing to retrieve River Tam, only for them to learn a devastating secret and attempting to secure that knowledge before they all get killed - by the Alliance or by Reavers. The CGI looks gorgeous, especially in the space battle, but as much as that battle the effects are always in service of the story. The film doesn’t stop for air very often, and since it remains focused on its characters throughout the entire story, they are physically and emotionally pushed to extremes, rowing amongst each other to the point that they nearly break apart as a crew. Ultimately, what really makes this film work are Whedon’s lovable characters, each one with his or her own set of values and an individual edginess, each one a scoundrel, a Han Solo, in their own right.

Had the events in this movie transpired within a continued Firefly TV series, no doubt the arc could still have continued on further, possibly towards an even greater resolution of bringing down the Alliance. Alas, going by the box office performance of Serenity so far, it would appear ill-fated to hope for more stories aboard the Serenity in the near future. In spite of that, Firefly fans can be happy with the end result, especially those who were at odds with the abrupt stop that the series was put to, as Serenity offers a sense of closure, a comforting feeling that this is a good point to wrap these adventures up.

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The Historian leads us on a search to find out the truth about Dracula, or more acurately the man who inspired the Dracula legend - Vlad Tepes. Vlad was a most brutal and unflinching prince of Wallachia, Romania. He had a habit of pillaging towns and murdering large scores of people and was nicknamed “The Impaler.” Lovely bloke by the sounds of it.

After discovering some chilling letters addressed to “my unfortunate successor” and a mysterious book with a dragon woodcut, our unnamed female protagonist becomes embroiled in her father’s unfinished work. As you can imagine, these letters are full of historical and literary references that are explained to the reader in great detail. It leads us on a journey through Europe uncovering lost poems and ancient manuscripts, sometimes dawdling and othertimes at breakneck speed. Cue The Da Vinci Code comparisons.

I didn’t remember ever having seen the book there or anywhere else, so I took it down and looked through it without really thinking. The binding was soft, faded leather, and the pages inside appeared to be quite old. It opened easily to the very center. Across those two pages I saw a great woodcut of a dragon with spread wings and a long looped tail, a beast unfurled and raging, claws outsretched. In the dragon’s claws hung a banner on which ran a single word in Gothic lettering: DRAKULYA.

What we learn is that our heroine’s father, Paul and his mentor, Professor Rossi, had already begun to uncover some of the secrets and myths behind who Vlad the Impaler really was. Getting closer to the truth also brings them closer to danger and the sudden disappearance of Rossi adds yet another layer of mystery to the story.

Where Kostova succeeds is her intricate descriptions of 15th century history and the feeling of dusty books and quiet library corners. She also manages to steer clear of the usual vampire cliches - nowhere will you find Dracula proclaiming “I vant to drink your blood!” Instead it’s the quick slash of blood on the ceiling or the ghostly face of a shadowy figure.

A lot of the 640 pages are spent reading books or running into coincidental characters that move the story along. Indeed after the third or fourth of these characters you begin to wonder why they’re having all the trouble they are. And that’s where Kostova’s writing falls flat. She sets up a beguiling amount of mysteries and unanswered questions only to have our heroes bump into someone that can answer their questions. If only real life was like that!

The conclusion rushes to its abrupt end - far too abrupt in my opinion - that left me wondering if I’d read it correctly. 620 pages of telling the story and then 3 to wrap it up. 3 pages!

As a debut it is a well-written and intriging story, but a slightly flawed novel. If all else fails, it shouldn’t do the sales of garlic any harm.

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