Interplanetary Man of Mystery

[Doyle]

Shepard Book, Interplanetary Man of Mystery.

I could so see a spinoff for the adventures of Book as a younger man, perhaps as the Alliance operative we suspect he may have been. Perhaps played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, which could be interesting at more than one level, or maybe by someone higher of profile: Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Don Cheadle etc.

We know what happens to Book, eventually. But the character so clearly has a history. A great script, with someone like Jamie Foxx headlining the cast, and you wouldn't have to explain the intricacies of the Firefly/Serenity 'verse to the press. Just what a cool character Foxx (or whoever) is playing, which would be relatively a piece 'o' cake.

[blackdog]

Book's death was...for me, anyway...the saddest part of Serenity. Now it will be difficult for us to learn anything more about his past.

...the Alliance operative we suspect he may have been.

Was he this, or something else? We have some clues. It's easy to see a similarity between Book and the Operative (and also Richard Brooks' character in Objects In Space), but I think there is more to the story.

If Book was simply an assasin or enforcer, I doubt if he would have received the no-questions-asked attention accorded him in Safe. In The Message, it is Book who understands that the bounty hunters chasing Tracey are working outside of official channels, and he uses this knowledge to force them to back off.

So many questions...and now we may never know...

[ILLYRIAN]

Shepperd Book, a man of God, riding a donkey.

Nah, that's been done before, I wonder if the donkeys name was Anya ??