Serenity: The Shepherd’s Tale

Serenity: The Shepherd’s Tale (2010) Joss Whedon, Zack Whedon, Chris Samnee

The long awaited story of Shepherd Book’s past.

First. Too short. Way too short. Extremely too short.

We are given brief glimpses of his past and how he became the man who boarded Serenity. I suppose Book is supposed to be remembering his past as he lies dying, but I don’t think that justifies the brevity of the story. Especially when there are five whole pages showing us the attack that killed him. The story really could have been fleshed out far more than it was, giving as a much better story than we got. Shepherd Book deserves more than the short shrift he got here.

And even worse, I don’t quite believe the explanation given as to why he was treated the way he was by the alliance in Safe.

SPOILER (rot13)

V whfg qba’g ohl vg. Gurl znl unir “fjrcg (gur vapvqrag) haqre gur eht” jvgubhg n gevny, ohg ur jnf fgvyy fhzznevyl qvfpunetrq naq gurl jrer ubcvat gb fraq uvz gb uvf qrngu. Jul uvf vqrag pneq jbhyq tvir gur Nyyvnapr pnhfr gb gerng uvz yvxr na ubaberq irgrena V pna’g frr. V unir n uneq gvzr oryvrivat gung gurl yrsg uvf erpbeqf va nal sbez gung jbhyq unir tvira uvz nal nffvfgnapr ng nyy–ab yrff gur glcr bs erprcgvba ur jnf tvira.

Naq erzrzore, abg bayl qvq gurl tvir uvz rkpryyrag zrqvpny pner, ohg gurl nyfb yrg Freravgl tb jvgubhg nethzrag. V unir n uneq gvzr oryvrivat gung uvf erpbeq tnir uvz gung xvaq bs fgnghf.

END SPOILER

So, sadly, I found it mostly disappointing, and felt that Shepherd Book deserved better.
Rating: 5/10

Published by Dark Horse Books

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