It's truly amazing that Zack Whedon managed to fit such a complete, touching, and revealing backstory of Shepherd Book into 56 comic book pages. It's been a long time since I watched Firefly or Serenity, so it took me a second to fully remember who these people are. But it's almost like Zack Whedon knew that, and why shouldn't he? Firefly was cancelled years ago, and Serenity's long since left theaters. So he takes just a second to get you into the Firefly world, then launches fully into revealing Book's history. 
 And what a history. In this short graphic novel, we see many different aspects of Book's character, told backwards, jumping back through time to the most important, defining moments in Book's life. But wow is it compelling. Whedon lays out the character and picks him apart, revealing his ever-changing motivations and personality as he ages. Just when you think you've figured him out, you learn something else to totally subvert your expectations. 
 I would've loved to have spent a little more time with the character and explore these times in his life more completely, but that's not in the cards. But that works in this book's favor: just like the canceled-too-early series it comes from, it leaves you wanting more. And that's more than a lot of comics can boast.