A Classic Civil War Novel Served as Joss Whedon's Inspiration for Firefly

In a 2002 interview, Whedon explained that his inspiration for "Firefly" came from reading "The Killer Angels". Michael Shaara's 1974 novel focuses on three days of the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War, as well as some of the time leading up to it. Whedon said:

"I became obsessed with the details of life back then, life on the frontier and when things weren't as practical as they are now. We wanted to do a show in the future that had a sense of history, that we didn't solve all our problems and have spotlessly clean spaceships."

“Firefly” follows the crew aboard the Serenity spacecraft as they do their best to stay out of trouble while crossing the verse. Our heroes are a ragtag group of smugglers led by Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion). Reynolds' time in the Unification War, along with that of his right-wing wife Zoë (Gina Torres), greatly informs who the two are as characters. They were on the losing side of the war and the Battle of Serenity Valley, which largely sealed their fate, is the name Mal gave to his spaceship.

"Firefly" indeed stands apart from other sci-fi shows and a lot of that is down to how fleshed out the world of this western space is. It's true that despite the future setting, life in the verse isn't easy. This is especially true for those who would have given their lives to defeat the Alliance, which remains very much in control.