I'm running through a second pass in the series, it's just really great.  My buddy sent me "Serenity", too, so once I finish the series again, I'll watch the movie.

Yes, Gundamhead, I agree, the premises are a little similar, which is how my buddy Scott and I got on the topic in the first place   Well, I think we started out talking about Maschinen Krieger and David Drake's Hammer's Slammers novels, then started to go through other sci-fi stories that have a "realistic" premise, that is, the universe is described/depicted in a way that is more realistic and plausible than in some others, and also, where the storylines themselves are well-written.  I think of Heinlein, Philip K Dick, Arthur C Clarke, for example.

It is a real shame that "Firefly" was cancelled, and I still don't know how I missed it, when it aired.  Maybe because it was Fox, and I really only paid attention to "The Simpsons" on that network.