We rolled right into the second book of the Legions of Fire trilogy: Armies of Light and Dark, and we weren’t disappointed! This book flows seamlessly from the first, with the story shifting from focusing on Londo to putting Vir center stage. Armies of Light and Dark was written by Peter David and based on a script written by JMS. The story opens in 2267 and carries us into 2277. These dates come directly from references early, and also late in the book. Vir, the Centauri Ambassador to Babylon 5, takes center stage as we see his life balancing between being marginalized on the Station by ever ..read more

If you were with us when we reviewed the stand-alone novels, you’ll remember each novel seemed to be a roll of the dice. Would it be good, bad, a mixed bag? We never really knew until we dove in. Well, we finished the Psi Corps trilogy (which was powerful!) and now we’ve moved to the Legions of Fire (aka the Centauri) trilogy, but with no concerns. We finished the first book in the trilogy, The Long Night of Centauri Prime, and have no doubt this set of books will be as powerful as the first trilogy we read. The Long Night of Centauri Prime, as with all three of the Legions of Fire novels, we ..read more

Here we are, ready to discuss the third novel in the Psi Corps trilogy.  As with the other two, Final Reckoning:  The Fate of Bester was based on a script written by JMS, and are considered canon, and written by J. Gregory Keyes.  As the story ends, we pick up with Mr. Bester approximately in the year 2250, and follow him until approximately 2281, around the time John Sheridan dies and the Babylon 5 station is decommissioned.  The novel takes place on Earth, and primarily in the city of Paris. As things kick off, we’ve moved forward in time and the Psi Corps as we knew it ..read more

Here we are, ready to discuss the third novel in the Psi Corps trilogy.  As with the other two, Final Reckoning:  The Fate of Bester was based on a script written by JMS, and are considered canon, and written by J. Gregory Keyes.  As the story ends, we pick up with Mr. Bester approximately in the year 2250, and follow him until approximately 2281, around the time John Sheridan dies and the Babylon 5 station is decommissioned.  The novel takes place on Earth, and primarily in the city of Paris. As things kick off, we’ve moved forward in time and the Psi Corps as we knew it ..read more

With the second book in the “Psi Corps Trilogy” under our belts, we’re back to discuss the continuing story as captured in Deadly Relations:  Bester Ascendant.  As mentioned previously, this set of books was based on a script written by JMS, and are considered canon, and all three were written by J. Gregory Keyes.  The second novel in the set begins in about 2190 when Al Bester was just six years old, and tells us his story right up until his first visit to Babylon 5, covering another 60 years of time.  This novel really is Bester’s story. The story is told in four p ..read more

We’re back again, this time starting the first trilogy of novels, collectively called the “Psi Corps Trilogy.” This set of books were based on a script written by JMS, and are considered canon, and all three were written by J. Gregory Keyes. In this first novel, we learn Bester’s backstory, and see just how the Psi Corps began. The novel starts in 2115, then quickly covers 80 years of time—basically from 130 years before the events in the movie “In the Beginning”, and ending about 50 years before the same. If compared to Season 1 of the original series, these events span from 142 years to 62 ..read more

This time we’re looking at the final novel in the set of nine standalone novels: the much-anticipated To Dream in the City of Sorrows, by Katheryn Drennan. With what we already knew about this book, there was little concern about how good it was rumored to be. It was everything we’d expected and hoped for and/or remembered. Toward the end of the show, we mention that this was Raul’s third time reading the story over the years, it was Jim’s second, and JP’s first time through. It was unanimous that it was worth every minute of time spent to read it, or reread it. As we’ve talked about each of ..read more

Here we are, looking at the second to last standalone novel Personal Agendas, by Al Sarrantonio. We approached this one with cautious optimism, since it follows a very well written novel that brought us home to the Babylon 5 universe we all love so much. Turns out we weren’t let down; the book warranted our optimism. There were highs and a few lows though, but overall it was well-received. Personal Agendas filled in some of the backstory revolving around G’Kar’s captivity on Centauri Prime under the ruthless rule of Cartagia. For those familiar with the television series, you know Sarrantonio ..read more

We’ve arrived at the seventh and much-anticipated standalone novel The Shadow Within, by Jeanne Cavelos. And it was worth the wait! The story takes place just before the Babylon 5 television series pilot episode “The Gathering” and was clearly well researched, and also presumably informed by the author’s familiarity with the characters as we know them from the series. The book was authored and published at a time when Ms. Cavelos would have had access to the first three seasons, and part of the fourth season, of the TV show. It looks like she was as much a fan as we are. The book is considere ..read more

The sixth standalone novel we’re discussing is Betrayals, by S.M. Sterling. Raul offered a very useful way to view this book: as an anthology composed of two short stories and a novella. Taking this view helped frame or structure what we read. We all agreed this was a far better than the last two books—combined—even though, like the last several, this book seemed to contain more book than actual story. This is where the anthology perspective helped. Overall, the book focuses on a significant diplomatic conference occurring on Babylon 5, driving an acute need for superb security. The primary a ..read more