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Title: Dark Genesis: The Birth of the Psi Corps (Babylon 5) by J. Gregory Keyes ISBN: 0-345-42715-7 Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 29 August, 1998 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.04 (56 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The Mother and Father of the Corps
Comment: This book, based on an outline from Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski (so you know it's official), covers the period in B5's history detailing the discovery of telepaths on Earth in 2115 and the early years of the Psi Corps.
I was stunned at the revelations in this book, including the appearance of the ancestors of several of B5's (in)famous telepath characters and briefly touches upon the first contact with the Centauri. But the thing that got me the most, and this is a small spoiler (but it's right at the start of the book), but the discovery of telepaths was the result of a joke. Yes, two medical students had to write and research a paper on the most outrageous topic they could think of as part of a hazing ritual, so they chose mind-reading. Imagine their surprise when they tested and found people who could actually do it.
Keep that in mind the next time you're watching Babylon 5 and it's an episode involving human telepaths. Sure, it would've been discovered sooner or later, but you have to appriciate the irony involved that the discovery of telepathic abilities, and all their subsequent problems, is the unintended side effect of a prank. Highly recommended.
Rating: 5
Summary: A great B5 Book, the best in this trilogy
Comment: This books goes further into the past with the B5 plot then any book did before. its writen well, and despite the fact that it happens well in the past, its still a great reading for a B5 fan.
it was a pleasure reading it again after the nightmare trilogy of the passing of the thecho mages.
Rating: 3
Summary: So you'd like to . . .
Comment: . . . Know how it's all started ? You've come to the right place .
If you're reading these lines , chances you are a Babylon 5 long lost fan , that wandered through the Internet looking for something new regarding the series . If so , I am certain you have always wanted to know the origins of one of the series' most interesting and thrilling 'alien' species . Inside is the beginning of everything you've always wanted to know .
This is the story of the Telepaths , the mind readers . Starting with the discovery of their existence , through their gathering to become the formidable and powerful force of the "Psi Corps" . Then , the counter formation of the Resistance , the actions and reactions of both , up until the birth of the most dreadful telepath to be , Alfred Bester .
The way I see it now , it's absolutely imperative that every real fan of the series put his hands on this book ; If you really loved the show , there is no better way , nowadays that the program is gone , to keep the flame burning . The moment I got into it , after 20-30 pages or so , I realized this had been what I needed . That resulted in an almost uninterrupted read to the end . Wow , that hasn't happened to me for a long time , but then again , I haven't read fiction books for quite sometime . . .
The graces of the book are embodied in keeping the spirit of the Babylon 5 Universe . As Londo Mollari once said , the universe is based on three elements : spirit , matter and personal interests ; different characters are driven by power hunger on one side , and desire to be free on the other side . One can really see them function as real characters in a B-5 episode .
The tension is high , as in the series . Bad and good things happen all the time (depends on your point of view) . The reader can understand the motivations of both sides , and in that the author does a nice job of not openly indicating who the bad guys are and who aren't . You can wind up finishing the reading not knowing who is right and who is wrong , just like in the series (recall Zahadum and the disclosure of the Shadows), and in real life .
Let me inform you of what not to expect . First of all , this is not a masterful literature , but more of a script , in case it were to become a movie ; don't expect a thorough and satisfying character development . What Mister Keyes has done here is squeezing something like 70-80 years in 267 pages , with something like eight(!) leading figures to make things going . He could have easily filled in a 500-pageturner with much thicker scope .
I think us readers deserve more , but I have to remember , as you have to too , that these kind of books were primarily written aiming at teens , as the style and language represent that aim . Aside from that , there are , of course , the constraints the editors posit in regard to the book's extent and length , so Keyes may not be totally responsible .
Don't expect an easy track of the events . The author , in a peculiar way , spared a solid timeline to help us understand who lives and who doesn't and when , not to mention their current age in the time certain events take place . This defect is one of the most irritating misdeeds of the author (there aren't many , by the way), and I truly don't reckon where the editor was when he should have stepped in .
To sum everything up , regarding it as a fun and superficial read , without high hopes for a masterful fictional creation , makes it worth the while . I did wind up knowing a lot more about the Corps , and it did satisfy my hunger for knowledge .
Watch out for my upcomimg review of the second book of the trilogy in the near future .
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Title: The Long Night of Centauri Prime (Babylon 5: Legions of Fire, Book 1) by Peter David ISBN: 0345427181 Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 07 December, 1999 List Price(USD): $6.50 |
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Title: Armies of Light and Dark (Babylon 5: Legions of Fire, Book 2) by Peter David ISBN: 034542719X Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 02 May, 2000 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Out of the Darkness (Babylon 5: Legions of Fire, Book 3) by Peter David ISBN: 0345427203 Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 31 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $6.50 |
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Title: Casting Shadows (Babylon 5: The Passing of the Techno-Mages, Book 1) by Jeanne Cavelos ISBN: 0345427211 Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 27 February, 2001 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Invoking Darkness (Babylon 5: The Passing of the Techno-Mages, Book 3) by Jeanne Cavelos ISBN: 0345438337 Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 27 November, 2001 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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