As a general rule, I ignore spin-off books in science fiction universes.
But as I go through the DVD commentary of JMS, he keeps making references to the novel or another, which makes me think that some of them might be worth reading.
But surely not all of them, I figure.
Can any of you fans out there give me a heads up on some of the ones that I definitely should read, and the ones I definitely shouldn't?
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
To Dream in the City of Sorrows, by Kathryn M. Drennan. It tells the story of Sinclair after Season 1, gives insight into Marcus Cole and the Rangers, gives info on Catherine Sakai, and shows a bit more how Minbari society works. This is, as per JMS, the official canon story of Jeffrey Sinclair, and he worked closely with the author to make ensure it all fit with the rest of the story revealed in the show and comics.
I really liked it, but I liked Sinclair and Marcus very much.
I've also read Dark Genesis: The Birth of the PSI Corps by J. Gregory Keyes. Another book that fills in some history of the B5 universe, as you might guess it follows the PSI Corps from the discovery of telepaths to the organization we see in the TV show. First in a trilogy, good enough that I still want to read the next two books but hadn't yet found them in my local stores. If you like Bester and the other Teeps, check it out.
I have a few other B5 books I picked up at a yard sale, but haven't read them yet. I'll let you know how they are.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
In general, many of the books are similar to the movie "In the Beginning", filling in the gaps between events that we already know about and filling in some of the context. In terms of quality, while they are a step above other spin-off books due to the (seemingly) tight control JMS has over events and changes to the B5 universe, they are still not particularly interesting unless you are already interested in the B5 universe and the "niche" that the particular set of book addresses.
That said, I'd agree with the assessment of To Dream in the City of Sorrows. Although I read these books a fairly long time ago, so I may be off the details.
I've read Psi Corps trilogy which focuses on Bester and covers quite a length of time from the birth of the organization to after the Telepath War. That seemed to be pretty good.
I've read two thirds of the Legions of Fire trilogy which covers what happens on Centauri Prime with the Drakh, Vir, and Londo. That seemed to be pretty good although there appears to be a problem obtaining the concluding book which is selling for about $50 or more on Amazon used (sigh)
The Technomage Trilogy has interesting bits, but overall is a bit weak. Galen's behaviour is repetitive. The story also does some pretty heavy retcon work on two events in B5, one minor and one rather major to the extent that I almost place those events in an "alternate universe B5" in my own personal B5 "world". Only read if you liked the Geometry of Shadows or Galen's character.
Overall, no real stinkers (out of the books I read), a cut above normal spin-off work*, but nothing too "must-read" either.
* Note: I'm rather negative on most spin-off work, e.g. how many times can the Star Wars Emperor die in the EU and how many crazy irreconcilable changes that are immediately forgotten can occur in the Star Trek books...
Posted by Bekenn (Member # 6602) on :
These B5 books are all considered "canon":
The Shadow Within, Jeanne Cavelos: Tells the story of the Icarus, from Anna's point of view.
To Dream in the City of Sorrows, Kathryn Drenann (Mrs. JMS): Sinclair's story after leaving B5.
The Psi Corps trilogy, by J. Gregory Keyes: Tells the story of how the Psi Corps got started, and then moves on to Bester's story, from birth to death. Dark Genesis: The Birth of the Psi Corps Deadly Relations: Bester Ascendant Final Reckoning: The Fate of Bester
The Centauri Prime trilogy, by Peter David: Tells the story of Londo and Vir after Londo becomes emperor, including how Vir came to take the throne. Legions of Fire: The Long Night of Centauri Prime Legions of Fire: Armies of Light and Dark Legions of Fire: Out of the Darkness
The Techno-Mage trilogy, by Jeanne Cavelos: Tells the story of Galen and the rest of the Techno-Mages. The Passing of the Techno-Mages: Casting Shadows The Passing of the Techno-Mages: Summoning Light The Passing of the Techno-Mages: Invoking Darkness
All of these are worth reading, but my favorites are To Dream in the City of Sorrows and the Psi Corps trilogy.
As for the B5 novels not listed here, don't bother; none of those are canon (or, really, any good at all, from what I've heard; I've only read one of them).
Posted by Snail (Member # 9958) on :
I've read The Shadow Within book (about the last days of Icarus) and the first book of the Psi Corps trilogy. I remember enjoying them both in a "fun to read once to pass the time" way. I never got interested enough to track down any of the other books though.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
*bumped to get Lisa's input*
Posted by Magson (Member # 2300) on :
I've read them all, plus a couple of short stories that JMS published in fan mags. Overall I'd agree with the assessments already given -- that they're all worth reading once, but not too much in the way of re-readability.
And the technomage trilogy was a bit weak, yeah. Still worth reading, but a bit weak.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
Well, the techomages as a concept were pretty weak from the get-go, so I'm not surprised.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by mr_porteiro_head: *bumped to get Lisa's input*
Eep. I hadn't seen this.
I knew that To Dream in the City of Sorrows was canon, and I thought it was tremendous. I didn't know that The Shadow Within was, though. I need to read it.
The Telepath trilogy was great, I thought. The first book takes place when they're first discovering that there are telepaths, and the third one follows Bester in the years following the Telepath War (which I still want to find out about).
The Centauri trilogy was interesting as well. It fills in the gaps left in those 16 years between the end of the show and the deaths of G'Kar and Lando. And it shows Vir really growing into himself.
I never got to the Technomage trilogy. The Technomages just never really interested me, I guess. I do want to read it eventually, but it doesn't gnaw at me, or anything.
As for the rest... I remember reading the first 7 or 8 B5 books. They were okay. Like the bulk of the old Star Trek novelizations, it was kind of fun to see the characters I liked, but it was nothing to write home about.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
Oh, also, some of the comics are apparently canon. They're listed here