Where is everyone getting this?

Just a dissenting opinion to joev5638's take on the telepath trilogy:

I found the first two books to be vastly superior to the third book. The third book wraps up the Garibaldi-wants-revenge-on-Bester storyline that never got resolved in the show, but it happened in a way that was much too by-the-numbers for me.

Unlike the Centauri and Technomage books, the Telepath books all stand along pretty well, so those who want to skip one or two of them, or read them out of order can do so without getting too confused.


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I don't know.

I thought the ending of the third book and what finaly happened to Bester was one of the finest "poetic justice" endings ever.
Fantastic use of Irony.
Which, after all, IS the primary building material used in Babylon 5.

Plus, Garibaldi's last encounter with Bester is the Best Scene Ever.
I Hope JMS finds a way to work it into the Telepath War movie if he ever gets to film it.
I know I laughed out loud when I read it.


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Do not ascribe your own motivations to others:
At best, it will break your heart.
At worst, it will get you dead."

I thought the Telepath Trilogy (by J. Gregory Keyes, who's got a couple other interesting books out as well ) was very well done.

The first book does have a really big exposition burden, because he has to supply details that had never really been spelled out to answer the question-- Where did human telepaths come from, and why was Psi Corps created.

I thought it was fascinating, but moved a bit slowly. I'm not sure how that problem could have been eliminated with the expository necessities.

In contrast, the second and third books, having dispensed with the background, really let the horses run, so to speak.

So if you did find yourself wondering what all the fuss was about in the middle of Book 1, have a little faith and keep going. A big payoff comes down the road in 2 and 3.

Ro

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A ship in a port is safe, but that's not what ships are for.

Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper

Well, since this thread has turned into the topic of the B5 books and other material, I will suggest that anyone interested in more information about the trilogies, Dell novels, episode guides, jms books, comics, music, videos and more to visit my web site:

The Abyss : Welcome to Babylon 5

The only thing I don't have on the site is information about the cookbook (since it is hard to find) and the short stories (dito). Any feedback is welcome!

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Monica Hübinette | Abyss : B5 | Rangers Sponsor List
Pouch-sucking spawn of a bladder fish! Son of a fitch piece of smelt! Tok-swallowing fenbarger! Thrak it! --Na'Feel swearing in B5LR

Ebay is a great place to find all the B5 books, comics and related stuff. I just sold (hopefully, if the woman emails me back and sends me some money) my exta copy of In Valen's Name (issue 1). I've also gotten all the Dell books except Voices, Clark's Law, and The Touch of your shadow, the whisper of your name (damn that's a long title....lol). I also got the security manual the other day. I'm still trying for the other dell books and the cook book. I'll probally have them by the end of the month. Oh yeah, i also got the In Valen's Name set. You can get just about all of them there if you want them and most of the stuff isn't that expensive unless you buy it from someone overseas, then shipping generally sucks hard.

Sinc.
Jerome

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I am a Ranger. We walk in the dark places no others will enter. We stand on the bridge and no one may pass. We live for the One. We die for the one.

I thought the telepath trilogy was well-written and I particularly liked the first book. It gave us some insight into the start of the PsiCorps. However, since I was never a Bester fan, I just didn't care enough about him to really enjoy the other two books.

Having said that, I do feel this trilogy is a must read for all B5 fans.

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I always seem to be diagonally parked in a parallel universe.

Amazon.com is a very good place to search for books. They have all/most of the trilogies and single novels.

"Invoking Darkness" left me unsatisfied, hoping for something better...kind of like a McDonald's hamburger. The too often repeated scenes of Galen "bringing down the fire on himself" got to be too much. What is the guy, a masochist?

Jerry

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jerryo:
Amazon.com is a very good place to search for books. They have all/most of the trilogies and single novels.

"Invoking Darkness" left me unsatisfied, hoping for something better...kind of like a McDonald's hamburger. The too often repeated scenes of Galen "bringing down the fire on himself" got to be too much. What is the guy, a masochist?

Jerry

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I thought she went to that well too many times in Book #2. Did she keep going there in Book #3?

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KoshN
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Vorlon Empire

Crusade (reruns) starting 03/26/2002 at 1PM EST on the Sci-Fi Channel

http://www.scifi.com/b5rangers/

The only book I lack is To dream in the city of sorrows I have the other eight and all the trilogies the security manual,creating B5,all 5 season guides .the cookbook,and all the comic books .

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR> The too often repeated scenes of Galen "bringing down the fire on himself" got to be too much. What is the guy, a masochist?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

To some extent. He's using the Pain as part of an "anger management" technique.
The Shadow Tech magnifies anger and, left unchecked, tuns the person using it into a Homicidal Maniac.
Whenever he gets Angry, the pain short circuits the anger.

At about this time, Galen has a Lot of things he's MAD about.
And the Council keeps Pushing.

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Do not ascribe your own motivations to others:
At best, it will break your heart.
At worst, it will get you dead."

I understand the whole story line of why Galen repeatedly quick-fries himself. This temporary cure to his anger getting the better of him was used to the extreme, in my opinion,in book 2. And now we see it used repeatedly in book 3. Too bad he couldn't have just matured to the point of controlling his anger psychologically as evidently did other mages, or as we normals do; but then, some plot scenes would be missed..."behold, I am now the pillar of fire!...uh, fire extinguisher please?" I like the Galen character, perhaps not evident, but liked the character development of him in Crusade more so than that in the trilogy.

Yes, KoshN, its overuse continues in book 3.

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jerryo:
Too bad he couldn't have just matured to the point of controlling his anger psychologically as evidently did other mages, or as we normals do<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

"We normals" can't utterly crush someone we are unhappy with just through a momentary thought. I would suggest that if that were the case then most people in the world today would occassionally fail to maintain that level of control (at least, if they were limited to the way they currently maintain their composure).

As for the other mages: the book made a point of mentioning that as time had gone on in the hiding place the ranks of Blaylock's followers had been growing significantly. Remember how they maintained control? Regular, routine use of "scouring" (which means "bringing down the fire") and removing all possible stimuli right down to the point of disconecting their taste centers while eating. And still, when some of the things that Galen had known for quite some time became general knowledge there was a fair amount violence (although those mages dodn't have the spell of destruction).

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[This message has been edited by PillowRock (edited February 20, 2002).]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by PillowRock:
"We normals" can't utterly crush someone we are unhappy with just through a momentary thought. I would suggest that if that were the case then most people in the world today would occassionally fail to maintain that level of control (at least, if they were limited to the way they currently maintain their composure).
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes, can you imagine people in traffic at rush hour if they all had the Spell of Destruction (or even just fireballs) and had internal Shadowtech goading them into using it?

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KoshN
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Vorlon Empire

Crusade (reruns) starting 03/26/2002 at 1PM EST on the Sci-Fi Channel

http://www.scifi.com/b5rangers/