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News post: Babylon 5: Invoking Darkness reviewed

woohoo that was a great book.

As I said I got it yesturday I didn't get a chance to sleep last night as i wanted to finish the book!

a spoiler from book 3 follows whihc made me sad.

<table bgcolor=black><tr><td bgcolor=black><font size=1 color=white>Spoiler:</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size=2 color=black> When Elizer and Razeel go to Soom and find Fa they be nice but then torcher her...as Gale (Fa's name for galen) watch's through the ring her gave her...so sad..more sobs from me </font></td></tr></table>



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Deviot
Lincbot@yahoo.com.au
 
I have to say this book really appealed to me. I loved learning "behind the scenes" stuff about all the well known characters on Babylon 5. My thanks to Jeanne for all the pleasure she has brought into my life.

I guess I enjoyed the technomages because of all the magical powers they have, even if they are not entirely what they seem.

I don't want to be accused of spoilers because I know many people are still waiting for their copies of the book, but I do indeed URGE everyone to read all three of the technomage books. They are a fascinating read.
smile.gif


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I always seem to be diagonally parked in a parallel universe.
 
I posted my short review of the book under a separate topic "Quick Review of Invoking Darkness". Spoilers are hidden and it's mostly positive. If anyone would like to comment on any of my minor criticisms, including Jeanne Cavelos, I'd welcome it.

No one talkings to Zathras, no, not good. *Tsk tsk*

------------------
"Draal gave Zathras list of things not to say.
This was one. No.... *tsk tsk*
No. Not good.
Not supposed to mention... "one", or... THE one.
Hmmmm.
You never heard that."
 
Jeanne - Hi! (waving madly). Glad you find this forum too.
Just finished the 3rd book - WOW! Some real heart-wrenching scenes. There were places where I had to put the book down and walk away - reminding myself this was just a fictional story - because some interaction between characters was making me so mad or so sad. And the ending was super. Problem is - now I want more <g>.
Everyone hurry up and get your copies of the book so we can have a real, detailed discussion without worrying about spoiling it for the others. It's worth it.
Now I'm going to have to go back and re-read the whole triology again. Such a sacrifice <g>.
Margot

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Welcome to B5LR, Ms. Cavelos. It's an honor to have you here.

If you go through our old postings, you'll find quite a few threads devoted to your books. I think I can say we've all loved them.

I did just get recently get my hands on Invoking Darkness. What a great book. It certainly tied up more than a few loose ends. Congratulations and thank you for such an engrossing trilogy.

I do have one question; but I'm not sure you can answer it. Here goes:

<table bgcolor=black><tr><td bgcolor=black><font size=1 color=white>Spoiler:</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size=2 color=black>

When Galen merges with his tech, he gains a level of enlightenment that saps his anger at the universe and any gods that may have designed it.

Yet, when we see Galen in Crusade, that anger and resentment of the universe is back. How can this be?

</font></td></tr></table>



Thanks!

------------------
"What's up, Drakh?"

Michael Garibaldi
 
I wondered at the same thing MondoLondo. I' have another question for Jeanne Cavelos that's been puzzling me since I finished the book.

You asked for it Jeanne! You might STILL have to run off with Igmoe!
laugh.gif


<table bgcolor=black><tr><td bgcolor=black><font size=1 color=white>Spoiler:</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size=2 color=black> Nifty twist there with Wierden being The Eye. Luckily for me, I did guess about a page before you revealed it and assumed that Galen was going to be the replacement (a la Varn and Draal in The Great Machine).

So my question is this:

In the first episode following the nuking of Z'ha'Dum, we are told that Sheridan has been missing for nine days. Delenn, Ivanova and Lyta journey to Z'ha'Dum to see if Sheridan is still alive and are detected by "The Eye" almost immediately. It speaks to them telepathically "in the voices of their fathers" and tells them to land. They almost do, but Lennier had set a failsafe that would turn the ship around and jump out.

Lucky that!

So at the end of Book 3, Wierden is dead, Elizar is dead, Justin is presumably dead and The Eye is, for lack of a better word, dead. How did the Shadows manage to get it running again so quickly and where could they have found a mind of sufficiently powerful control as was necessary to properly run it? </font></td></tr></table>

Just wonderin'

------------------
"Draal gave Zathras list of things not to say.
This was one. No.... *tsk tsk*
No. Not good.
Not supposed to mention... "one", or... THE one.
Hmmmm.
You never heard that."
 
B5-Obsessed:

Curiosity is among my greatest weaknesses.
laugh.gif

So here comes my guess, with a few questions attached, although I still haven't managed to read the third technomage book...

<table bgcolor=black><tr><td bgcolor=black><font size=1 color=white>Spoiler:</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size=2 color=black>So the Eye needs someone to run it, just like the Great Machine. Are there any requirements to the kind of being required to operate the Eye?

Must it be someone of the younger races... or could a Shadow take over as well? It would be logical for them to take direct control of their fleets in an emergency. It has been my suspicion that with no commands from the Eye, Shadow fleets would become free agents of chaos.

Perhaps they have less powerful backup versions of the Eye? After all, they do call it the Eye -- and a Shadow has four rows of eyes.

And a question regarding another mystery, one which this book might possibly solve. Do the Shadows also build mage-like tech for themselves? I would be grateful for any insights into this question.

No need to worry about spoilers, I love reading a good amount of spoilers while I still haven't got the book.</font></td></tr></table>



[This message has been edited by Lennier (edited December 02, 2001).]
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by B5_Obsessed:


and The Eye is, for lack of a better word, dead.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

<table bgcolor=black><tr><td bgcolor=black><font size=1 color=white>Spoiler:</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size=2 color=black> I thought that after the whitestar crashed into the Shadows City most of the eye died but not all of it. But it was under galen's control, after galen left in the Shadow vessel the eye probably went back to Shadow control and grew larger again.

I like how the eye is basically the Shadows collective place of power.
And I wonder if they got as damaged after Zahadum blew up as much as the technomage's were damaged after destroying there place's of power. </font></td></tr></table>



------------------
Deviot
Lincbot@yahoo.com.au
 
Hi Jeanne, and welcome to B5LR.
smile.gif


I have read the first two books in the technomage trilogy and I just wanted to say that I think they are excellent. I liked them very much, and I am looking forward to reading Invoking Darkness, even if people are saying it is the darkest of the three. I got a note from Amazon.com whom I ordered my copy from that it is on its' way. Hopefully it will be here in the next day or so and then I can dig into it!

------------------
Lorien: Who are you?
RW: The salad man.
Lorien: Why are you here?
RW: To be the salad ambassador.
Lorien: What do you want?
RW: Everyone to know the joys of salad.
Lorien: Do you have anything worth living for?
RW: Yes, my salad bars.
 
To Lennier:

<table bgcolor=black><tr><td bgcolor=black><font size=1 color=white>Spoiler:</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size=2 color=black> It is stated in the book that Galen was to become the new "heart" of The Eye because of his exceptional control. Galen's orderly mind and control over his emotions is what makes him a great candidate. Similarly, it states a little earlier on as foreshadowing that Wierdens' control was legendary. So, a highly orderly and well-controlled mind is needed in The Eye to run EVERYTHING. I don't beleve any Shadow technology is designed to be used on the Shadows themselves. Younger races are technologocal components to them. Getting the best replacement available is no different than buyig a Pentium 4 and installing it in your computer. </font></td></tr></table>

To Deviot:


<table bgcolor=black><tr><td bgcolor=black><font size=1 color=white>Spoiler:</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size=2 color=black> When Wierden separated from The Eye, it began to join with Galen. He controlled it and it controlled him. But after he cast the equation that freed him, he dissociated from The Eye and I believe it was referred to as "dead". It must have a replacement. </font></td></tr></table>



------------------
"Draal gave Zathras list of things not to say.
This was one. No.... *tsk tsk*
No. Not good.
Not supposed to mention... "one", or... THE one.
Hmmmm.
You never heard that."
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by B5_Obsessed:
To Deviot:

<table bgcolor=black><tr><td bgcolor=black><font size=1 color=white>Spoiler:</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size=2 color=black> When Wierden separated from The Eye, it began to join with Galen. He controlled it and it controlled him. But after he cast the equation that freed him, he dissociated from The Eye and I believe it was referred to as "dead". It must have a replacement. </font></td></tr></table>


<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

<table bgcolor=black><tr><td bgcolor=black><font size=1 color=white>Spoiler:</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size=2 color=black> Sounds about right to me... most intelligent computer users have a backup somewhere...
smile.gif
</font></td></tr></table>

On to personal reviews...

Someone mentioned earlier about Galen being more unhappy about the world during "Crusade"...

<table bgcolor=black><tr><td bgcolor=black><font size=1 color=white>Spoiler:</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size=2 color=black>I don't see a problem with this - in fact, I was extrememely worried that in the book I wouldn't be given enough information to understand how Galen... "Got over himself" for a lack of a better way of putting it. Him becoming at peace with the tech brought him inner peace with himself, but I don't see that sufficient to bring any "Grand Acceptance of Idiocy".

I mean, remember that the Galen in Crusade -
1) Had to stay another... um, 10 or so years being the lowest man on the Technomage totem pole...
2) Was surrounded by a bunch of technomages who just didn't understand the way his spells worked. Therefore, he has this simple, perfect cure to all their ills and... they can't use it.
3) Got KICKED OUT of the technomages because he spent too much time worrying about the galaxy - the JOB HE WAS TOLD TO DO...
and
4) Has watched and IS WATCHING worlds DIE from the Drakh Virus - a virus that, with his connection to the tech and his monitoring, he should have been able to prevent. Which brings us back to 1.
smile.gif


So I don't see any problems with that, and as I've mentioned before, I'm the cynic who doesn't believe that the relationship in book 1 lasted long enough to be as important as it was.
smile.gif
</font></td></tr></table>



------------------
 
Maybe I'm remembering it wrong, but at the end of Book 3, Galen seems at peace with the universe.

However, during Crusade, it seemed to me all of the anger at God or the universe had returned to him regarding Isabelle's death.

It left me curious.


------------------
"What's up, Drakh?"

Michael Garibaldi
 
Yes, the quote at the end of the book was roughly:


<table bgcolor=black><tr><td bgcolor=black><font size=1 color=white>Spoiler:</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size=2 color=black>"Isabelle had told him that to embrace life (or something like that) he must open up - to himself, to others, and to God. He felt as thought he may have accomplished all three."

Where it is obvious that the Galen of "Crusade" is much more personable and no longer the ticking timebomb of fury he was in the book, he is still holding a MAJOR grudge against God and has not accepted the will of the Universe, even though he appears to understand and accept it at the end of the book. </font></td></tr></table>



------------------
"Draal gave Zathras list of things not to say.
This was one. No.... *tsk tsk*
No. Not good.
Not supposed to mention... "one", or... THE one.
Hmmmm.
You never heard that."
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by B5_Obsessed:



To Deviot:




<table bgcolor=black><tr><td bgcolor=black><font size=1 color=white>Spoiler:</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size=2 color=black> When Wierden separated from The Eye, it began to join with Galen. He controlled it and it controlled him. But after he cast the equation that freed him, he dissociated from The Eye and I believe it was referred to as "dead". It must have a replacement. </font></td></tr></table>

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

<table bgcolor=black><tr><td bgcolor=black><font size=1 color=white>Spoiler:</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size=2 color=black> Yup agree with that except I do not remeber in the book anywhere saying the eye was completly dead....or maybe it was just my own assumption that the shadows would have anotehr backup.....because what would they have used if Galen didn't go to the Big Z.....Weirdon was going to die wether galen came or not </font></td></tr></table>



------------------
Deviot
Lincbot@yahoo.com.au
 
To Deviot (again)




<table bgcolor=black><tr><td bgcolor=black><font size=1 color=white>Spoiler:</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size=2 color=black> Well, Wierden was holding on for a thousand years and The Eye seemed to keep her alive all that time and may have been able to keep her alive for tens or hundreds of years more perhaps. When Galen arrived, Wierden chose to dissociate and die. I believe the book did say The Eye was dead (because no one was in it). And no, it didn't say it couldn't come back to life with a replacement.

But that was the point of my original question. Galen was chosen because he had a rare quality of control, equal to or greater than Wierden's. The Shadows saw his value and would not let Elizar kill him. So my question was how did they find another person with such an astonishing mind - and have him or him in the machine in only a week or so? </font></td></tr></table>



------------------
"Draal gave Zathras list of things not to say.
This was one. No.... *tsk tsk*
No. Not good.
Not supposed to mention... "one", or... THE one.
Hmmmm.
You never heard that."
 
<table bgcolor=black><tr><td bgcolor=black><font size=1 color=white>Spoiler:</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size=2 color=black>Anyone else find it a little odd that the shadows would require a "highly ordered and controlled" mind at the heart of their place of power?

How very vorlon of them.
laugh.gif
laugh.gif
</font></td></tr></table>



------------------
DaveC
"Want to talk socks?"
 
Good point. The same thought occurred to me in the past about the Shadows actions in general. They sow the seeds of chaos, but the Shadows are VERY orderly and controlling. Chaos is good for us, apparently, but not for them.

Galen realizes this too in the book at one point - that despite the Shadows' espousal of the virtues of chaos, they are just as much into order and control as the Vorlons are.

------------------
"Draal gave Zathras list of things not to say.
This was one. No.... *tsk tsk*
No. Not good.
Not supposed to mention... "one", or... THE one.
Hmmmm.
You never heard that."
 
I suppose this is a 'do as I say not as I do' kind of thing. Keep in mind the Chaos that the Shadows are weaving serves to ONLY help advance younger races. It matters not what THEY do, they need to cause Chaos for US so WE can evolve. They are already there.

------------------
'I don't believe in the no-win scenario' - JTK
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Deviot:


<table bgcolor=black><tr><td bgcolor=black><font size=1 color=white>Spoiler:</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size=2 color=black> Yup agree with that except I do not remeber in the book anywhere saying the eye was completly dead....or maybe it was just my own assumption that the shadows would have anotehr backup.....because what would they have used if Galen didn't go to the Big Z.....Weirdon was going to die wether galen came or not </font></td></tr></table>

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

<table bgcolor=black><tr><td bgcolor=black><font size=1 color=white>Spoiler:</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size=2 color=black>Precisely. In addition, the shadows have plenty of allies -- they could presumably have found plenty of bodies. Also, they presumably understand their own technology, and likely could have cobbled together a replacement even if they didn't have enough (or the right kind of) bodies to rebuild the eye.</font></td></tr></table>

-g

------------------
 
Just got a mail from Amazon.co.uk today saying that because the demand for Invoking Darkness has been so great, their supplier hasn't managed to get the books to them yet.

The good thing about this is that the book is popular and appears to exceed the sales forecast...
smile.gif
...the bad thing is that I'll have to wait even longer to get the trilogy (since I ordered them all together).
mad.gif


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"Narns, Humans, Centauri... we all do what we do for the same reason: because it seems like a good idea at the time." - G'Kar, Mind War
Kribu's Lounge | kribu@ranger.b5lr.com
 
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