Which B5 Book is Next?

[HockeyPlayer47]

Hey Everyone,

OK. I now have the Psi Corp, Legions of Fire, and Technomage Trilogies. I also have The Shadow Within and To Dream in the City of Sorrows is in the mail. I ordered it through Amazon. Seeing as it will only last me about 2 days, what should I get next? Should I try to hunt down the other 7 of the original 9 B5 books? Or should I just invest in something like the season guides? What should I spend my money on next. Oh, and I already have all the DVD's that are out plus I have season 3 preordered. So.......... What's next?

Thanks in Advance,
HockeyPlayer47

 

[Elric]

I have read all the above mentioned books (finished the the last one yesterday in fact ).

Although I have not read the earlier ones, I have heard several people say that they are not up to the standard of the later ones (the 3 trilogies) and I don't think they are 'official' JMS storylines. One of the critisicms is that many of the characters are way off - nothing like they are in the series.

Of course, this is only second hand information so don't quote me on it

 

[Lyta]

I think Dell is planning on releasing all the original novels but I haven't heard anything about that lately. You may just want to wait until that happens as it will be easier and cheaper.

The season guides sound good and a lot of people have been raving about the RPG books coming out now and even if you don't game, you might find them interesting.

Are you looking for things that are strictly in the B5 universe?

 

[HockeyPlayer47]

It doesn't have to be in the B5 universe. I like other things but right now B5 is what I'm most interested in. If you recommend something else I might consider it.

 

[The_Hobbit]

I think what Lyta ment was if you wanted only books that are considered to be strictly canon by JMS, meaning the stories are what 'actually happened'.

The earlier books (1-6 and 8 I think) take place in the B5 universerse, but they are not part of the 'real story'. For example, it is stated in one of them (I think 'Voices') that Talia (or Lyta, can't remember, must check) is deaf, and I think JMS has said that this is not true.

There is a similar thread going in the B5.world called babylon 5 books, you might want to check it out if you haven't seen it yet.

 

[Lyta]

The one where Lyta is deaf was "Clark's Law". I haven't read any of the original 9 (gosh how Minbari that sounds) except for "To Dream" and "Shadow Within" which are both good. If anyone is interested, there is my page which has all the books listed as well as JMS' quotes:

http://abyss.hubbe.net/b5/books/novels.html

HockeyPlayer, the reason why I asked if you are looking for things strictly in the B5 universe because there are other JMS stuff out there that you can check out.

If you don't mind comics or graphic novels, I highly recommend the "Midnight Nation" graphic novel. It is one of the best JMS stories I have read in a long time.

There are a couple of novels that he has written which might be worth picking up (I haven't read them yet):

* Demon Night (his first novel which is being republished in October)
* Tribulations (a contemporary mystery/noire thriller with supernatural overtones)

Oh, if you want more of B5 you might want to pick up the Scriptwriting book of his since it has the Hugo-Award winning script for the BABYLON 5 episode, "The Coming of Shadows."

 

[Mr. Morden]

what were the factual problems in book 1? vornhault or someone like that from the lurker's guide mentions them on your site.

 

[Lyta]

I am not sure what the factual problems were since I haven't read that book. However, you can read some other people's opinions in the moderated newsgroup if you want:

(Just be careful as there may be spoilers)
Post #1
Post #2
Post #3

Here is some fan reviews online:
http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/7061/book1.html
http://besterplace.tripod.com/en/dell.htm
http://www.sftv.org/amazon/mybooks.htm

PS: It was Lyta in Clark's Law and not Talia. Funny how I read it as Lyta but wrote Talia instead.

 

[zantarous]

Try the Andy Lane guides, this has loads of great information and interesting triva. The second book in the series got a lot of flak from people for being to critical but I enjoyed it.