Customer Reviews

Clark's Law (Babylon 5, Book 4)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Overall, I liked this book best out of the first six B5 novels. It is definitely among the deepest, most philosophical, and most thought-provoking of all the B5 novels. Some of the questions asked in this book parallel the great questions raised by the TV series: what do you do when your government gives you an order that you feel is morally wrong? When has deception gone too far? When do the ends no longer justify the means? Is the death penalty always morally wrong or only in some cases, such as when it is used to advance a political agenda? What is evil and where does it come from? At what point do you become so focused on the enemy that you become the enemy? When you have lost the moral high ground, or there was no moral high ground to begin with, then have you any right to judge the actions of another? If someone saves your life, just how far are you obligated to go to repay them? For that matter, if someone takes a life, how far are you obligated to go to punish them? The real strength of this book is without a doubt the same thing that made B5 such a great show: the thought-provoking questions it raises!

Another great thing about this book is that it ties in so well with the timeline of the show. This story is set shortly after Comes the Inquisitor and shortly before The Fall of Night and you really get a sense for what the characters are thinking and feeling at that time. G'kar is still dealing with the aftermath of the conquest of his world, Londo is dealing with his guilt, Vir is still trying to find a way to apologize to G'kar (the scenes with Vir and G'kar are in my opinion the best and most touching in the book), Franklin is battling his addiction, Ivanova is nursing her grudge against Psi Corps, Sheridan is worrying about Kosh's warning and about the changes taking place on Earth, and Garibaldi is as usual, mired in self-doubt. Furthermore, a sense of despair and of imminent doom seems to hang over everyone, and the future for all the space-faring races appears very bleak. This is entirely consistent with the mood of the series and the atmosphere on B5 by the end of 2259.

I liked the Tuchanq and found them even more believable and interesting (if a bit bizarre) than say the Drazi, the Hyach... I would like to have seen the Tuchanq make an appearance in the series after having read this book. I wonder, what was the final fate of the Tuchanq after the Shadow War?

One last thing on the plus side is the depth of some of the scenes in this book. I would love to have seen JMS turn this book into an episode just so I could see some of these scenes played out! The imagery is just incredible and so symbolic in places!

Having reviewed the positives, I do have some complaints about Clark's Law. First, the book was overly gory in some places. I would not recommend this book to anyone who might be offended or upset by gratuitous sex and violence. Second, there were some inconsistencies with the series. Since when did the alien ambassadors start wearing links on the back of their hands? How did the Changeling Nets get onto B5 without security finding out? Given the volatile situation with the Tuchanq, why wasn't security keeping a closer eye on G'kar & his people? Why wasn't there more security in the MedLab? And the opening scene where the Earth ship encountered the Minbari ship had a number of inconsistencies with the show. Characterization & dialogue is a little off in some places, other places it is right on. G'kar is colder and more violent than in the series, and Vir comes across as colder, angrier, and more opportunistic in some scenes. Sheridan comes across as more conniving and less straight-forward than usual. And I have trouble believing that Garibaldi would not be more suspicious of G'kar given G'kar's prior threats and behavior. But then, what could he do without proof? Third, (and this was the most irritating thing, I think) why is everyone constantly licking their lips in this book? That recycled space station air must be extremely dry...

Fortunately the book was not. Overall, Clark's Law is a good read, mostly consistent with the series, and definitely worth the money.

This book is the weakest of the B5 spinoffs, IMO. It really is a morality play about the implications of using the death penalty to score political points (I think - the book doesn't completely make sense), and features the decision by Captain Sheridan to execute a brain-damaged murderer (who actually was clinically insane even before the murders, and suffered brain damage in the events that led up to the murder). Understand? No? Welcome to the club, I really don't either. No current laws in any Western countries would "force" Sheridan to take such a step, but this isn't about B5, it is about the author's view of CP, and so the poor Captain has to become a bad guy to justify the plot and show how evil the DP supporters are.

To "redeem" himself (and damage Clark politically) Sheridan practically forces a riot in which more than 50 people are killed and 250 injured. This isn't the Captain Sheridan of the TV show!

Finally, Mortimore throws in gratuitous slams to the canon. We learn on page 91 that Lyta ALexander is completely deaf from childhood, and that she only "hears" through others' ears. That all of her responses to the mechanical voices (like that of Babcom) when she was alone in her quarters were not possible.

Now, why does Mortimore propose this? To advance the plot? No. The topic never comes up again. It turns out that Mortimore, in ignorance of anything from the TV series, is apparently just indulging in an interesting speculation (al la Alfred Bester's - the SF writer, not the charactor - amusing speculation on a blind telepath in "Golem 100"). Unlike AB's use of the concept, however, here it is just a conceit.

Bottom line: a bad book, that adds nothing to the canon where it doesn't ignore it. JMS must have been furious when he read this.

However, if it lead JMS to have more involvement in the books (like in the excellent trilogies) then be thankful this book was written.

Just don't buy it, except to complete the collection!

I did not care for this book. I have read most of the books in the series and enjoyed them, except "Clark's Law". The premise may have been good in any other sci-fi story, but did the author ever get to know the characters in B5? In Mortimore's book the main characters behaved in manners not seen, expected, or believed. I found it very disappointing.

As one can see looking at all the other reviews ranging from several one star rankings to several five star rankings this book is not easy to review. I see several reasons for this difference in views:

If this novel would not take place in the Babylon 5 universe but in a universe of its own, it would make a fine novel I would rank at about 3-4 stars. This book is mainly about death penalty and the "right to kill" and sheds light on many aspects of this theme, e.g. using death penalty as a political instrument to get more votes for your re-election (like president Clark does in this book through the law referred to in the book's title). Both sides, pro and contra, are given room for their arguments.

The problem with the novel is that it takes place in the B5 universe in a way I cannot accept as consistent with the TV series. While the story is fitting into the main facts of the series, to me especially the characters of Garibaldi and Sheridan are different from those of the TV series. While the book really enhances our background knowledge about events on the station prior to B5 getting independent from Earth, to me Sheridan has lost some of his authority, charisma and his moral standards in the book, he is too much of a puppet directed by Earth, and Garibaldi has become somewhat of a cynic who makes jokes about everything and everyone, trying to be "cool".

On the other hand, characters like Franklin and Vir are described according to the TV series and there are some interesting story developments around their characters.

The alien civilisation of the Tuchanq, which is introduced for this book, is interesting, but it, like the whole novel, centers around a lot of bloody rituals, which to me are somewhat untypical of B5 in this intensity. The state "kills" (through Sheridan as executioner) an alien who has killed a human (who likes to have paid sex with all sorts of aliens) and 40 Narns in a prison. G'Kar nearly kills Londo, who had ordered the assination of G'Kar, and G'Kar even tries to kill himself. During riots Narn, Tuchanq, Centauri and all sorts of peoples kill each other and you learn about a lot of killings in the past. Sometimes I really wondered that so many people are still alive in the end.

Why only two stars and not three? The basically good storyline is overshadowed (no pun intended, considering the titles of the three parts of the book) by several scenes in which the main characters and their interactions in my eyes do not stay true to their depiction on television.

Still, I would advise this book to fans of Babylon 5, they will find a lot of interesting background material interwoven into the storyline.

I hesitate to review this book because, by doing so, I'm forced to give it at least one star. I would far rather have given it zero. This book is applicable to nothing in the B5 universe. The characters and setting appear only as a backdrop for an endless diatribe about capital punishment and xenophobia (which, for Mortimore, seems to indicate anyone who disagrees with anyone else about anything.) He presents his political opinions with all the subtlety of a MOAB bomb, and responds to any potential criticisms (how could any be lacking?) with an exceedingly arrogant comment at the end of the "book". Insult to injury. No, the first injury was to me for having bought the book in the first place.

Although not a fan of the Babylon 5 books, or TV spin offs in general, this was an exception. Absorbing story with a nice twist, which still doesn't duck the main point: you get lose/lose situations, and what happens is you lose. Well recommended. (And it fits into the TV series well).

"Clark's Law" was not only a good story because it was true to the characters, but the central plot was interesting. I like stories that make me think and "Clark's Law" made me think. Like so many episodes there was no clear right and wrong. I knew who I disliked, but not always who I liked. The later scenes between Franklin and Sheridan were particularly excellent. Sometimes there are no easy answers.

I liked the style of this book a lot. It was almost graphical, punctuated just right, very moving. Tears rolled off my cheeks when I read this story's last exchange between G'Kar and Vir. The story seemlessly used most of the Babylon 5 characters and kept them strictly in-character. And there wasn't only a one main plot either. A lot was going on on the station, and the pieces fit neatly together.

The events take place after "The Coming of Shadows" and before "The Long, Twilight Struggle".

Jim Mortimore admits in the after-word of the book that he rushed this out in 7 weeks. The writing certainly reveals this. For example, on pages 143-145 he introduces about half a dozen new races that never appear in any other B5 materials. That is great, the universe is a big place and I love diversity, but the problem is he doesn't describe them at all. The sentences are basically "Character X see a race y standing in the corner." What? What is the reader supposed to make of this? This is just an example of plain lazy writing, and the book is filled with it.

Large portions of the book are useless, they don't move the plot or add anything. If Mortimore had not been 3 weeks behind deadline, perhaps the book would have been, you know... edited. But apparently it was too late for that.

Characterization is horrible. I have read books 1-5 thus far and this is the worst. I think that Mortimore had never seen the show; he certainly hadn't read the previous books.

Finally, he consistently breaks cannon. It is frustrating for a B5 fan to read. If this had been a stand alone universe it would have been fine. It is not fine for B5. Every few pages astute readers will be flabbergasted by the broken cannon.

The good news is that this book does not add anything to the B5 universe (indeed it muddles much). Even though the B5 books are numbered, they stand alone, so you can safely skip this little pile of stink.

Clark's Law is the fourth of the original nine novels. The story is set in December 2259, i.e. the end of the second season.
An alien delegation consisting of the Tuchanq arrives on Babylon 5 seeking assistance in rebuilding their homeworld after years of brutal Narn occupation, and in return offer themselves as potential allies. The source for this assistance could come either from the Centauri Republic or from Earth Alliance and remains to be decided.
The murder, however, of a human contractor from Mars sets in motion events, which will affect the outcome in a way that few could have possibly predicted...
Jim Mortimore makes use of existing B5 plots and subplots ranging from President Clark's schemes to the Centauri Republic's renewed expansion and the subsequent Centauri-Narn War, to G'kar's slow but steady transformation in becoming a prophet/peacemaker, to the coming of Morden and the Shadows among others, on all of which the writer bases this novel.
The book is well written and presented, and the reader feels that they are watching another B5 feature film.
The amount of information regarding the B5 universe included in Clark's Law greatly surpasses that of the first three novels put together.
The book starts off incredibly well, immediately catching the reader's interest and attention, with valuable insight regarding the origins of the Earth-Minbari War, President Clark's ascent to power, the Narn occupation of the Tuchanq homeworld, and G'kar's personal involvement in that conquest (pages 1-21).
Throughout the book, Jim Mortimore brings to the forefront most of the characters that we have come to know and have become accustomed to, in a way that does not sway from accuracy.
On page 31, Susan Ivanova is thinking about Talia Winters in continuation of the erotic relationship that the two had shared in the past.
On pages 91-92 we get never before mentioned information regarding Talia Winter's whereabouts as well as what happened to Lyta Alexander soon after she blew Talia's cover of being a Psi-Corps plant.
Moreover, the author presents us with some very interesting information about Lyta Alexander being deaf from birth (page 91) and how her teep abilities compensated for her limitations.
The author also does a very good job of providing good insight on Narn aggression/barbarity such as on page 110: "The Narn destroyed the Land, brought starvation upon its People. When the old and the infirm died, they were put into machines and reprocessed as food for the remaining population."
On pages 46-47 the author provides a good, albeit short, dose of humor between G'Kar and Londo, and on pages 151-152 some really interesting info on n'Grath's background.
Finally, on page 167, G'Kar tells Londo: "I hate you because I'm like you. We are the same. And you have made us that way." Thus G'Kar reaches his hateful peak.
Subsequently, the author foreshadows G'Kar's transformation from being bitter, vengeful, and aggressive to becoming compassionate, altruistic, and noble.
Unlike what some other reviewers have noted regarding the plot and the main characters' actions, they did not seem forced or unconvincing, instead they felt very much real and natural.
On the downside, the writer overdoes it with DeBora Devereau, the annoying reporter, the never-ending and tiresome sense of urgency, and Jacintha Grond who was simply uninteresting and did not contribute much to the overall story. It is during these instances that the novel becomes slow to the point of actually being bland and boring. Thank goodness that's not that often.
Moreover, Chapter 7 (page 70) could have been and should have been much shorter and to the point. At first the very detailed approach to the infrastructure was good, but very soon after became too much.
The final twist at the end was not the best, as that did actually seem a bit forced in an effort by Jim Mortimor to establish a sense that B5 and Captain Sheridan did not lose entirely in the end and to save face.
In short, with the main series over and as we wait to see what the Lost Tales are like, thank goodness for the novels. 4.5 Stars
More novels please...