Customer Reviews

Dark Genesis: The Birth of the Psi Corps (Babylon 5)

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After reading (and enjoying) this book, I realised that it should not be judged in relation to the TV show. It is canon, as are most of the Babylon 5 books, but it does not somehow completly click together with the TV show, and the arcs in it. The telepath arc here is far too Earth-tied to do that. But as a book itself, it is very good. We get to see what happened since the beginning of the telepaths, through the arrival of the Centauri and so on, up until the birth of (SPOILER). We see brilliant political machinations, ancestors of telepaths in the show (Lyta Alexander, Talia Winters), and how the Psi Corps slowly gets more and more power. We also get well thought out characters, and most of them are not what they seem, although I felt that some stories were rushed. I would say that this book is worth buying by Babylon fans, especially if they like the telepaths stories. Those who prefer space battles/aliens/wars should maybe look for it at a friend's house.

I was intrigued and disappointed by the telepaths in the Babylong Five television series -- too much about the normals! I snatched up this book as soon as I found it. I was not disappointed. The characters seem believable and the action fast paced. Leaves you wanting more.

This book in a some what hurried view explains the history of propably one of the most intersting aspects of the Babylon 5 genre. In a sense you could look at this book as a future history as it is not set at the current time of events in the B5 universe. If you are well versed in B5 this book will effortlesly add to your knowledge and deliver invaliable incite into the Psi-Corps history. If on the other hand you are knew to B5 this book will begin to establish a solid foundation for you to use to expand your interest in the subject.

"Dark Genesis" gives a concise history of the origins of the Psi Corps, and some of the hidden forces and secret agendas that made it what it was during the time covered by the show. Possibly the most interesting aspect of the book is the moral ambiguity; it is not at all clear that the Corps is bad and the resistance good. The Corps, in the beginning, is a tool of the Vorlons, while the resistance fighters, whether they know it or not, advance the ideology of the Shadows. From the viewpoint of normal humans, both are potentially dangerous enemies. It was also interesting to see the histories of the bloodlines that will ultimately give rise to the final leaders of the two factions, Alfred Bester and Lyta Alexander. All in all, a good read.

DARK GENESIS, THE BIRTH OF THE PSI CORPS is the first book in what we might call the "Psi Corps Trilogy," the next book being DEADLY RELATIONS, BESTER ASCENDANT and the third being FINAL RECKONING, THE FATE OF BESTER. None of the books stands well by itself, and I'd just as soon all three had been published together as a single volume. If any reader is tempted to purchase one of these books, then he really should purchase all three and read them in the intended sequence. Also, buying all three at the same time is a good idea since each of the three can be read in two or three sittings, and waiting for the next to arrive will be annoying.

But wait, why should anyone buy these in the first place? Are they worth the purchase price and, more, the time to read them? They do not fare well as independent science fiction books, for a knowledge of the characters in the Babylon 5 television series is more or less necessary for the reader to recognize the ancestors of the series' characters and, in the second and third book, to recognize the characters themselves. To derive the most pleasure and satisfaction from these books, one must either have a clear recollection of the televised series that aired from 1994 through 1998 or else have recently watched the recorded episodes again. One might say that watching the series is a prerequisite for fully understanding these books.

DARK GENESIS gives us a historical perspective on the emergence of human telepaths and the creation of the Psi Corps. The history that we learn from this first book sets the stage for a tremendous irony in the life of Psi Cop Al Bester, as well as giving us a glimpse into the lives of Lyta Alexander's and Talia Winters' ancestors. In it, we also see the frightened and hostile reaction of "mundanes," the non-telepathic population, to the telepaths among them. We meet the director of the newly born Psi Corps, Kevin Vacit, a man with a secret that he must hide from the Corps itself and a man with a particular interest in the young Al Bester. To my mind, this is the strongest and most fascinating of the three books in this trilogy in that it explains a great deal of how and why the organizations that we meet "fully grown" in the television series came into existence.

DEADLY RELATIONS, the second book, is closer to the time period of the Babylon 5 television series. As its title implies, we see Bester advancing his career as he becomes more and more single minded in his devotion to what he believes the Psi Corps should be. As his perceptions and beliefs harden, so his regard for humanity diminishes. The reader also comes to understand something of the psychology behind Bester's development and often sympathizes with the lonely young man who never quite fits in with the Psi Corps cadet social scene, who can make no lasting friendships, and who feels betrayed by each of his female peers to whom he becomes attracted. From the Babylon 5 series, we know that Bester is a loner. DEADLY RELATIONS enables us to understand why he became such.

FINAL RECKONING is set in the years following the end of the Babylon 5 series. By now, much has changed on earth, and Psi Corps is not what it was. Tension between "mundane" and telepath has lessened, and Bester's acts in support of his version of Psi Corps have made him a war criminal in the eyes of the new government. His skills, however, have developed to such an extent that he is not an easy criminal to apprehend. The story of the pursuit and of the "final reckoning" is engrossing, but the book still fails to satisfy us fully. The Babylon 5 series ends with the enhanced telepath Lyta Alexander flying off with the Narn, G'Kar, to find new adventures in as-yet unexplored reaches of space. Before her departure, Lyta makes a deal with Garibaldi that, if he will garner the financial resources she needs to bring down the Psi Corps, when she returns she will remove the telepathic block that Bester placed in his mind to prevent him from ever taking well-deserved revenge upon the psi cop. Naturally, one expects that, in FINAL RECKONING, Lyta will return and the reader will be treated to a view of her own little war against Psi Corps. Frustratingly, the book virtually ignores this loose thread that was left unresolved when the televised series ended. We are told, in no more than two brief paragraphs, that Lyta had returned at some unspecified time, presumably fulfilled her promise to Garibaldi, and was then killed by Bester. Perhaps Psi Corps had already evolved into the kinder and gentler version that Bester abhors so that there was no longer any need for Lyta to attack it, but it still seems that the poor lady was summarily dismissed and all but forgotten in the writing of this book.

Little is to be achieved by reviewing these three books individually, for none can successfully stand alone. One should determine to read all three or none at all. While the first and third books are the most interesting and the second is the least, the "Amazon star" rating I've settled on is for the entire trilogy. Likewise, these books are not likely to be well received by sci-fi aficionados who have never had the opportunity to enjoy the Babylon 5 television series although, fortunately, that can be still be rectified by watching the recorded shows on DVD. Some shortcomings notwithstanding, I would not hesitate to recommend these three books to anyone who enjoyed and who remembers the Babylon 5 series and who would like to join that universe one more time to glimpse both its pre-history and post-history.

I'm making one review for all three books: Dark Genesis, Deadly Relations, Final Reckoning.

This trilogy is extraordinary because it is good science fiction based on a franchise. Just before reading it, I tried reading a Stargate novel. Then I tried an X-Files novel. I couldn't stomach more than a few pages of either one. But I was pleased with Babylon 5's Psi Corps trilogy.

Ironically I didn't much care for the Babylon 5 TV series: dull set direction; unremarkable visual effects; terrible acting. But, as did Peter David with his Legions of Fire, J. Gregory Keyes fully satisfied me with his writing. His style is contemporary and easy to read (no Dickens or Hardy here), the pace is brisk, and the plot is absorbing in all three volumes.

I was pleased with Keyes for two other reasons:

1) I appreciated his hardhitting prose, which reminded me of Peter F. Hamilton. I despise inappropriate insertions of levity into serious drama. Keyes did not do that. And though he was merciless--that is, he was unafraid to kill off a good guy for the sake of drama--the good guys won in the end.

2) Keyes is a thinker, and his prose reflects that. He didn't just pound out a bunch of words to reap in bucks from saps who buy anything that says "Babylon 5." Take the following example (to avoid spoiling the story, I have replaced character names with "Good Guy" and "Bad Guy"): Good Guy touches the muzzle of his gun to Bad Guy's head. Good Guy says, "You owe me, Bad Guy. You owe me to die like the dog you are....But as much as you've hurt me,...there are a thousand others who you owe more. I'm not going to deny them just to satisfy myself....Your life belongs to everyone you've screwed, not just to me."

This is good thinking by Keyes. His Good Guy doesn't use the usual argument: Everyone deserves a fair trial. Keyes' Good Guy brings Bad Guy in so other persons can have a chance to confront Bad Guy. It's a good argument against fictional law enforcers who selfishly feel justified in acting as judge, jury, and executioner.

There were other examples that demonstrated to me that Keyes is a thinker. Indeed I was so pleased with him that I have ordered his four volume fantasy series, "The Age of Unreason."

Having missed Babylon 5 (B5) when it first aired, we bought the series (Babylon 5 - The Complete Television Series (5-Pack)) and watched all five seasons over a two month period. We really enjoyed the series but often wanted "more" when references were made about some of the character's history. "Dark Genesis" sets up the backstory of Psi Corps and sets the stage for Bester's story to be told in the following two books Deadly Relations: Bester Ascendant (Babylon 5) and Final Reckoning: The Fate of Bester (Babylon 5).

The book was much better written than I expected it to be and J. Gregory Keys did a great job inserting his vision of the early days of Telepaths into the B5 universe. No plot spoilers from me, the story centers around an ambitious senator in the newly forming EarthGov who sees the unexpected emergence of true telepaths as a means to gain more power. There are those who fear telepaths and those that want to exploit them, and then there are the telepaths themselves who are caught up in events that they have little direct control over. The overall plot is believable, as set in the B5 universe (and for SciFi), and there are plenty of well written action sequences.

One of the things I enjoyed about this book (and the whole series) is the way the technology is not focused on to a distracting level. Yes, it is the future, and yes, they do have more advanced technology, but that isn't the point of the story at all... it's about the Telepaths!

Recommended for fans of B5! Just a quick note about the other two books in the series, they mention events and people that appear in the B5 TV series so anyone new to the story will find it hard to relate to some of the references.

This books goes further into the past with the B5 plot then any book did before. its writen well, and despite the fact that it happens well in the past, its still a great reading for a B5 fan.
it was a pleasure reading it again after the nightmare trilogy of the passing of the thecho mages.

I found this book sitting on my bathroom sink. I just picked it up and started reading it. This book is trying to tell a very large story in a very short way...it's like reading AP news clippings instead of a full article. However, I really enjoy cultural geography...how people move/change and why. This book is futuristic cultural geography.

You don't have to know anything about B5 to read this book.

I think it could be longer and more in depth.

I am a die hard fan of B5 and have watched all of the series and movies more than once. I had high expectations for this book but the book let me down.

Basically, you will not learn anything new from the book. If you watched the series the book will just rehash what you already know. And it will do it quickly without reason. For example, it took only two chapters in the book for the key players to know how telepaths were created. In the series, it took four years for everyone to figure this out.

The other problem with the book is that it jumps around A LOT. It starts off with a character then jumps in time to another. While this is a good writing technique you never really find out too much about the characters and never really understand them. Maybe that is why the author just comes out and tells you about them because there never really is enough time to develop the characters.

The real disappoint is that the author never explains a lot in the book. For example, initially the Psi Corps is called the "Kith." Then one chapter later the author is using the new name of Psi Corps. No explanation of why the change. Another example of not explaining anything is in the first chapters the author describes a telepath tugging on his black gloves. No explanation of why he is wearing gloves or any other mention of it. It just happens.

The biggest flaw I see is that the book seems a little out of time sequence. It puts Bester's age in the series as if Bester was in his early 70's. While the series did mention that humans can live to 100's it seems out of sync to make Bester a 70 year old man.

If you like B5 you might like the book if you have no expectations. If you have never seen B5 I don't think you will like the book.