Babylon 5 Book Series

[Jaddison]

About a year ago i read the 3 Techno-mage books which were a treat to read if you were into B-5.  The integrate seamlessly into B-5 storyline and fill in a lot of gaps.

i have started reading both the Centauri and PSI Corps series.  So far i am 1 book down in each and like the Technomage series both give a lot of insight into the B-5 storyline.

Obviously the Centauri series is post Shadow War and PSI Corps is wayyyyyy before the B-5 events (at least the first book and a half.

Some interesting spoiler free tidbits.  Bester was indeed named for the sc-fi author Alfred Bester and there is a reason behind.  The first book covers the Earth as telepathy mysteriously becomes a trait for about 10% of the population.

Peter David does the Centauri series and J Gregory Keyes does the PSI Corps.

[CeeKay]

I've always meant to read at least the Bester books, especially since the last on in the trilogy is called 'The Fate of Bester' and prominently features Garibaldi on the cover 

[Kevin Grey]

Yeah, JMS consideres all of those series canon and he had a fair amount of input into them.  There are other B5 books but I think only one of those is considered canon (written by JMS's wife IIRC). 

[Jaddison]

That must be the Technomage series as it is so intricately linked with the B-5 main storyline that you are really missing out if you don't read it.  i think the technomages only actually appear in 2 episodes.

The technomage saga also answers the question of what happened to Anna Sheridan...that and I think one of the numbered B-5 novels covers the expedition she was on and what happened.

[Chaz]

Crap, now I have to read these! How many books are we talking here? (I'd be interested in all the series.)

[Kevin Grey]

Crap, now I have to read these! How many books are we talking here? (I'd be interested in all the series.)

I think they are all trilogies.  So 9 books for the Technomage, Fall of Centauri Prime, and Psi Corps books.  The book that focuses on Anna Sheridan is just one book though. 

[Chaz]

Crap, now I have to read these! How many books are we talking here? (I'd be interested in all the series.)

I think they are all trilogies.  So 9 books for the Technomage, Fall of Centauri Prime, and Psi Corps books.  The book that focuses on Anna Sheridan is just one book though. 

Gah! So many books, and none available on the Kindle!  *fist shake*

[CeeKay]

Crap, now I have to read these! How many books are we talking here? (I'd be interested in all the series.)

I think they are all trilogies.  So 9 books for the Technomage, Fall of Centauri Prime, and Psi Corps books.  The book that focuses on Anna Sheridan is just one book though. 

Gah! So many books, and none available on the Kindle!  *fist shake*

that was the first thing I checked too.

[Jaddison]

if you wanted to tackle them chronologically PSI Corps would be first.  then the Technomage series then the Centauri series.

it has been a while but I think Anna Sheridan makes an appearance in 2 of the technomage books and then there is this one which I enjoyed quite a bit:

The Shadow Within (Babylon 5, Book 7) (Mass Market Paperback)
The dedication of the new Babylon 5 Station is fast approaching, and desperate enemies intend to see it end in catastrophe. The fate of the fledgling space alliance lies in the hands of John Sheridan, newly appointed captain of the spaceship Agamemnon. His orders are to stop the attack. Unless he first gets to the bottom of the near-mutinous behavior of the Agamemnon’s unruly crew, Sheridan and his spaceship will share Babylon 5’s doom.

Time is also running out for his wife Anna, headed to Z’ha’dum aboard the Icarus. Young, beautiful, and brilliant, she was thrilled to be appointed chief science officer of the follow-up mission to this mysterious planet on the edge of the known universe, where artifacts rumored to hold stupendous powers have been discovered. But the offer she could not resist threatens to become a dark destiny she cannot avoid, for an unimaginable horror lies somnolent on Z’ha’dum–and the monstrous consequences of disturbing the sleeping evil will haunt every living thing in the cosmos. . .

[Jaddison]

Most can be bought fairly cheaply the only exception being Centauri series #3.....I thought I had a copy I had never got round to reading and thank goodness I did.....the only copy available on Amazon is for $150 I think.  So if anyone gets into these i do actually have #3 though I haven't read it yet.

[Chaz]

Most can be bought fairly cheaply the only exception being Centauri series #3.....I thought I had a copy I had never got round to reading and thank goodness I did.....the only copy available on Amazon is for $150 I think.  So if anyone gets into these i do actually have #3 though I haven't read it yet.

It's not the cost.  It's that I'm trying desperately to rid myself of physical books and go all digital because I'm sick and tired of storing and moving a massive book collection that I may or may not read more than once.  Hence the *fist shake*.

[CeeKay]

the only copy available on Amazon is for $150 I think. 

there's plenty cheaper, but still insane prices for a used book.

[Jaddison]

cool......last time I checked (couple weeks ago) there weren't that many

Overall I have enjoyed the B5 books more than any other books that relate to a show...probably because the whole story arc was done before the show ever aired and i guess they haven't let it expand like Star Trek or SW has.

[Daehawk]

Peter David did a many a good Star Trek book. I'd like a B5 book series focused on the Narn and such. Or even better an Earth Force Omega class destroyer as it prowls the spaces between space.

[CeeKay]

Peter David did a many a good Star Trek book. I'd like a B5 book series focused on the Narn and such. Or even better an Earth Force Omega class destroyer as it prowls the spaces between space.

I'm pretty sure the series is dead at this point.

[Jaddison]

one thing i can tell you is that if you read these books and then rewatch the show it is like watching the directors cut except the directors cut is in your head.

[Jaddison]

Finished the second Bester book and the first Centauri book

Bester is easily the most complex character I have come across now that I am 2 books in.  Now i really want to go back and watch the series again.

This book ended with Bester off to B5 for the first time in search of Ironheart.

These are very well written.

Enjoyed the Centauri book as well but then I always liked Vir and he is a main character in this trilogy

[walTer]

 

Technomage books were great.