REVIEW (from Kimota #9)

This is a book to be read in a Bela Lugosi accent, as it is a narration of the greater crested Londo Mollari. The emperor of the Centauri in his last days relates the story of the Earth Minbari war to two children and their nurse. A story which is well known to addicts of Babylon 5, but which was told in glimpses throughout the series.

It is the story of the first disastrous encounter between humans and the elusive and powerful Minbari, and their resultant Holy War against the human race when the gung ho captain files on the alien ship. It is the story of Sheridan and Delenn who would be the saviours of all races in a later darker battle against the Shadows. It is the story of the pilot Sinclair who later would travel in time and define the Minbari future for thousands of years.

It is the story of the start, the loose threads of which tangle together on Babylon 5 years later.

The writing, by Peter David, is fast and exciting you have to keep reminding yourself that Mollari is telling the tale because he butts in repeatedly, talking to the children, and it can cause a bit of confusion at first. Best to read the whole thing with Bela Lugosi’s accent in your head and it keeps you on track. A depressing feature was a bit of wrong science that stunts the reader’s belief in this future universe:

"Indeed, the gravity on Babylon 5 space station was achieved entirely through a steady rotation, the same as that on any planet."

However this was said by an old Mollari, maybe it just shows his ignorance of planetary forces.

The story is a novelisation of a TV movie, which I don’t think, has been seen in Britain yet. But if this book is anything to go by, it will be a superb accomplishment. It helps a lot if you follow Bab 5, but if you don’t it’s still a damn good read.