D
**DONOTDELETE**
Guest
I'm in a bitchy mood so grab yourself a grain of salt and dig in.........
I was a late commer to the B5 books. I've read the Telepath trilogy (good but rather anticlimactic and the romance story was chiched) and just finished the Technomage trilogy, the topic of this post. Possible spoilers for any who have not read these books or seen later seasons of B5 and plan to. Yes, I said, "spoilers!"
I really liked Galen as a character on Crusade and was therefore really looking foreward to reading this series. But is this the same person as in the series at all? I mean, my god, the constant doom and gloom we're forced to endure in the latter two thirds. The endless mind exercises he forces upon himself just to keep any stray thought away, which, by the way, are mentioned ad-freaking-infinitum through out the last 2 books. Burning his flesh to blisters repeatedly just to escape the pain of losing his one love and retaining control. And his constant feelings of total failure. Galen is so damned convinced he's a complete failure to everyone, despite all the things he manages which no mage before him has ever done its just pitiful. There's not even the slightest hint of this in his (admittedly cut very short) Crusade appearances.
I also found the tie-ins to key B5 episodes quite annoying. Particularly when they only served to lessen the impact of feats performed by B5's main characters. As in when we learn that Sheridan's plan to bomb Za'ha'dum would have failed miserably if not for Galen. Sorry, but I refuse to except this as part of the B5 mythos. Call me immature, but no freakin way. Until JMS tells me so in person, never happened. Period.
Also on my list is the use of Anna Sheridan. Her complete absence from these books could have only improved them. She was unimportant to the Technomage story, unimportant to Galen and merely served to slow down the paceing of the novels and take our attention away from the flawed yet far more interesting "A" story.
I sincerely don't know if these books came out as they did because that's what JMS's notes directed or merely (hopefully) because that's how the author chose to write them. But I suspect the latter.
Now, time for someone to tell me why I'm wrong. Be gentle, friends.
I was a late commer to the B5 books. I've read the Telepath trilogy (good but rather anticlimactic and the romance story was chiched) and just finished the Technomage trilogy, the topic of this post. Possible spoilers for any who have not read these books or seen later seasons of B5 and plan to. Yes, I said, "spoilers!"
I really liked Galen as a character on Crusade and was therefore really looking foreward to reading this series. But is this the same person as in the series at all? I mean, my god, the constant doom and gloom we're forced to endure in the latter two thirds. The endless mind exercises he forces upon himself just to keep any stray thought away, which, by the way, are mentioned ad-freaking-infinitum through out the last 2 books. Burning his flesh to blisters repeatedly just to escape the pain of losing his one love and retaining control. And his constant feelings of total failure. Galen is so damned convinced he's a complete failure to everyone, despite all the things he manages which no mage before him has ever done its just pitiful. There's not even the slightest hint of this in his (admittedly cut very short) Crusade appearances.
I also found the tie-ins to key B5 episodes quite annoying. Particularly when they only served to lessen the impact of feats performed by B5's main characters. As in when we learn that Sheridan's plan to bomb Za'ha'dum would have failed miserably if not for Galen. Sorry, but I refuse to except this as part of the B5 mythos. Call me immature, but no freakin way. Until JMS tells me so in person, never happened. Period.
Also on my list is the use of Anna Sheridan. Her complete absence from these books could have only improved them. She was unimportant to the Technomage story, unimportant to Galen and merely served to slow down the paceing of the novels and take our attention away from the flawed yet far more interesting "A" story.
I sincerely don't know if these books came out as they did because that's what JMS's notes directed or merely (hopefully) because that's how the author chose to write them. But I suspect the latter.
Now, time for someone to tell me why I'm wrong. Be gentle, friends.
