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4.0 out of 5 stars
An Excellent Philosophical Look at Babylon 5 in 2259, but..., Feb 17 2000
By A Customer
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.
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