Customer Reviews

Babylon 5: Final Reckoning: The Fate of Bester

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The year is 2271. The telepath war is over, and many of the old Psi Corp leaders are on the run or in prison as war criminals. Bester has managed to evade his pursuers. But with Garibaldi using the Edgars' fortune to find him, can he stay hidden for much longer?

I will admit I didn't enjoy the other two books in this series as much as I had hoped I would. But, being a fan of the TV series, I kept reading. This book is much better then the others, partially because the author has a definite story to tell. The plot was engrossing, and I had a hard time putting it down. Keeping the tradition of the series alive, it doesn't give pat answers, but raises some interesting questions about telepaths and their treatment. The characterizations are top notch, and there are times I could "hear" Bester, Garibaldi, and Lise from the show.

This book may not break any new ground plot wise and probably won't appeal to anyone who hasn't watched the show, but for those who have, this is must reading that will hook them from start to finish.

this was the 3rd part of the trilogy and while it's good it's far less inspired and a disappointing finish, Bester makes decisions that make no sense and while ok overall their are bigger problems with this book and with the way Babylon 5 the series has chosen to take with telepaths.

simply stated they are too godlike, what at first seems fascinating grows annoying, this book series is based in the future and today we are toying with the human genome yet how many years into the future and no countermeasures, no means of detection above 70%..... it's a good story and a decent conclusion but all of the fascinating and inspired writing ended with the previous 2 books leaving little available to put in this 3rd installment.

I disagree with the ending... nuff said don't want to ruin it for anyone, it's worth reading but was disappointed.

because of this 3rd installment I may never buy another book written by this author, not out of spite but because I really didn't like this ending and worse don't respect it.

This book, based on an outline from Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski (so you know it's official), covers the period in B5's history detailing the final years in the life of Psi Cop Alfred Bester.

There are many parts of the Babylon 5 story that have only been hinted at throughout the series, the Telepath War being one of the biggest. Not many questions are answered about that in this book, being that it's set after the war and it's obvious Bester was on the losing side. Now hiding out as a literary critic in Paris, Bester actually makes an effort to put all that behind him, but Michael Garibaldi is soon on his trail, not forgetting what Bester did to him long ago and is out to settle the score.

One thing I liked is how grounded on Earth the Psi Corps Trilogy was. There were scenes on other worlds and brief appearances by aliens, the first book briefly touching on Earth's first contact with the Centauri, but for the most part it concentrated on humans, on Earth, and how all the various peoples and factions involved dealt with "the telepath problem." This book wraps up the life of the Babylon 5 villain you just love to hate, and it's a must-read.

This is the story Babylon 5 fans have waited so long for. What happens to the sinister Psi Cop Al Bester. The book went in a different direction than expected, but that's not a complaint. You learn a lot about Bester's character, aspects you'd never expect from someone so vile. First off, he becomes involved with a non-telepath woman while hiding out in Paris . . . and Bester is as bigoted against normal humans as you can get. His love for Louise is real, and makes him re-think his life on the run and all the horrible things he's done. Bester actually showing remorse! Who would have guessed? The man also has a cultured side to him. He loves wine, art and literature, and even becomes a literary critic for a small Parisian newspaper. But just when you think Bester has become an okay person, situations arise that force him to revert to his old ways.

The climax was awesome. I loved the final confrontation between Garibaldi and Bester. There was also a fantastic mind battle between Bester and another P12 telepath. Very descriptive. You could really feel Bester's pain.

If you are a B5 fan and don't have this book, get it.

I was hoping for the fall of the psi corps in this book but it skipped past it to Bester being hunted as a war criminal after the telepath war. Still this book is fun. Based in Paris it holds a great enviroment.

Much to his credit, J. Gregory Keyes has written a swashbuckling thriller which will appeal mostly to those interested in seeing Garibaldi and Bester again. It is an intriguing look at the Psi Corps' fate following the Telepath War, set nearly a decade after the events shown during the final season of "Babylon 5". However, the quality of writing isn't better than what you might find in a typical "Star Trek" novel.

While I am a huge B5 fan, this book reads like any of a dozen old pulps about spy and nazi hunters. The whole "the villan really has a heart" theme was over done before Fate of Bester. This adds nothing to the genre except a grabbag of overused sci fi cliche.

For those who love B5, there is some interesting things here to learn. Unfortunately, neither the novel nor the series has ever done what it proported to do, namely tell us about the psi wars. Instead they are skiped over entirely, perhaps because of another planned series.

Whatever the reason, only die hard fans will enjoy this. If you are not, I suggest looking elsewhere. The novel is a quick read,but nothing to write home about.

Like other Psi-Corps fans, I liked the story; like other Psi-Corpos fans, I am also hoping a trilogy will be written about the Psi-Corps civil war.

PSI-CORPS IS MOTHER. PSI-CORPS IS FATHER.

The conclusion to the Psi Corps trilogy delivers something that the other B5 books (notably the end of the Centauri trilogy), what most other BOOKS miss completely: the characters were king. The flow of this novel was sufficiently fresh that a non-B5 fan who hadn't read the first two could pick it up and get into it. A cloak-and-dagger, character driven chase turning the classic formula backward -- witty, intelligent, learned *villain* against the world. And, oh yes-- that's the brilliance of the book. You forget at times Bester's the villain. His earnest appreciation of France almost reads like "A Year in Provence" rather than B5. This is why I call it Historical Fiction of Future Past -- if you didn't know better, you'd think you were reading a speculation on the life of a Nazi war criminal. In the last decade several former Nazis, people who did terrible things and allowed terrible things to be done in their name were finally found; often having started a new life, and new family with a loving wife and friends, in places like Brazil, where they weren't recognized for who they were, and became... a person, not a monster. This is what we see in this book -- Bester as a fully-fleshed out historical figure; you forget that he's made up. This book is just deliciously good in it's subtle portrayal of future Earth, with sci-fi tidbits worked into the everday life of 23rd century France, and most of all, the heart-wrenching development of Bester into a person that you'd love to hate. It doesn't leave you thinking about How Fast a WhiteStar Can Go, or Can Telepaths Really Exist, but rather about the nature of people, evil, good, and everything in between.

I like Babylon 5 and most of its tie ins, and this one wasn't much different. I would have liked a little more details on the Telepath War only hinted at here, much I can forgive that, since it is a tale for another time.

There is one thing that bugged me throughout the book, though-if Bester is a notorious war criminal known the world over, how can it be so hard to recognize him when he just has a beard as a disguise. His crippled hand should give him away quickly. Isn't that what everyone would be looking for?

I think Keyes attempted to make Bester a bit sympathetic here by having him fall in love while also showing his cold-blooded side, but I was not impressed. The Garibaldi-Bester encounter, though, was very interesting.

This is the weakest of the Psi Corp Trilogy, only for completists and Garibaldi fans.