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Final Reckoning: The Fate of Bester (Babylon 5)

Final Reckoning: The Fate of Bester (Babylon 5)

List Price: $6.99
Your Price: $6.29
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Could have been better.
Review: This book was interesting. Others have already sung their praise so now I will critize. The authur built Bester's character excently but sinfully tranform Garbaldi into a one-dimensial, homicicadal, jerk. The last comfromtaion should have been one of dialog where Garbaldi would have to face his demons for betraying Sherdain. According to the series, bester merly enhanced Garbaldis suspicious mind, so Garbaldi was still in controll. All the book left us with, though, was a cheap shotem up. What a waste of an excenlent trilogy and an excellent book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Unmissable trilogy
Review: I was touched to see this book dedicated to Walter Koenig. He deserves recognition for making Bester come alive, not just as a villian, but as a realistic person of many dimensions.

I've waited months for the final book in this trilogy, and although there were a few things I found troubling, on the whole it was a richly rewarding read. I recomend it highly.

The character of Bester has always interested me and the insight into how the Corps formed him, and how his own actions shaped his final end is fascinating. I feel sorry for him -- of course that still doesn't mean I'd trust Al any further than I could throw him.

My only disapointment is that Lyta's fate was very vaguely hinted at and never given. I'd like to know what happened to the character. After Stracyinski's rumored headbutting with the exec's at TNT that caused the cancelation of Crusade, I'd be incredibly surprised if he found someone to help produce the fabled Telepath War film. Which is a shame.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A good book in its own right
Review: This book stands on its own as a good piece of popular SF. It's not a classic by any means, but it is very good none the less. Too often TV-tie-in books are mediocre efforts that rely on the popularity of the show to attract readers. This book is well written and the characterizations are excellent. I really enjoyed the depth of Bester's character.

The story doesn't have the grand "space opera" scale usual for Babylon 5. In fact most of the story takes place in a single neighbourhood in Paris. The action is in the landscape of Bester's life and personality (with a few less interesting day trips into the mind of Garibaldi). To me that's a refreshing change from the overly plot-driven and poorly characterized stories usual in this genre.

Bester is a challenging and subtle character who I think would be interesting even without the SF-trappings and he easily ranks as one of the more interesting villains I've encountered.

If you want epic space-battles and non-stop action, this book is not for you. Nor is it if you like your good-guys and bad-guys in clear black and white. But if you'd like a decent detective novel with an interesting villian, give it a try.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great but not Outstanding
Review: Okay, okay, I have to said this book is another gem that you all should read. Like gens in the wrold there are a wide varritary of them or different quaitly, the same is with books.

While the book skips over the war, I think that it good because I hate war novels, because they draw out arks to long and make you sick of them. I they want to say, "Get it over with." I like how it skip over it and goes driectory into the world after the war and the cure of the Drakh Virus. It is nice to know that the Excalibur has save Earth from the doom of the Virus, it gives you hope.

Getting back to the point, seeing that Bester is human after all and dose fall in love with a person like us and not a telepath like the last time. Even if his love was to little to late for him, it did same him in the long run.

If a book takes me two days to read than it is worth the effort to get it, even if I finished it while I was on a bus comming home.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The most misleading title ever.
Review: When I sat down to read this book, I thought the title "Final Reckoning" meant something it didn't. I thought that the book would be about Bester being forced to account for his crimes, to the human race, to Garibaldi, to Sheridan, and to those who knew him(Elizabeth Montoya, for example). And he does. But that's not what the title is about.

I was wrong. And I've never been so glad.

For, you see, the final reckoning of Alfred Bester is not some trial of the century, but rather, the personal trial that cannot save him... but can save his soul. Bester's love for Louise was ultimately what redeemed him, even if it was too late.

I fully recommend this book to anyone out there.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Any book I swallow in 2 afternoons is great
Review: It was a well written slice of Bester's life. His choice of where to live and how he lived was unexpected, but appropriate to his character. His speach at the end gives air to his side at the same time showing what a sick puppy this guy is.

Joe Michael Strakzinski always said there might be a movie in the offing about the Telepath wars. (to be filmed after Star Wars is finished) I was worried that this book would might make make that effort unnessesary. Fortunatly this book only touched on the subject leaving a lot to look forward to.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Could have been more
Review: I found it disappointing. The book was much smaller in scope than the other books in the trilogy, focusing only on the end of Bester's life. There could have been much more to it. Much more interesting periods to cover. I liked the way that the book tried to examine all aspects of the character's personality, but I thought that the plot just didn't move very much. It was a wasted opportunity to tie up more loose ends.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good, but not what was promised
Review: By far, my biggest disappointment -- and that from something (presumably) out of the control of the author himself -- was that the back cover made references to the Telepath War and Sheridan, neither of which were issues in this book! When the time frame became obvious in the first chapter, I immediately had to stop where I was and skim the rest of the book for some indication of a flashback or something to tie in the information I was expecting! After realizing it was not to be, I enjoyed the story for what it was, although with a lingering disappointment for what it was not.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A few things missing
Review: For the most part, I thought this trilogy was an excellent addition to the Babylon 5 canon story. I am also very satisfied with the ending of the story of Bester, Garibaldi and the rest. I thought the love story was a stretch, but not too much.

My only disappointment in the series was the lack of reference to the influence of the Shadows' allies on the Psi Corps. They are mentioned briefly in the second book, but never expanded upon. According to the TV show, the Shadows' allies inflitrated Psi Corps and set it up to follow their plans. If this is true, wouldn't Bester's whole crusade and war be only an extension of the Shadows' plans to eliminate the threat of human telepaths? My point is that the influence of the Shadows on Psi Corps and Bester was never touched and should have been a much more important element in the Psi Corps story. Kudos to the authors and their fine addition to the Babylon 5 story. I take it as canon, and I think any other fan would too.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A fitting finish for Bester and closure for Garibaldi
Review: Like most of the others who reviewed this book, I found it very hard to put down. Although at times I found myself feeling some sympathy toward poor, sad, lonely Bester, I wondered how many lives he thought his was worth. The evil was still there, but there was a spark of humanity in him (not enough to keep him from killing at will to get away). This would be a great made for tv movie. I hope they do it. But it would have been nice to have had more loose ends tied up.


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