Rating: Summary: Read the first two and write your own finale. Review: After reading the first two books in this series I must admit that I was enthusiastically waiting for this book to come out.I hate to say that I was extremely disappointed. I believe this was definitely based on a story outline by JMS, it has his fingerprints all over it. In JMSs world no one is truly evil for evil's sake. They all have motives and reasoning behind their actions. As fans of the series know Bester would do anything for Psi-Corp. The corps is mother, the corp is father weren't just words to him. That's fine, I don't disagree with any of that. But, don't give me this crap that Bester is going to change his spots and turn into a sad figure in his own way. Bull*#$%...Bester would never let other perceive him this way. Not even a normal he professed to love. If you wanted to generate sympathy on some level don't do it this way. Bester had his reasons for acting like he did his entire life. He remembered and embraced that life again at the end. Don't waste my time with 2/3 of this book giving me a new Bester personality. They should have cut this down and made this a two book series. Nice try guys but this falls way short of the mark. Thanks for letting me air my opinion. -30-
Rating: Summary: Final Reckoning provides the perfect end to a future's Adolf Review: I just finished Final Reckoning this morning after reading it straight through. It is one of those books that you just cannot put down. This book neatly ties up the story of Babylon 5's Psi-Corps and it own personal Hitler, Alfred Bester. The story jumps between Bester and the one man with the will, and resources to hunt him across the galaxy, Michael Garabaldi. FR:TFOB provides a fresh and unique perspective on Bester. We see Bester the renegade, the romantic, the martyr. We also see just how driven Garabaldi is by his thirst for revenge. Garabaldi's actions are driven by he anger towards the former PsiCop's interference in his life, the deaths of Talia Winters and Lyta Alexander, the conditioning which resulted in Sheridans capture, and the blocks that drove him back into the bottle. Some of the best moments are right towards the end. The final confrontation between Bester and Garabaldi, Bester's trial, and his years in a prison he created to hold rogues all neatly sum up the life of the most ruthless telepath to walk the Earth. One of the last images is Bester musing of the statues of the new "founders" of the new Pseudo-PsiCorps, His real parents, Matthew and Fiona Dexter, the founders of the telepathic resistance and their baby Steven Kevin Dexter, their hope for the future, ironically. Ironic that the resistance's, from Dark Genisis, hope was the baby that grew into the ideal PsiCop, Alfred Bester. "The Corps was mother. The Corps was father" and in the end, the sole mourner. No one, not even Bester's own son, would ever mourn for him except the memory of the old order, his Psi-Corps.
Rating: Summary: Left a funny flavor in my mouth... Review: This book represents the end of the Psi Corp trilogy, though this book has pretty nothing to do with the Psi Corp. The author treats the details of the telepath war like something on a need to know basis... and the reader doesn't need to know. Contrary to what I was expecting this book takes place well after the telepath war and we are left wondering what went on in the intervening time. The details leading up to Besters discovery at his final hideaway were just too weak to be believable. Telepaths have a few billion enemies among the normals. Lots of bad things happen to teeps because of bigotry. Read the previous book for a good cross section of what kind of bad things happen to teeps at the hands of the normals. Implying that Bester is involved is a bit out of the blue. I would have found it much more reasonable to just watch Bester fade into obscurity. Still, it does give closure to the story. We do find out what becomes of Bester, and we learn who died along the way (though not necessarily how). Worth a read for any B5 fan.
Rating: Summary: Great Conclusion Review: The entire series was great and the last book is no exception. However, it takes place after the psi civil war and although it gives some insight into that period another series (or TV Movie) could nicely fit in. Garabaldi and Bester's: two of the best characters in sci-fi are featured. Great book.
Rating: Summary: Excellent end to the Bester saga Review: The mystery is finally solved...we know what happened to Alfred Bester. And it seemed to me to be a fitting end...trapped in the web he himself used for years. Keyes truly must be a fan...he nailed the personality of Bester and Garibaldi. Every line out of Michael's mouth seemed right on target, as did Bester's professions that he wasn't guilty of any wrongdoing. Even the final confrontation between the two, while not what I had hoped to see, seemed very fitting. Only disappointment...no real details of the telepath war. Maybe that will be another book...or a mini-series! Hope the other two trilogies live up to this wonderful start.
Rating: Summary: Final book in Trilogy, very good, but leaves some questions. Review: This books starts with Bester as a wanted War Criminal (after the telepath war). I enjoyed the book, the author took some very unexpected turns with the characters and some very unexpected plot turns result. This book is a must read for anyone interested in the "Alfred Bester" storyline, but many questions go unanswered (or at least are left unclear). Perhaps there are more trilogies for the telepath storyline, but the Fate of Bester is clear.
Rating: Summary: An Excellent Portrayal of Bester - an Excellent Book Review: Alfred Bester, played by Walter Koenig, was one of the best "bad guys" on the TV show. His flat sense of humor showed a darker side to him - a side that we became quite familiar with during his forays onto the station. Yet there was always a sense of tenderness underneath the character, a glimpse of someone whose heart wasn't blackened by the hatred he felt for those who aimed to hurt him. This book explores that side of Mr. Bester. The side that wanted to come out from the dark recesses of his soul, and smile at the simple beauty of life. Mr. Bester is eighty-two at this point in his life, on the run from his nemesis Mr. Garibaldi, and beginning to feel tired at the prospect or repeating his hiding cycles for too much longer. Yes, Mr. Garibaldi is still trying to catch up with Mr. Bester - to visit his endless thirst for vengeance for what Bester had done to him in order to have Sheridan betrayed. The story attacks the plot, initially, from the vantage point of both of these individuals. Towards the end, a police inspector is added to the mix of vantage points - to help play a good old-fashioned morale to the plot. An excellent read and the best of the Babylon 5 novels that I have read to this point.
Rating: Summary: "A Must For All B5 Fans" Review: 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.
Rating: Summary: A fun book! Review: 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.
Rating: Summary: Pulp Fiction rewrite Review: 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.
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