Rating: 
Summary: THE best book of the series that I have read!!!
Review: It's been a while since I read this book but from what I can remember it was THE best book the of the series so far! It had conflict, suspence, and everything else that makes a book GREAT! End of your seat reading IMHO :) You will enjoy
Rating: 
Summary: An Excellent Philosophical Look at Babylon 5 in 2259, but...
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a good Babylon book!!!
Review: This book is a waste of time to read. I did not like it, personally it concentrated to much on LAW!!!It did not have a drama-like touch to it. It is defenitly a horrid book. Babylon 5 fans, don't be up in good hopes when you read it.It will spoil you day. Well, first of all they displayed the Tuchanq very vividly. They went into not-needed detail. The alien ways were described in a gory fashion.Yuck!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Mr. Mortimore has an axe to grind.
Review: This book is the weakest of the B5 spinoffs, IMO. It really is a morality play about the implications of using the death penalty to score political points (I think - the book doesn't completely make sense), and features the decision by Captain Sheridan to execute a brain-damaged murderer (who actually was clinically insane even before the murders, and suffered brain damage in the events that led up to the murder). Understand? No? Welcome to the club, I really don't either. No current laws in any Western countries would "force" Sheridan to take such a step, but this isn't about B5, it is about the author's view of CP, and so the poor Captain has to become a bad guy to justify the plot and show how evil the DP supporters are. To "redeem" himself (and damage Clark politically) Sheridan practically forces a riot in which more than 50 people are killed and 250 injured. This isn't the Captain Sheridan of the TV show! Finally, Mortimore throws in gratuitous slams to the canon. We learn on page 91 that Lyta ALexander is completely deaf from childhood, and that she only "hears" through others' ears. That all of her responses to the mechanical voices (like that of Babcom) when she was alone in her quarters were not possible. Now, why does Mortimore propose this? To advance the plot? No. The topic never comes up again. It turns out that Mortimore, in ignorance of anything from the TV series, is apparently just indulging in an interesting speculation (al la Alfred Bester's - the SF writer, not the charactor - amusing speculation on a blind telepath in "Golem 100"). Unlike AB's use of the concept, however, here it is just a conceit. Bottom line: a bad book, that adds nothing to the canon where it doesn't ignore it. JMS must have been furious when he read this. However, if it lead JMS to have more involvement in the books (like in the excellent trilogies) then be thankful this book was written. Just don't buy it, except to complete the collection!
Rating:
Summary: Tinged with current politics, and NOT canon
Review: This book is the weakest of the B5 spinoffs, IMO. It really is a morality play about the implications of using the death penalty to score political points (I think - the book doesn't completely make sense), and features the decision by Captain Sheridan to execute a brain-damaged murderer (who actually was clinically insane even before the murders, and suffered brain damage in the events that led up to the murder). Understand? No? Welcome to the club, I really don't either. No current laws in any Western countries would "force" Sheridan to take such a step, but this isn't about B5, it is about the author's view of CP, and so the poor Captain has to become a bad guy to justify the plot and show how evil the DP supporters are. To "redeem" himself (and damage Clark politically) Sheridan practically forces a riot in which more than 50 people are killed and 250 injured. This isn't the Captain Sheridan of the TV show! Finally, Mortimore throws in gratuitous slams to the canon. We learn on page 91 that Lyta ALexander is completely deaf from childhood, and that she only "hears" through others' ears. That all of her responses to the mechanical voices (like that of Babcom) when she was alone in her quarters were not possible. Now, why does Mortimore propose this? To advance the plot? No. The topic never comes up again. It turns out that Mortimore, in ignorance of anything from the TV series, is apparently just indulging in an interesting speculation (al la Alfred Bester's - the SF writer, not the charactor - amusing speculation on a blind telepath in "Golem 100"). Unlike AB's use of the concept, however, here it is just a conceit. Bottom line: a bad book, that adds nothing to the canon where it doesn't ignore it. JMS must have been furious when he read this. However, if it lead JMS to have more involvement in the books (like in the excellent trilogies) then be thankful this book was written. Just don't buy it, except to complete the collection!
Rating:
Summary: Great suspense, conflict, and even some philosophy
Review: This book, one of the best in the series, has a great plot. The weird rituals of other cultures, the conflict between aliens, and the conflict between duty and personal feelings. And also, the philosophical questions: Should there be a death penalty? If there is, where do you draw the line? The autor shows the feelings of the crew about the execution almost perfectly. You can feel the pain of Dr. Franklin, with the stems and with his sorrow over the innocent brain damaged Tuchanq. The captain's feelings are felt very strongly. You can almost see the expressions on the characters' faces, and there great pain. The end of the book is very smart, and makes everybody happy. It definitely is something the Captain or one of the crew would think of doing. A flaw about the book is that people that are not familiar with Babylon 5 might not understand parts of it. This might not be a big flaw, since most of the people reading the book already know Babylon 5. To sum things up: this book is highly recommended for B5 fans.
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