Betrayals

Babylon 5 #6

by S.M. Stirling

BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY...

When diplomats from the universe's two warring superpowers come to Babylon 5 for a peace summit, Captain Sheridan and the Earthforce pesonnel know that security is paramount. But a brilliant con woman is making plans of her own - plans for the ambassador of both Centauri and Narn - and in the belly of B5 the seeds of rebelion are being sewn.

BETRAYALS

A twin brother and sister, equally committed to their cause but devided by strategy, seek liberation for the planet T'll. Then a T'llin exile is murdered, and violence erupts on Babylon 5, its internal communications hopelessly scrambled. With rebels threatening to bathe the peace conference in blood, and hostile warships approaching, Garibaldi must plot a rescue of Sheridan and the diplomats. But it may be too late. The T'llin have learned the art of destruction from masters, and for them freedom is worthy any price: even a self-annihilation.

Genres: Babylon 5, Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Tv, Media Tie In, Fantasy

279 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Stephen Michael Stirling is a French-born Canadian-American science fiction and fantasy author. Stirling is probably best known for his Draka series of alternate history novels and the more recent time travel/alternate history Nantucket series and Emberverse series.

MINI AUTO-BIOGRAPHY:
(personal website: source)

I’m a writer by trade, born in France but Canadian by origin and American by naturalization, living in New Mexico at present. My hobbies are mostly related to the craft. I love history, anthropology and archaeology, and am interested in the sciences. The martial arts are my main physical hobby.

Reviews

[James Crawford · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Babylon 5 novel that is basically overloaded with things that are going on.

1. A Narn-Centauri conference (it's during their war).

2. A group that hates the Narns and is willing to kidnap people to get their message across.

3. A guy that holds a personal grudge against Ivanova.

4. President Clark's daughter as a news reporter and everything surrounding that.

5. A female con artist.

6. A would-be Centauri ambush, and Ivanova leading a group of Starfuries against them.

7. A person on the station of Japanese descent who holds a tea ceremony for Delenn and then later ends up getting killed, and Delenn shows virtually no reaction, at least for a while.

8. Londo and G'kar bidding for the same, supposedly valuable item from the con artist.



This is simply too much going on in one novel. It's much better when the number of themes is held down. The approach in this book is more annoying than interesting.

[Benjamin Plume · Rating 2 out of 5]

My least favorite of these B5 books so far... the whole thing felt a little off-kilter.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too many plot strands! There are so many characters, and so much going on throughout the novel, that I eventually got to the point where I was either muttering "how much longer will this last" or "I can't believe they've already wrapped this up". What kept me going was the character work; SM Sterling not only nails the B5 cast as they appeared in season 2, but creates a plethora of new supporting characters than straddle the spectrum from irritating to sympathetic to hateful. I only wish there were FEWER of them...

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a lot going on here, perhaps too much, but some of it was quite good. There were also some great little character moments (Delenn at the tea ceremony, for example). This book felt almost like it could fit in with the show. I suppose my main issues are with how Susan's storyline was handled, but in the decades since this novel was published I think society is a lot wiser to the dangers of entitled men who manipulate their victims into feeling guilt and/or doubt (in this book, and in the 1990s in general, women took a large measure of blame for this crap... and unfortunately this still happens).

Side note - slightly amused by the author using J. Michael Staczynski's name for two of the T'll aliens (split between the pair). Was too tired to see if any other names were derived from elsewhere.

[Frank Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can tell just from that manic blurb that this one is going to be hectic, every second sentence tries to summarise three more events that will take place in the story. Scanning other reviews here the general consensus is that there's too much going on, but I'm gonna buck the trend a little bit. I felt like it captured the same energy that the episodes often had, where there was almost always a million things going on around the main story. I also thought that the characters were written very well. Small details made me instantly picture mannerisms from the show and I liked that a lot.

Interestingly, this story pulls up a very similar theme to book 4: 'Clark's Law' - again the main plot here refers to a time when the Narn were dishing out the same abuses that they learned from their own experience of being subjugated by the Centauri. And again those oppressed by the Narn are on the station seeking relief and willing to consult the Centauri for it; if Earthforce wont come to the party. The story takes place after the Narn v Centauri war had reignited and Londo is more than ready to insist that they are fighting the Narn for the sake of the little guys that the Narn are trampling on.

Some of the side stories in this involve a fine arts peddler playing for the highest bidder while trying to swindle everyone at the same time. And Ivanova the "Iron Lady" dealing with a team member who has been consistently underperforming.

[Anne Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

A plotline that felt a little too contrived. Some spoilers follow.

Beautiful Semana MacBride somehow manages to get an art installation that is concealing two dormant aliens from T'linn aboard Babylon 5. She's also brought with her a ravenous creature that disguises itself as pretty-pretties - everything from a gorgeous rose to a prized item in the Centauri royal regalia. She plays G'Kar off against Londo as they both vie to get their hands on the jewel.

Meantime Ivanova is being blackmailed by an unknown adversary: someone who has data crystal recordings of her brother's treasonous behaviour and keeps leaving copies at her door. Sheridan is trying to piece together a peace conference between the Narn and the Centauri, made more complicated by the presence of press that includes the President's niece. The T'linn want to expose the Narn as predators, not victims. They've been just as aggressive on the T'linn homeworld as the Centauri have on Narn. With nothing to lose, will the T'linn blow the entire peace conference apart with a gigantic explosion? Garibaldi has his hands full trying to find one T'linn, let alone hundreds.

Lots of interwoven sub-plots in this story, but the main thread follows Semana MacBride. She's just a little too smooth as a con artist to feel entirely right.

[Dark-Draco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, this takes me back! I used to love watching this series and I was surprised by how easily the characters came back into my head as I started to read. The main plotline focuses on a station preparing for a 'peace' talks between the Narn and the Centurii - talks that neither side really wants. Mix into that a clever con-woman who is prepared to play both sides and a mysterious race of illegal aliens intent on some revenge, and Babylon 5 becomes the centre of a whirlwind. However, the secondary plot involving Ivanova, I didn't get quite so much and didn't really understand how it related to everything else going on.

Entertaining and enjoyable return to my youth!

[John Able · Rating 4 out of 5]

Characters are excellently voiced, I could picture them as I read the words.

Many reviews mention too many threads and too many characters, perhaps reading those reviews set my expectations a little as I kept waiting for lots of characters to be introduced but really most of them are present from the start and most of the threads are given sufficient time to be fleshed out. Even when time is spent on new characters they mostly interact with the main cast.

Personally I prefer my tie in novels to stick to the settings and characters of the show so I did enjoy this book and time spent with old friends.

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the characters behaved like the established characters from the television show, the story had a couple of issues that weakened my enjoyment of the novel. The Ivanova plotline did get resolved, but the resolution was not satisfactory for me. Too many questions remained unanswered. Also, the motivation of the T'llin rebels, while understandable, was not attainable through the means they selected making the entire story basically a waste of time. Nothing really changed from the beginning to the end.

[Jill Rebryna · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were some very sweet and happy Season 3 moments in this one. Some crushing ones too, but as long as there's Michael Garibaldi, and he's true to himself... Stirling wrote, of the five I've read, a Michael I can truly believe in and feel for, and I appreciate it. So much more than enough.

[Alvaro Zinos-Amaro · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first of the B5 tie-in novels I've actively disliked. As others have stated, the plot is overstuffed (with each ingredient being undercooked). I didn't care for the writing style, either. Stirling made me dislike several beloved characters, and I found his authorial voice somewhat off-putting.

[Jennifer Baratta · Rating 5 out of 5]

You have to read this Babylon 5 book.

[Dcschelt · Rating 1 out of 5]

The real betrayal in this book is that the publisher thought this book was good enough to sell to the public. This is a must skip entry in the series. Wow it’s bad.

[BooksAndFrogs (Mervi) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read. It kept me entertained. I definitely need to rewatch the series.

[Mikael Kuoppala · Rating 4 out of 5]

S.M. Stirling’s novel takes place at the very end of the second season of Babylon 5, at the rise of totalitarian rule on Earth and the final faithful moments of the Narn-Centauri war. The book doesn’t really offer a singular plot, but is made up of individual scenes and small storylines that coalesce into a fabric that captures the setting perfectly, offering many characters their own good moments and revealing storylines. In essence the book is very true to the style of the TV series and feels like a valid addition to the whole mythos.

“Betrayals” isn’t the most dramatic of tales, and in a way its structure of having a little bit of everything and featuring a little bit of everyone kind of makes it feel as if it never kicks off. Still, I think that by the end Stirling rewards us with a whole that is rich in variation and ambitious in themes.

[PresPetunia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one had me going. It truly reminds me of the multi-plots of the television series. What I consider 3 main storylines are resolved. Two are better that the others, but that's a spoiler. I actually like all three resolutions, however, the Narn problem was a little tired. I felt the writer got tired and just decided to end it and move on in life. That brings down a book that I would have been please to rate with 5 stars

Edit: I really rushed through this the first time. As usual, I got caught up in wanting to know resolutions so I missed nuances. And, I forgot some that some key players were not part of this story, but they were already part of B5's world, especially the bad and the ugly. I had also forgotten what G'Kar was really like when we first met him.

[Steven Poore · Rating 2 out of 5]

The trouble with tie-ins wedged hard into an arc such as Babylon 5's is that you can't really change anything so much that it would affect the TV series chronology. So this one kind of wanders in, wanders around, gives Ivanova a trauma she never speaks of again, shows us aliens we'll never meet again, and changes the course of the Narn-Centauri conflict not one whit. And that's what it's supposed to do, of course, but it's the genre equivalent of jazz musicians noodling in the studio to warm up their chops and then releasing the sessions afterwards: of interest only to the most devoted of fans.

[farmwifetwo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dh's

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this a very slow book to read with too much focus on the sub plots as opposed to the main story line. However I enjoyed the ending and found it worth perservering until that last page.

[Mark Sharp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty good. Very much the flavor of the show.

[Nicholas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, this one was better than the previous two. Aside from spending too much time on the guest characters, here really isn't much to say about it.