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Babylon 5 #5
By Neal Barrett Jr. - Touch of Your Shadow the Whisper of Your Name: Babylon 5, Book #5 (1996-03-25) [Mass Market Paperback]
A novel based on the television science-fiction series, "Babylon 5", set aboard a massive space station in the year 2257. Positioned in a key sector of the galaxy and under the jurisdiction of the Earth Alliance, Babylon 5 serves as a space-borne port of call, open to travellers from anywhere.
Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
2 people are currently reading
205 people want to read
About the author
Neal Barrett Jr.
127 books44 followersNeal Barrett, Jr. was a writer of fantasy, science fiction, mystery/suspense, and historical fiction. His story "Ginny Sweethips' Flying Circus" was nominated for both the 1988 Nebula Award for Best Novelette and the 1989 Hugo Award for Best Novelette.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
November 10, 2013
When I started reading the B5 novels, I figured they'd all earn at least three stars from me simply by being B5 novels. This was not to be.
Admittedly, part of the reason this was such a slow read for me was because it's a physical book rather than an ebook, it was mostly slow reading because it wasn't very good. Besides some irritating errors, including introducing an original character by one name and calling him a different name on the next page, several of the characters were off; for example, more often than not, Sheridan sounded more like Sinclair.
The worst thing, though, was that the author didn't do very well with the women characters. An original character for this story has an intense hatred of aliens, and the cause? Sexual trauma. Both Ivanova and Delenn are repeatedly described in ways that diminish their strength and power; e.g., in the midst of a station crisis, while Sheridan and Garibaldi both sacrificed a tool to help them get through everything, Ivanova did not, and she doesn't handle the stress as well as the men who then had half the help she did (her hands "trembled" while the men's didn't), while Delenn flees from an intense scene with Sheridan, who finally leaves.
Also, the entire story felt disjointed and plodding. There didn't seem to be a strong narrative thread; instead, we just jump around to the different main characters because they're the main characters and we want to see what they're doing, even if there's little that really intertwines the vignettes. Part of that is due to the story being told, but that just tells me one of two things: either this wasn't a good story to be told, or the author wasn't good enough to tell that story well.
I don't think I'm that hard to please with these Babylon 5 novels, but this one was not very good. In fact, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone except the most completionist of hard-core fans, and maybe not even then. This leaves me simultaneously wanting to take a really long break from the B5 novels because ugh, this was so bad, and wanting to read another one to get the taste of this weird, unpleasant version of B5 out of my head.
Admittedly, part of the reason this was such a slow read for me was because it's a physical book rather than an ebook, it was mostly slow reading because it wasn't very good. Besides some irritating errors, including introducing an original character by one name and calling him a different name on the next page, several of the characters were off; for example, more often than not, Sheridan sounded more like Sinclair.
The worst thing, though, was that the author didn't do very well with the women characters. An original character for this story has an intense hatred of aliens, and the cause? Sexual trauma. Both Ivanova and Delenn are repeatedly described in ways that diminish their strength and power; e.g., in the midst of a station crisis, while Sheridan and Garibaldi both sacrificed a tool to help them get through everything, Ivanova did not, and she doesn't handle the stress as well as the men who then had half the help she did (her hands "trembled" while the men's didn't), while Delenn flees from an intense scene with Sheridan, who finally leaves.
Also, the entire story felt disjointed and plodding. There didn't seem to be a strong narrative thread; instead, we just jump around to the different main characters because they're the main characters and we want to see what they're doing, even if there's little that really intertwines the vignettes. Part of that is due to the story being told, but that just tells me one of two things: either this wasn't a good story to be told, or the author wasn't good enough to tell that story well.
I don't think I'm that hard to please with these Babylon 5 novels, but this one was not very good. In fact, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone except the most completionist of hard-core fans, and maybe not even then. This leaves me simultaneously wanting to take a really long break from the B5 novels because ugh, this was so bad, and wanting to read another one to get the taste of this weird, unpleasant version of B5 out of my head.
July 16, 2023
Unexpectedly packs a wallop. Another mystery in the B5 universe. That is, it is a B5-gone-mad story. Is the anger and violence really the result of an outside force or does this story reveal the rot inside the occupants. I'm still trying to figure out how the station will ever get back to normal after liberating their inner violence.
Reading this in 2023 amid the anger and violence displayed day-by-day in my own country, I feel like this episode reflects our current dystopian state of a country operating bereft of reason, civility and compassion and operating with a large portion of the populace openly disruptive and hateful, many of whom use religion to thinly veil their meanness of spirit.
The entity(?) approaches B5 and ramps up the occupants' penchant for hatred and violence. And, although the most overt of those behaviors abates, they really don't go away as it seems both humans and aliens would rather fight and hurt than tolerate differences.
Reading this in 2023 amid the anger and violence displayed day-by-day in my own country, I feel like this episode reflects our current dystopian state of a country operating bereft of reason, civility and compassion and operating with a large portion of the populace openly disruptive and hateful, many of whom use religion to thinly veil their meanness of spirit.
The entity(?) approaches B5 and ramps up the occupants' penchant for hatred and violence. And, although the most overt of those behaviors abates, they really don't go away as it seems both humans and aliens would rather fight and hurt than tolerate differences.
May 9, 2021
Massive paranoia and hate + an interdimantional worm= Pure chaos on Babylon 5. Book 5 delivers.
November 24, 2024
Readers can be a fussy lot and I must admit that the more I read the more I feel guilty of it - in general I think we're not here to dictate how the story goes but to experience how someone else thought it should go. Anyway I'm starting with that thought because in my opinion this book suffered from not going deep enough - which is the exact opposite of what I had complained about after reading the previous B5 book.
Initially on turning to this book I thought the low page count was a bit of a blessing after finishing the last book and feeling that that one had carried on too much and for too long. However having now finished this one I think it could have benefitted from some fleshing out. There is a hell of a lot going on but what we get is a lot of dream sequences and conflict scenes while the significant moments are given much less attention which was a shame.
So what we have here is (dare I say it) a classic Star Trek plot. Franchise conflicts aside (I heart both fully) I don't have a problem with putting similar ideas in different universes. A strange anomaly is causing inhabitants of the station to have violent dreams and gradually those dreams affect their day to day relations.
The station is without a resident telepath currently, but a passing Psi Corps operative is contracted to help out. Unfortuately due to some gross history she is xenophobic in regards to her TP duties. Kosh and Garibaldi both try their own methods of support and tbh this was a thread that probably deserved its own story.
What else? Well everybody be fighting and Earth Government be interfering. This story did seem to know the characters very well and they all felt recognisable to me. It was a pretty good story just maybe focused on the wrong elements and didn't explore the interesting details.
Enjoyable nonetheless. Don't be too fussy, give it a go.
Initially on turning to this book I thought the low page count was a bit of a blessing after finishing the last book and feeling that that one had carried on too much and for too long. However having now finished this one I think it could have benefitted from some fleshing out. There is a hell of a lot going on but what we get is a lot of dream sequences and conflict scenes while the significant moments are given much less attention which was a shame.
So what we have here is (dare I say it) a classic Star Trek plot. Franchise conflicts aside (I heart both fully) I don't have a problem with putting similar ideas in different universes. A strange anomaly is causing inhabitants of the station to have violent dreams and gradually those dreams affect their day to day relations.
The station is without a resident telepath currently, but a passing Psi Corps operative is contracted to help out. Unfortuately due to some gross history she is xenophobic in regards to her TP duties. Kosh and Garibaldi both try their own methods of support and tbh this was a thread that probably deserved its own story.
What else? Well everybody be fighting and Earth Government be interfering. This story did seem to know the characters very well and they all felt recognisable to me. It was a pretty good story just maybe focused on the wrong elements and didn't explore the interesting details.
Enjoyable nonetheless. Don't be too fussy, give it a go.
May 27, 2024
The station is in turmoil - a strange phenomenon, nicknamed "The Worm", a band of twisting green light millions of miles long, that can be seen visibly but cannot be detected instrumentally is heading towards B5 and appears to be the source of nightmares so terrifying that everyone is afraid to sleep. People are on edge and panicky. Even Kosh is affected by the disturbance.
The station has become a magnet for different spiritual groups who have gravitated there after the epiphany of angelic light has become well-known. Many of these groups are in violent confrontation with each other - Fermi's Angels, physicists who ride motorbikes; the huckster Rev Bobby James Galaxy of the Universal Church of Solar Illumination, not to mention various alien groups.
Tensions are at an all-time high and, as The Worm approaches, the station is isolated from earth and no one is quite sure they will survive its passing.
The station has become a magnet for different spiritual groups who have gravitated there after the epiphany of angelic light has become well-known. Many of these groups are in violent confrontation with each other - Fermi's Angels, physicists who ride motorbikes; the huckster Rev Bobby James Galaxy of the Universal Church of Solar Illumination, not to mention various alien groups.
Tensions are at an all-time high and, as The Worm approaches, the station is isolated from earth and no one is quite sure they will survive its passing.
July 25, 2020
A very simple read...and that's the problem. There is so much potential here that is wasted: sketched in/cliched characters, little in the way of depth and mystery, and the ultimate anti-climax of a conclusion. Frankly, this reads like a young-adult-version of B5, and it needs to be something more on the scale of novels like "Clark's Law" and "The Shadow Within". It took no time at all to read this...because there is so little here that needs digesting.
December 31, 2019
Wenn das Buch eine Parodie auf B5 wäre, ok, aber es ist ein offizieller Spinoff. Fermi Angels, Lederjacken tragende Physiker auf Plasma angetriebenen Harleys. Sektentreffen auf B5...wtf...
Die Story um den Wurm und die Alpträume an und für sich wäre gut, macht sich aber mit den verschiedenen abstrusen Glaubensgemeinschaften lächerlich.
Die Story um den Wurm und die Alpträume an und für sich wäre gut, macht sich aber mit den verschiedenen abstrusen Glaubensgemeinschaften lächerlich.
August 26, 2022
I love Babylon 5, but this book drove me crazy. The author kept referring to the station as a ship, mixed up the noun Minbar with the adjective Minbari, and - in my opinion had some annoying internal science inconsistencies. If you're going to make a big deal about the fact that the instruments aren't able to read a certain phenomenon, you can't then give it's measurements and rate of speed.
May 26, 2024
The writing was fine and the setup intriguing, but I'm not really a fan of stories where the strange phenomenon is never properly explained - or stories where characters are not themselves for long stretches of time. I don't think this book entirely worked. Additionally, the author's OCs seemed kind of superfluous (especially the telepath).
March 25, 2021
It was strange. I didn´t recognize the characters, they were absolutely different from the series, they behaved… strange, they were flat. Not a good book…
January 4, 2022
First B5 book I've read. Wasn't anything special but I could hear the characters voices, especially G'kar and that can't be easy, so yeah. Not awful. Not bowled over.
February 28, 2016
The situation on Babylon 5 starts off bad. Humans and aliens both are developing very short tempers. They are having severe nightmares anytime they go asleep, and no one seems to know why. To complicate matters, an odd object appears in space, a greenish thing they refer to as a “worm.”
The problem with the object is that, although everyone can see it, none of the scientific instruments detect anything at all, period. Nothing.
Gradually arguments turn into fights, fights turn into shooting, EarthGov is of no help, and even Kosh seems to be having some kind of problems. A PSI Corps woman at the station is of slight help but not much since she can't stand aliens.
To make matters worse, the worm is going to go right through the station itself.
This is a really good Babylon 5 story, with all the personalities, actions, and even the spiritual aspects thrown in for good measure. Definitely worth reading.
The problem with the object is that, although everyone can see it, none of the scientific instruments detect anything at all, period. Nothing.
Gradually arguments turn into fights, fights turn into shooting, EarthGov is of no help, and even Kosh seems to be having some kind of problems. A PSI Corps woman at the station is of slight help but not much since she can't stand aliens.
To make matters worse, the worm is going to go right through the station itself.
This is a really good Babylon 5 story, with all the personalities, actions, and even the spiritual aspects thrown in for good measure. Definitely worth reading.
March 11, 2014
Well, this book was better than the last one, but it wasn't great. The story was like something straight out of The Next Generation (heck, it may have literally been straight out of TNG, I can't remember all of those episodes!) Like Clark's Law, this book introduced an equally superfluous "guest star", except this one had no real character to speak of. The author failed to capture the voices of the show's characters. That said, I wouldn't necessarily avoid other works by the author, I just don't think this was their setting.
April 1, 2010
Read 1 Apr 10
July 10, 2012
This novel starts in a possibly promising manner, but ends up being a very mediocre story that fortunately contains some nice touches of sci-fi wonder.
Want to read
November 13, 2016I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14286958
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July 8, 2012
A bit slow at times but still a fairly good read with an interesting plot.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews