BABYLON 5 BOOK#2 ACCUSATIONS BY LOIS TILTON

Copyright 1985.

Susan Ivanova gets a message from her old colleague to meet with her. The guy doesn’t show but is later found dead. The man Ortega was also wanted by Earthforce for connection to a Mars separatist organization. A ruthless Earthforce investigator comes and accuses her of being in league with him. Now under suspicion Ivanova must clear her name. Her investigation leads to a link with pirates that are getting inside information on shipments of a valuable element. It soon becomes apparent that corrupt officials in Earthforce are part of this conspiracy. Now she must expose this conspiracy to save her career and the lives of herself and her colleagues.

The second book in the series is another very well done story. It was focused mainly on the character of Susan Ivanova but had plenty of time also with Garibaldi and Sheridan. A fun little mystery story. At first I thought that it was too soon for another story of a character wrongly accused and going on the run. But it was a completely different story from the first book. I thought the author had a strong grasp of the characters and this read like a good episode of the series. This was Tilton’s first and only Babylon novel. I think she did a good job and would have liked to see more of her.

BABYLON 5 BOOK #1 VOICES BY JOHN VORNHOLT

Copyright 1995.

Psi Corps is having it’s annual convention. The site on Mars that was scheduled had to be cancelled after a terrorist attack. The next choice is Babylon 5. Only the terrorists follow them and another bomb goes off. All the evidence points to the resident telepath Talia Winters as the main suspect. So now Talia goes on the run to Earth. Hunted by the Psi Cops and Garibaldi the chase takes her to Earth and Mars. She soon finds out she is in the middle of a conspiracy by a private telepathy firm to take over the Psi Corps. Can she prove her innocence before she is killed by Bester and the ruthless Psi Cops.

I loved this series back in the nineties. So naturally I decided to check out the books being put out. This first one was an enjoyable read. Focusing on the character of Talia Winters and set in the second season. What I like about the books of TV series is you can explore more than the budget would allow on the TV show. So in this instance we get a look at Earth and Mars. Not to mention the Psi Corps. Vornholt did a good job of creating a mystery that keeps you guessing until the end. He has the characters down and clearly watched the series. This was the first of two he did for the series and both books were quite good.

TO THE VANISHING POINT BY ALAN DEAN FOSTER

Copyright 1988.

Frank Sonderberg is a successful businessman with a growing chain of sporting goods stores. This summer he decided that for the family vacation to Las Vegas they should rent a motorhome instead of fly. Now with his wife Alicia, sixteen year old daughter Wendy and ten year old son Steven they are cruising through the Mojave. They come on a young woman hitchhiking out in the desert and stop to give her a lift. The strange woman who calls herself Mouse is a singer from another dimension. She is traveling to the Vanishing Point to sing to the cosmic spinner. She needs to sing to him otherwise the fabric of reality will descend into chaos. Soon the Sonderbergs find themselves at Hades Junction the gateway to Hell. Captured by fire-breathing cops they manage to escape with the help of a Navajo named Burnfingers Begay. They continue on and find themselves in an alien Las Vegas, a reality where everyone tells the truth and a nuked out Salt Lake City filled with mutants. Their Winnebago is now a mystical ride as they cruise down the Cosmic Road which happens to be Interstate 40. It takes them to the Vanishing Point and a final confrontation with the Anarchis. The fate of reality hangs in the balance.

I have been getting some new books lately and this was something that looked interesting. I really loved this book. It was an exciting read with an original concept. The characters all seemed to be fleshed out with their own personalities. The various realities were enjoyable with some humorous and sometimes quite disturbing. An enjoyable book that kept me interested from beginning to end. This would make a cool movie and I will have to check out more by Foster. In addition to many movie novelizations he has an extensive body of original work. I will have to check out more in the future.

WHEN THE TRIPODS CAME BY JOHN CHRISTOPHER

Copyright 1988.

Lawrence Cordray is a fourteen year old who is one of the first to see the Tripods. While camping out in Dartmoor he and his friend witness one of the invading alien machines. It destroys a farmhouse and scoops up the farmer for dissection. The army destroys it along with the other two that landed in Montana and Kazakhstan. Mankinds first encounter seems to end on a very anti-climactic event. Only later a new TV show called the Tripods becomes popular around the world. It has a hypnotic effect on many people. Called Trippies they run away and form their own groups. When the Tripods land their are millions of Trippie followers that manufacture caps that enslave even more people. Laurie and his family are forced to flee England after that country falls for Switzerland. There they find shelter with his Swiss stepmother in a country free of the Tripods. It doesn’t last as the capped armies of France and Germany invade. Switzerland falls and the people forced to wear caps. Laurie and his family flee to the mountains to start a resistance to fight the alien invaders.

Twenty years after his Tripod Trilogy Christopher decided to release a prequel. A story that shows how the Tripods managed to take over the Earth. Now like any prequel you know the ending. Just like Anakin becomes Vader. Still you read a prequel to see how something started. This prequel does a very good job of showing how the Tripods first came to Earth and took over. How the resistance in the White Mountains came about. A good supplement to the original trilogy and very enjoyable.