Galen: books vs. series

[white_star25]

Having read the first and third book of the Techno-mages trilogy (I can't find the second one anywhere, it's gone from every on-line bookseller, ARG!!), I felt the urge to re-watch the first three episodes of Crusade. I wanted to see with different eyes Galen's interraction with Alwyn and his actions in the "Well of Forever" for Isabelle's sake.

What I noticed in "The Long Road" with Alwyn is quite interesting. Although I don't blame anyone, not the writer, not the director nor the actors, it's plain to see that the series doesn't connect well with the books. For example, Alwyn is unaware that Elric has died, something that he should know, since he'd accompanied Galen to B5 years ago to deal with the Shadows. Also the interaction between Galen and Alwyn is not what I would expect from two friends who have gone through so much together. Of course, the reason for this discrepancy is very simple, the books were written after the series. However I've read somewhere that Joe speaks to the actors before some special scene explaining the background of the characters in order to keep continuity. I guess such an explaination did not take place in Crusade. The only thing that seems fitting from series to books is Alwyn's sense of humor, I could see Edward Woodward's Alwyn in Cavelos' writing.

Speaking of character writing... am I the only one, or is Galen less gloomy in the series than in the books? Although I absolutely love Peter Woodward's performance, Galen in Jeanne Cavelos' books is broody, confused, tightly controlled and running away from everyone. I don't blame him, his actions are justified by his past and present, he's afraid of his power. I'd like to see/explain his change from books to series as a result of "time soothing all pain", he went past his dark self to become "wry and urbane [...], a suggestion that he has humor and wicked wit lurking under his inscrutable exterior", to quote a press release from JMS and the producers. And the simple truth is that a writer (Cavelos) has her mind and an actor/director another, so Crusade's Galen is different and yet the same. I just... well... don't like the books' Galen sometimes, I feel like shaking him or kicking him out of his mess!

Pity that neither Crusade nor "The Memory of Shadows" were given a chance. Any plans to have them published as books???? Please??? Beg???

More from me after I see "The Well of Forever" again.

[Boo Gee]

First, you really have to read book 2. Things will probably jive better that way. I was able to pick up almost all the books from a used bookstore on amazon, so give that a shot. I've seen them on ebay cheap as well.

Anyhoo, Elric died while the Techno Mages were in hiding. Alwyn did not go with them, so would not know he croacked until Galen left the hiding spot and told him what's up. The interaction bteween Alwyn and galen also tracks since they did not part on very good terms when the books are finished. remember, Galen went with the Mages into hiding which peeved Alwyn in the books since he thought Galen had an obligation to stay. And yes, Galen is way less gloomy on Crusade, which also tracks with the books. In the books, his girl dies, his teacher/pops dies, the techno mages are on the road to becoming extinct, he's stabbed in the back by supposed friends, and gets no help in fighting the Shadows.

I think you have to take into account that the books thru Crusade take place over approximately a 10 year span (about 5 years between books and Crusade) and a lot can happen to a person in that amount of time. personally, I thought Galen was a vastly improved character once I read the books. It gave his character on Crusade way more depth, and made his actions that much more interesting.

If you want a more Crusadish version of Galen, read the centauri trilogy as he pops up in that book quite often.