Al Sarrantonio; Neal Barrett Jr. Book #5 what's the deal?

[KoshN]

Granted, it's been quite a while since I read it but isn't an awful lot of internal?

Didn't strike me that way. Certainly some things like Galen's mind focusing exercises would be mainly shown from the outside, and in abbreviated form and with fewer repetitions than Cavelos did. Ditto for the scourings.

Seems to me that Galen would end up talking to himself a lot.

He sometimes did that in Crusade. Remember, the scene in The Memory of War when he's talking to the Technomage AI, and we see the view through Galen's eyes (Like we saw in the Terminator movies through the Terminator's (Arnold's) eyes?

[KoshN]

But I didn't mind the first Psi Corps novel. It gave us some history to Earth.

I liked that part of the first Psi Corps book. My notes from Book #1 (Spoilers):

Dark Genesis - The Birth of the Psi Corps Technology & Privacy Committee -The Metasensory Regulation Authority (MRA) -Precursor to The Psi Corps. Page 34 less than 100 years old (Psi gene), so the Vorlons started introducing the gene ~2025? Page 52 Senator Crawford and Alice Kimbrell (get married on Page 61). Page 56 Little boy James. Page 78 Kevin Vacit. Page 80 Akimba Ironheart (Jason Ironheart's ancestor). Page 111 middle, A telepath bomb? Page 113 Organic Technology Page 117 Shell Alexander Page 119 Centauri discovered in 2156. Page 120 Psi Corps. first mentioned. Senator Crawford - 1st Head of Psi Corps. Page 122 Kevin Vacit IS a TEEP! He was little boy James (of page 56) raised by Monkey (Jack O' Hannlon) and the little boy of pages 21-22. Senator Crawford dies at age 80, killed by Monkey and Kevin Vacit. Page 133 Natasha Alexander Page 137 2179 Natasha Alexander starts working for Kevin Vacit. Page 145 Fiona Temple Page 169 Natasha Alexander finds out Vacit is a teep. Page 169 Parts of a telepath bomb (exploded parts). Page 185 "shining angels" (Vorlons) Page 186 The first discovered human Teeps born ~2050~2060. Page 187 Vorlons abducted people from Antarctica, and introduced the gene to make teeps. Page 190 "A thing, a structure..." paragraph = VORLON. Page 190 "And pain. An enemy, a darkness. ...." paragraph = SHADOW. Page 201 a teek (telekinetic) called Remy. Page 214 Narns first mentioned. Page 220 bottom paragraph through Page 226. VORLONS on Venus. The Vorlons are behind the Psi Corps, and are against the resistance. Psi Corps=Order=Vorlon desire for obedience. Natasha Alexander's line foreshadowing to Lyta as the Vorlon weapon against the Shadows!!! Page 225 Kevin Vacit was carrying a piece of a Vorlon? Page 242 Jenny Winters (Talia Winters ancestor). Page 248 September 3, 2189, Stephen Kevin Dexter (Alfred Bester) is born. Page 255 Hounds (definition? Psi Rating?) Page 262 Fiona Temple and Matthew Dexter die in a battle with the Psi-Corps. Page 266 Kevin Vacit and The Psi Corps have Stee (Fiona and Matthew's son), Stephen Kevin Dexter, renamed ALFRED BESTER by Kevin Vacit, his grandfather).

[Dr Maturin]

In addition Keyes' writing really annoyed me with its pretension, i seem to remember a passage about a fire along the lines of (its close but i don;t remember the passage exactly):

'"the sparks, like tiny nebulae, floated towards their celestial cousins"

Yeah, I read two of his contributions to the New Jedi Order series (wow, did that series ever go down the shitter in the span of one book), the Edge of Victory duology, and didn't care for his writing style. Or his storytelling style. I had quit the series (by throwing the first Force Heretic book into the wall) before his next book in the series was published. It was actually the penultimate book.

But I didn't mind the first Psi Corps novel. It gave us some history to Earth.

[thegavel]

Granted, it's been quite a while since I read it but isn't an awful lot of internal? Seems to me that Galen would end up talking to himself a lot.

Jan

My WIFE would LOVE that. She loves his voice.
Cheers
GAV

[Jan]

However, the Technomage trilogy could be filmed.

Granted, it's been quite a while since I read it but isn't an awful lot of internal? Seems to me that Galen would end up talking to himself a lot.

Jan

[KoshN]

I legitimately laughed at the above quote. "Draw a line from the surname on the left to the one that best matches on the right."

That was intentional on my part. However, I don't think McFarland could act like Lt. Karrin Murphy of the books. McFarland acts like a good Susan (the reporter) and Cruz acts like a good Murphy, but neither one looks the part.

I don't mind changes on show or movies as long as the spirit of the source material is maintained. With that being said, messing with characters is wrong. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (the title of which doesn't make sense; Jack is a post captain) changed a few major things, combined stuff from several of the novels, but they didn't change the characterizations. Those are what are important.

Watch "Storm Front" and then read the book and get back to us.

Not to derail the thread, but I have seen people calling for the Centauri trilogy to be made into films. I don't know, it's so epic that film would never do it justice.

The Centauri trilogy cannot be filmed because of Andreas' death. However, the Technomage trilogy could be filmed.

[Ulkosh]

Sorry, i didn't really elaborate on what my problems with the PsiCorp trilogy were.

Book1 - it didn't grab me, but the story was fairly interesting so i can see how it might grab you if you can get interested in the charatcers

Book2 - The Childhood section was mildly diverting after that it merely seemed to be a series of Bester pursues someone, Bester catches someone, over and over again.

Book3 - I simply didn't feel any sympathy and the denoument really really let it down, yes i suspect it is more realistic, but such a weak ending for such a repulsive character, at least in a literary sense is massively disappointing.

In addition Keyes' writing really annoyed me with its pretension, i seem to remember a passage about a fire along the lines of (its close but i don;t remember the passage exactly):

'"the sparks, like tiny nebulae, floated towards their celestial cousins"

and there were many other occasions like that which completely broke me out of the flow. Not good.


Now to be fair, the TM trilogy is also EXTREMELY repetitive in parts, if Galen had 'brought down the fire' on himself one more time i was getting ready to scream.

[Ranger 6 and 7/8]

I legitimately laughed at the above quote. "Draw a line from the surname on the left to the one that best matches on the right."

I don't mind changes on show or movies as long as the spirit of the source material is maintained. With that being said, messing with characters is wrong. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (the title of which doesn't make sense; Jack is a post captain) changed a few major things, combined stuff from several of the novels, but they didn't change the characterizations. Those are what are important.

Not to derail the thread, but I have seen people calling for the Centauri trilogy to be made into films. I don't know, it's so epic that film would never do it justice.

I agree Doc. the Centauri trilogy, while epic on its own, could not make the jump B5 needs for the Big Screen..to much history to explain to the public. A B5 Big screen would need to be something new that the public could grasp, but set in the B5 universe so we veterans could fill in the gaps.

[Dr Maturin]

Valerie Cruz ... Lt. Connie Murphy
Rebecca McFarland ... Susan Rodriguez

I legitimately laughed at the above quote. "Draw a line from the surname on the left to the one that best matches on the right."

I don't mind changes on show or movies as long as the spirit of the source material is maintained. With that being said, messing with characters is wrong. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (the title of which doesn't make sense; Jack is a post captain) changed a few major things, combined stuff from several of the novels, but they didn't change the characterizations. Those are what are important.

Not to derail the thread, but I have seen people calling for the Centauri trilogy to be made into films. I don't know, it's so epic that film would never do it justice.

[KoshN]

OT - re. "The Dresden Files"

I recently picked up the first one because I like the premise and because Vyce has been all but shilling for them for some time now.

So, you're going to be reading The Dresden Files "Storm Front" ? Just a word of warning, if you're ever going to watch the TV series (lasted 13 episodes on The Sci-Fi Channel), watch it BEFORE you start reading the novels. After you read the novels, you probably won't like the TV series much, just because of how many things they changed between the novels and the TV series. Some of the changes are little, some are BIG and some are just plain stupid. "Storm Front" is the only episode that matches up with a novel, and there are lots of differences between the two.

The episode "Bad Blood" is good when viewed on its own, and Joanne Kelly (Bianca) is certainly easy on the eyes, and is very good in her part, but the Harry/Bianca relationship in the episode is almost completely contradictory of the Harry/Bianca relationship in the novels.

IMHO, They really screwed up by not making the TV series faithful to the novels.
However, Paul Blackthorne is great as Harry Dresden.
Ditto for:
Terrence Mann ... Bob
Conrad Coates ... Morgan
Joanne Kelly ... Bianca
Matt Gordon ... Waldo Butters


The following are good (good acting), but miscast (don't match the books):
Valerie Cruz ... Lt. Connie Murphy
Rebecca McFarland ... Susan Rodriguez


The following are recurring, but aren't in the books (at least up to where I am in Book #8 of 11.):
Raoul Bhaneja ... Detective Sid Kirmani
Elizabeth Thai ... Ancient Mai
Jane McLean ... Ancient Mai

The following are in "Storm Front" the TV episode, but many of them don't match up with the characters in the book. It's been awhile since I read "Storm Front" and I can't remember the specifics of how they mangled the characters to make the episode, but they really made a mess of these characters, combining some, deleting some, creating some, etc.

Sherry Miller ... Monica Cutler
Jonathan Whittaker ... Victor Cutler
Jennifer Kydd ... Grace Cutler
Christine Tizzard ... Jennifer Randall
Greg Bryk ... Tommy Tomm
Shannon Boodram ... Linda Atwater

[Dr Maturin]

Ironically, I liked the first Psi Corps book the most out of the trilogy. The Galen books were amazing and did a good job in fleshing out the B5 universe (a la season 4 of B5). And the Centauri trilogy...well, if you don't like it then you should be burned at the stake.

The Dresden Files

I recently picked up the first one because I like the premise and because Vyce has been all but shilling for them for some time now.

[KoshN]

I agree with JoeD80 on this one. The Psi Corps trilogy was much more to my taste than the Techno-Mage trilogy was. For one thing, I didn't think that the Galen in the books was the same Mage we saw on Crusade...

Well, the Technomage trilogy covered November 2258 through sometime in 2261. When we next saw Galen it was in December 2266 (A Call to Arms), and that was when we saw him in the Centauri trilogy as well. Something could have happened to him between 2261 and December 2266. Granted, he looked more adept and powerful, and more at ease at the end of the Technomage trilogy in 2261 than he did in Crusade (and I've said that a few times before.), but in the Crusade episodes we saw, we're seeing what Galen is willing to let the other characters in Crusade see. Maybe Jeanne Cavelos did make him too powerful in the books, but maybe in Crusade, Galen isn't showing his full capabilities.

One thing that irks me though, is when he used his staff to destroy the other technomage's underground AI/Nanovirus machine in The Memory of War. Why risk losing the staff which Elric gave him (a treasured keepsake, as well as a useful tool.). I know he doesn't necessarily need it by the end of the Technomage trilogy; his union with the tech has made it unnecesary. He simply could have destroyed the machine with his Spell of Destruction, with just a thought. The thing is, both Gideon and Dureena were there to see what he did, and maybe he didn't want them to see that he had that kind of power.

...while for me it was fascinating reading about Bester becoming the person we saw on B5.

I somewhat agree with that, especially regarding the many deathbed scans he did.

[KoshN]

There aren't that many characters to follow in the first book IIRC (six or seven?), and when the time periods change, the book does a pretty good job of connecting the previous characters to the current characters.

I'm talking about keeping track of all of the characters, their aliases and their relations/associations to one another. It's a good idea to write it all down as you go, and draw up a family tree, one for Bester's side and one for Lyta's side.

[Spoo Junky]

I agree with JoeD80 on this one. The Psi Corps trilogy was much more to my taste than the Techno-Mage trilogy was. For one thing, I didn't think that the Galen in the books was the same Mage we saw on Crusade while for me it was fascinating reading about Bester becoming the person we saw on B5.

Jan

On the other hand, I preferred the Techno-Mage books over the Psi-Corps books. I guess I liked the T-M books because they had a darker atmosphere in my mind and I enjoy reading them, and have re-read them several times.

I still liked the P-C books a lot though. I agree that they gave a good insight into Bester's character.

Oh, and the Centauri trilogy I only re-read once because I get too sad by the ending

[Jan]

I agree with JoeD80 on this one. The Psi Corps trilogy was much more to my taste than the Techno-Mage trilogy was. For one thing, I didn't think that the Galen in the books was the same Mage we saw on Crusade while for me it was fascinating reading about Bester becoming the person we saw on B5.

Jan