If you really watched the entire 5 years of the tv show, and liked Londo Mollari, this is the book series for you! Londo Mollari is Emperor, back on Centauri Prime, and hating every minute of it. As we all know, the Drakh are in charge, Londo has this strange "keeper" attached to his shoulder, and although he wears the "white", he is no more in control of what is going to happen as he ever was. A long time ago, when the Shadow War started, he made a deal with Mr. Morden, rather like making a deal with the devil, and he is paying the price for having his wishes come true. Beginning as the Interstellar Alliance takes shape, we get the real inside story of how Londo was convinced, very much against his will, to become Emperor, to accept responsibility for the safety and well being of his world and his people, and the sacrifices and choices he has to make. There are many scenes in this book that are flash backs to episodes we saw during the series, and many of the questions raised are beginning to be answered. We are introduced to Senna, a young lady we saw in the TV Movie "In The Beginning" where Londo, old, sick and probably dying after being on the throne for almost 15 years, tells the story of the beginning of the Shadow War to two children. Held hostage in the palace while his homeworld burns, Londo explains exactly who did what to who, who said what and why and when. And Senna, who appears as just a "Lady" in that movie, is explained. You will be very surprised to find out who her father is. All the cast and characters are here, and the writing skill of Peter David brings them back to life. The language, the accents, the tone of voice and inflection in the dialogue is excellent. You can literally "hear" the words spoken by the individual characters. As the story moves back and forth between Babylon5 and Centauri Prime, bits and pieces of episodes are consistently referred to, giving the story credibility, consistency to the story arc, and understanding to the events we are familiar with. One of my favorite characters has always been Vir Cotto. If you are a fan of the tv series, you know that it has been forseen - Vir will become Emperor after Londo. But in the course of the series, we never see how. This book, the first in a series of three, promises to explain, in detail, how it happens. The internal politics of Centauri Prime are a story unto themselves and it is interesting to see how they all manipulate each other, each thinking he is one up on the rest. When, in fact, no one really knows what is happening except Londo, the "keeper" and the Drakh controller. For fun, we are introduced to the techno-mages, back from the Outer Rim for a return engagement. G'Kar is there, so are Delenn and Sheridan, and of course Garibaldi. Even 2 of Londo's ex-wives make an appearance, and stick around for a while. Seems the only ones missing are the telepaths and the Psi Corps. And, at this point in the story arc, we really don't need them. The Drakh are bad enough with no help from Bester and his friends. So, my recommendation, if you really are interested in how it all, or most of all, of it ends, is to read this. And then run quickly to your favorite book store and get the next 2 in the series. Or, if you are a little crazy like I am, buy all 3 at once and read them one right after the other. This is really good stuff!
Title: The Long Night of Centauri Prime |
10/2/04
