World Famous Comics: The Long Night of Centauri Prime (Babylon 5: Legions of Fire, Book 1)
The Long Night of Centauri Prime (Babylon 5: Legions of Fire, Book 1)
By: Peter David Publisher: Del Rey Average Rating: Binding: Mass Market Paperback Label: Del Rey Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 288 Publication Date: December 07, 1999 Release Date: December 07, 1999
Product Description: The beginning of an exciting new adventure that continues the Babylon 5 legacy . . .
Bombed to the brink of oblivion, the planet Centauri Prime is starting the slow and painful process of rebuilding, under the watchful eye of Emperor Londo Mollari. But Londo is in turn being watched--and manipulated--by the conquest-hungry Drakh. The malevolent beings are reshaping the Centauri Republic into a secret seat of power from which to strike out at their enemies--especially the Interstellar Alliance.
All but helpless to resist, Londo watches as his beloved Homeworld is transformed into a ruthless police state. And the Drakh have willing allies, including one of Londo's own countrymen--Durla, a powerful official with his own sinister agenda.
As the abuses of the repressive new Republic escalate, the double-edged Drakh master plan begins to unfold. Their goal is to smash the Interstellar Alliance by assassinating its president, John Sheridan, and to obliterate Earth, using a fabled, monstrous Shadow weapon known as a Planet Killer . . .
The Long Night of Centauri Prime (Babylon 5: Legions of Fire, Book 1) Great reading. You need to read all 3 books to get the full picture.
Whatever happened to Londo and Vir anyway? Peter David fleshes out Michael Straczynski's outline on whatever happened to Londo Mollari after the series Babylon 5 completed its five-year run. The three novels--The Long Night of Centauri Prime, Armies of Light and Dark, and Out of the Darkness detail the tragic fall of Emperor Mollari at the hands of the vengeful Drahk and Vir's quest to undermine Centauri Prime's enemy and reveal them as the agents working to destroy his homeworld from within the government.
Aside from some rather unbelievable coincidences and some rather stupid "superior aliens" (who cannot figure out that Vir is leading the guerilla movement), the novel is well-crafted and well plotted. In fact, the novels are more satisfying B-5 fare than the Psi-Corp trilogy written by J. Gregory Keyes a few years back; here there is definitely a sense of closure to the characters and their actions make sense. And, should you even be interested, there are some characters from Straczynski's short-lived follow-up series Crusader appearing, apparently an attempt to tie the novels in with the television show. Of course, the show had come and gone before the series had even been completely published.
Great storyline, writing a little off For Babylon V fans, getting more on what is occuring on Centauri Prime is a boon. Londo, now emperor, was involved with the Shadows, but betrayed them, something that the Drakh have not forgiven.
This book reintroduces us to some familiar characters, former Ambassador, now Emperor, Londo Mollari, his former aide de camp, now ambassador in his own right, Vir Cotto, Londo's divorced wive Mariel, and the one he kept Timov.
The storyline itself was written by J. Michael Straczinski, but the quality of the writing was not up to the level of the story itself. For Babylon V fans, this is a must read due to the background info we gain about the situation on Centauri Prime. If you are not family with Babylon V, I recommend getting familiar with it before reading this book, because it does assume a familiarity with the general plot line of the series, particularly as they played out over the last two or three seasons.
Picks Up Where the TV Series Implies Babylon 5 is simply one of the best SciFi tv shows that I have ever seen. This book picks up from the tv series where Londo Mollari has acended to the position of Emperor. In the last three tv episodes, much is alluded to as to what happened to Londo and his friend Vir Cotto. This book jumps right into what is alluded to, and how Londo handles his "hidden enslavement" to the Drakh. The twists and turns the plot takes are excellent reminders of the twists and turns that Londo's scheming and planning took the entire tv show over its five seasons. Very good beginning to a series, and it leaves you wanting more in the final pages.
Not quite good First off I would like to say the authors like Peter David are what has killed sci-fi literature. This book, and the others in the series, only offers stale and emotionless sequence actions taken by the fairly flat characters in the book. It would have been more enjoyable as a two-page outline of events. At least then I would not have felt cheated.
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