 |
|
Title: Invoking Darkness (Babylon 5: The Passing of the Techno-Mages, Book 3)
ISBN: 0345438337
Author:
Jeanne Cavelos
Publicate Date: 2001-11-27
Publish: 2001-11-27
List Price: $6.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Mass Market Paperback
 |
|
|
|
|
Amazon Lowest New Price: $2.00
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $0.01
Amazon Merchant Price: $6.99
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Customer Review: |
|
1: On becoming more than you were created to be...
I have always been fascinated by those rare works of art which echo their own form or creation. Some artists, by conscious effort or fortunate instinct, manage to convey their messages not only internally in their art but also externally through the object of art and its place in the world. The multitalented Jeanne Cavelos manages to create just such a work in her Babylon 5 based trilogy The Passing of the Techno-Mages.
On one level Invoking Darkness, the final book in the trilogy, can be enjoyed as an adventure story. Techno-mage Galen finds himself as the lone member of his order fighting the destruction of the ancient and powerful Shadows. The usual rule of tie-in novels is use the popularity of the well loved characters all you want but don't interfere with the canonical plot. In contrast, Cavelos spends the first two books of the trilogies building up characters that can stand on their own, including humanizing the central character of Galen, previously appearing only as an intriguing but impenetrable wanderer in the short-lived Babylon 5 sequel Crusade. In Invoking Darkness the trilogy enters into well known territory of the Babylon 5 story. Rather than skirting the perimeter of the pivotal events, with the help of B5 creator Joe Straczynski's outline Cavelos seamlessly meshes her story with events well-known to fans of the series. Rather than undermining the stories that have already been told, the story becomes a new thread that can stand on its own or serve to enhance the broader story, revealing previously unexplained mysteries like the improbable survival of the Shadow agent Morden.
More important than Galen's fight against the Shadows, though, is the internal struggle in which he engages. Having learned the dark secret of the origins of the Techo-mages and their power--his power, and to a large extent who he now is--Galen struggles with the consequences. The central question of whether he can become something more than he was created to be is never far from his mind, a battle raging between his own doubts and the dying words of the woman he loved and lost.
It is tempting to speculate that on some level Galen's struggle is a metaphor for the questions that were running through the author's mind while the trilogy was being written. Having read more science fiction tie-in novels than I care to admit, I have found that the best among them offer the guilty pleasure of spending a few hours with some well-loved characters. Indeed, that is for the most part what they were designed to be. Writing under such constraints is it possible to create a work that is more than that, a novel that is a great story in its own right? Until I read Jeanne Cavelos's trilogy I would have said not.
|
2: Am I the only person who does not like being asked to believe all this extra stuff we never see in z'ha'dum?
This, like book 2, borrows heavily from the TV show, mainly the last episode of season 3, and expects us to believe all this other stuff was going on at the same time that we never saw, such as but not limited to (spoilers) galen helping sheridan fight drahk and others on z'ha'dum, even telling him so, galen saving morden from the nuke blast, galen meeting lorien, galen planting the idea to see the imminent attack pattern in shadow dancing, there are more than I can easily recall. Also, a fair amount of the novel is regurgitation of events directly from tv episodes.
I don't know if this was the author's idea or specific to JMS's outline to write this this way, but it really violates the 'you expect me to believe this after you showed me something different in the tv series and JMS's own considerable comments on his episodes over the years?' rule - this applies to book 2 also. The book is well-written, though as others have noted galen is not a sympathetic character much of the time.
|
3: A Happy Ending to a Wonderful Trilogy
Sigh. It's over - no new techno-mage books left to read. That's the one thing that's very wrong about this book: it's the last one of the trilogy, and still leaves quite a gap between its end and the B5 movie Call to Arms, the first TV-thing that includes Galen. Also, one big question remains at the end, and I doubt we'll ever hear the answer: What happens to the techno-mages? Does the "Passing" in the title just point to their passing into hiding and away from the world, or their actual death and the end of the order?
Invoking Darkness is both the saddest and the happiest book in the trilogy. Again, there is death, suffering and chaos, and Galen learns secrets even more horrible than the ones in the previous books. Still, at the end, as open as it might be, there is a wonderful feeling of resolution, a real happy end after all the trouble and angst.
Just as Summoning Light built around and beyond the episode Geometry of Shadows, Invoking Darkness has a lot to do with Z'ha'dum, one of my all-time favourite episodes. At first, I was a bit shocked at the idea that I was supposed to believe that all this stuff was happening in the background of that episode and is just never shown - but it does make a lot of sense and explain some things. Everything the B5 characters, such as Kosh, Morden and Anna Sheridan do and their thoughts as they are described make perfect sense and are completely in character.
Then there is Galen, of course, at the center of it all, whose story these books are. From the eager though shy novice at the beginning of the first book, he grows and evolves into something far more complex, yet more whole than he has ever been. Watching Galen in Crusade is a whole new thing now that his backstory has been described in such detail and colour.
This is certainly the best TV-series-based trilogy I have come across so far. If you're into B5, you absolutely must read this. Even if you aren't, I'd still give it a try. It's probably worth it.
|
4: Somber Ending to a fine novelized series!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So thats why the series was titled "The Passing of the Techno Mages." I'm rather dissapointed! O.K. Volume 1 introduced us to the Mysterious characters that where introduced on the B5 and Crusade t.v. series's. We learn they accomplish their magic with the aid of an alien implant called a chrystalis. Volume 2 We learn the secret history of the alien implants, they come from the Shadows; planners and instigators of chaos and war, eternal enemies of the Vorlons. Volume 3 We learn how the Shadows sadistically produce the chrystalis (by kidnapping different species and letting it grow and fester on them and slowly draining the life out of the host.) Now comes the somber ending, Galen with the help of the spell of destruction and John Sheridan, destroy the homeworld of the Shadows and since the Shadows are the only ones that produce the Tech and the Mages don't know how! It's "the passing of the Techno Mages". Kinda dissapointing.
|
5: Kosh + Galen = Good Book!
Ah...my two favorite characters in the same book...unfortunately, I've only read the exerpt, but from what I read, this book rivals the New Frontier saga in complexity, quality of writing, and interest factor! From the very beginning I was routing for Galen, who's struggles are not unlike that of Kaylenn (see link: http://s2.invisionfree.com/Star_Trek_Galaxy). I can't wait to get the book and read on, and obviously the first two are required reads.
Live Long & Prosper,
TGN/Drakonis/Lunch
|
|
|
|
|
