Subject: Babylon-5 Novel _Voices_ by John Vornholt

From: [email-masked] (gary weiner)
Date: Sat, 11 Mar 1995 00:19:12 GMT

I don't usually read books written by one author that take place in a 
universe created by another.  I have no love for Star Trek novels or
Man-Kzin Wars part XXX.  I do confess to reading some Star Wars novels,
but I have no illusions that the best they could ever hope to be is
"passable".  So, normally, I would have skipped the Babylon-5 novel
_Voices_ by John Vornholt.  But I didn't.  Due in part to the fact that
J. Michael Straczynski, the creator of Babylon-5, has stated that both
the novels and comic books that are spun off from B5 will be considered to 
be part of the B5 continuity and will therefore be "canon".  Thus tempted
by the possibility of learning some more about the B5 universe, I plunked
down US $5.50 for what is probably the worst book that I've read in quite
some time.

The book is light, at 246 pages and the cover is, in my non-artistic
opinion, pretty bad. On the cover is Babylon-5 itself in front of either
the planet or the moon that it is located near. To the right of B5 are 
Kosh, Garabaldi and Talia. In the Lower left corner is a big, cheezy looking
, yellow starburst with red letters that scream "Based on the hit TV series".
There is also an error on the cover, which states that "the year is 2258",
when the year is actually 2259. Just the look and feel of this book gave me
bad vibes, and I almost didn't pick it up based on the cover alone.

The book concerns a Psi-Corps convention which takes place on Babylon-5,
which for all intents and purposes feels like a science fiction convention.
Some popular guest characters are brought back including the Psi-Cop 
Bester from "Mind War" and "A Race Through Dark Places", Harriman Gray from
"Eyes" and "Duece" from "Grail". The inclusion of so many guest characters
seems forced, and indeed makes it almost impossible for _Voices_ to fit 
into the B5 arc.

Actually, lets get that out of the way first, since it was my primary
reason for buying the book. Does _Voices_ fit neatly into the B5 storyline?
I would have to say that it does not. A "historian's note" at the front 
of book indicates that the story takes place between "Points of Departure"
and "A Race Through Dark Places". This is almost impossible since in the 
book, Captain Sheridan meets Bester, while in the episode "Race"(which takes
place afterwards) it is fairly obvious that they have not yet met.

In fact, there is very little extra info about the rich B5 universe to be
gleaned from this book. We learn that Talia's uncle is/was in the Mars
resistance and that Psi-Powers were proven to exist about "6 generations
ago". That's about it.

Also, there are two major science errors in the book, the likes of which
I haven't seen in years in written SF. The first is the temperature of Mars.
In the beginning of the book, it is stated that the current temperature of
Mars is 201 degrees C (About 400 F), hot enough to cook a steak. Worse than
that, it then goes on to say that the next day's temperatture will be 274 C
(525 F). At the end of the book, the temperature is 379 C(714 F) hot enough
to melt lead. The author has explained that he researched the subject and
read Celcius instead of Kelvin. While this might explain 201 C, it certainly
does not explain 379 C (379 K = 106 C, 220 F) or why the temperature of Mars
can vary 73 C in one day and 178 C in a couple of weeks. This kind of sloppy
research is inexcusable.

Later on in the book, Garabaldi is involved in an altercation on a shuttle. 
To extricate himself, he pulls an emergency stop cord that is located under
the seat. Leaving aside, for the moment, why one would need a train-style
emergency stop cord on a space-going vessel, the reaction of the bodies
in the shuttle defy the laws of physics. The book states that the shuttle is
"slowing down" which means that if there is acceleration-based simulated
gravity, it is now working in reverse and anything not strapped down should
vault to the "ceiling". The author shows an apalling lack of understanding
of the basic concepts of "speed" vs "acceleration" as the captain of the
shuttle says "...you've cost us at least half an hour. That's the time it 
will take to get us back up to speed. Anybody floating will just have to keep
floating till then."

"Apart from that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?" You might ask 
"how was the book otherwise?" and I'd have to say that it was pretty bad.
The writing is terrible, containing clunky dialogue, bad description and
simplistic narrative. The only way we get to see what the characters might
be feeling is by the author telling us "He felt bad" or "She was upset".

******************SPOILERS MAY FOLLOW******************************


The story itself is fairly silly. Talia is framed for bombing a meeting
at the Psi-Corps convention and the chase is on. With the help of Kosh
and Deuce,  Talia escapes to Earth, pursued by Garabaldi and Harriman Gray.

The outcome of the story is never in doubt and the identity of the framer
is obvious before the crime is ever committed. I found it had to believe 
that the Chief of Security for B5 and a Military telepath would be allowed
to pursue a fugitive off B5 to Earth and Mars.

In conclusion. I would have to say that you should only buy this book if
you are a raving fan of B5 and have to have everything with the B5 name 
on it. If you've never seen an episode of B5, definately give this book
a pass. It certainly isn't a good intro to the B5 universe, watch a few
episodes instead.

%A John Vornholt
%T Voices
%I Dell Publishing
%C New York
%D 1995
%P 246pp

-- 
Gary J. Weiner              |"Red Riding Hood screamed, not out of alarm at the
BNL-NSLS                    | wolf's apparent tendency toward cross-dressing,
[email-masked]      | but because of his willfull invasion, of her 
PO BOX 715  Upton, NY 11973 | personal space" -James Garner, PC Bedtime Stories