I found to my big surprise that many Babylon 5 fans did not read Babylon 5 books. The earlier books were indeed just OK, but 3 series of 3 books each on the history of Psy Corps (by J. Gregory Keyes), Londo, Shadows and Centauri (by Peter David) and Galen and Techno-Mages (by Jeanne Cavelos) are outstanding! They stay strong on their own as solid Sci-Fi books and are excellent complement to the Babylon 5 universe. They were all closely coordinated with JMS (unlike some of the earlier books). So, if you missed them, get 'em and have fun. Links to Amazon are at the end of this post.
Babylon 5 is different from most other genre shows as there is a whole pre-planned universe with an outlined history going 1000 years in either direction from the events in the TV show. This makes fertile ground for tie-ins like novels and comics. In addition series creator J. Michael Straczynski was determined not to let books, comics, etc be just "throwaway media-tie-ins [and wanted] them to stand on their own as good work and be part of our universe".
Thanks to JMS keeping a tight rein on the franchise there is a pretty solid list of stories that can be said, one way or another, to have "happened" in the B5 universe... and this is that list.
So to start - the TV episodes:
DVDS
The place to begin is the original pilot "The Gathering" which is contained in the Movie Boxset (mentioned later). This is actually a new version of the pilot re-edited (and much improved IMO) from the original broadcast.
The series then unfolds over the five seasons, each of 22 episodes.
Each of these boxsets include documentaries and two or three audio commentaries on episodes by JMS or actors/directors.
During the course of the show, four TV movies ('In the Beginning', 'Thirdspace', 'The River of Souls' and 'A Call to Arms') were produced and they are collected in Babylon 5 - The Movie Collection, along with the series pilot, a documentary and an audio commentary for each movie.
After Babylon 5 ended there were two attempts to launch spin-off series set in the same universe. The first of these was Crusade - The Complete Series, collected on this boxset with documentaries and commentaries. The series was cancelled mid-way through its first season for various reasons.
A few years later a pilot for a new spin-off Babylon 5 - The Legend of the Rangers was produced but this failed to go to series.
Comics
As a comic books fan JMS took a strong hand in the development of the B5 comics, which ultimately only ran for 14 issues. He wrote the first issue and gave the story outline for the following three - collected in Babylon 5 : The Price of Peace (Comic Book ed) (Star08300) (Babylon 5).
The next story-arc (again plotted by JMS) covered four issues and is collected in "Babylon 5" (Babylon 5 S.). Issues #9 and #10 are generally not considered to be canon (mainly because they're not very good) however issue #11 ('The Psi Corps and You!') was outlined by JMS and elements of it have been used in subsequent novels. This issue is also collected in 'The Price of Peace' paperback above.
Babylon 5 comics disappeared for a few years but briefly re-surfaced in issues #3-8 of the UK-based Babylon 5 Magazine. They were later printed as three issues in the US and are collected in "Babylon 5" (Babylon 5 S.).
Novels
The first six B5 novels had mixed success - for every fan you find who likes one you will find another who hated it and they are generally not considered canon. Thereafter, JMS took a firmer hand in their development and started giving story outlines from his own notes, allowing them to be more integrated into the tapestry that he had already created. As a result The Shadow Within (Babylon 5, Book 7) and To Dream in the City of Sorrows (Babylon 5) are the only ones of the first batch of nine considered to be canonical.
The next series of nine novels took a more ambitious direction - three trilogies with story outlines provided by JMS:
- The Psi Corps Trilogy: probably my personal favorite of all the media tie-ins, these books chart the foundations of the Psi Corps and the life of Psi Cop Alfred Bester.
- The Centauri Prime Trilogy - 'Legions of Fire': set after the end of the TV show, telling the story of Londo, Vir and the people of Centauri Prime.
- The Techno-mage Trilogy [my personal favorite, T]- 'The Passing of the Techno-mages': follows Galen (a character from 'Crusade') and tells how his story intersects with events from the main series.
Other
There are a few other sources of B5 canon. For the absolute completist The Official Guide to Babylon 5 CD-ROM contains profiles of characters, alien races, ships & equipment co-written by JMS with some of the material later being used in episodes of Season Five.
After the series ended JMS wrote three short stories in the magazine 'Amazing Stories':
- - 'The Shadow of his Thoughts' (issue #597) - a story about Londo set shortly after the series' end
- - 'Genius Loci' (issue #599) - an episode from the travels of G'Kar and Lyta
- - 'Space, Time and the Incurable Romantic' (issue #602) - which brings the story of Marcus & Ivanova to a close
Three short stories were also written for Babylon 5 Magazine:
- - 'Hidden Agendas' (issue #22, by JMS) - a story set in early Season Five, featuring Ivanova
- - 'True Seeker' (issue #23, by series continuity editor Fiona Avery) - set on Narn after the series' end
- - 'The Nautilius Coil (issue #24, by author of the Psi Corps trilogy, J Gregory Keyes) - set during the Telepath Crisis, featuring Lyta and Garibaldi
Finally there were three scripts for the spin-off show 'Crusade' that were never produced due to the series' cancellation. All three revealed turning points for that series and the B5 universe as a whole. The scripts ('To the Ends of the Earth', 'Value Judgments' and 'End of the Line') were once available on on-line, but no longer.
None of these short stories or scripts are easily available but there is a movement to get them re-published in some collected form - get in touch with Del Rey Books, 1540 Broadway, NY, NY 10036-4040 USA.
Viewing/Reading Order
There is a debate among fans about about the order in which all this should be watched and read. Personally I go for the original broadcast/published order - if it was good enough for those of us who watched it as it came out it's good enough for newbies :-)
So with that in mind:
- DVDs: The Gathering
- DVDs: Season One
- DVDs: first half of Season Two
- Comics: The Price of Peace, Shadows Past and Present, The Psi Corps and You!
- DVDs: second half of Season Two
- DVDs: Season Three
- Books: The Shadow Within, To Dream in the City of Sorrows
- DVDs: first half of Season Four
- Comics: In Valen's Name
- DVDs: second half of Season Four
- Other: CD-ROM Guide
- DVDs: In the Beginning, Thirdspace
- DVDs: Season Five
- DVDs: The River of Souls, A Call to Arms, Crusade
- Other: 'Amazing Stories' short stories
- Books: Psi Corps Trilogy, Centauri Prime Trilogy, Technomage Trilogy
- Other: 'B5 Magazine' short stories
- DVDs: Legend of the Rangers
Written and directed by show creator J. Michael Straczynski, this made-for DVD movie is a spectacular vision of B5 and New York City in the 23rd century as it uses the most innovative filmmaking technology, which was unavailable during the original series.
Street Date: July 31, 2007
