Babylon 5: A Call to Arms

Babylon 5: Episode Novelizations and Scriptbooks

by Robert Sheckley

Former allies of the sinister Shadows, the Drakh prepare a massive attack against Earth in this novelization of the feature-length TV film that launches the new "Babylon 5" follow-up series, "Crusade".

Genres: Babylon 5, Science Fiction, Fiction, Tv, Science Fiction Fantasy

Paperback

First published December 26, 1998

About the author

One of science fiction's great humorists, Sheckley was a prolific short story writer beginning in 1952 with titles including "Specialist", "Pilgrimage to Earth", "Warm", "The Prize of Peril", and "Seventh Victim", collected in volumes from Untouched by Human Hands (1954) to Is That What People Do? (1984) and a five-volume set of Collected Stories (1991). His first novel, Immortality, Inc. (1958), was followed by The Status Civilization (1960), Journey Beyond Tomorrow (1962), Mindswap (1966), and several others. Sheckley served as fiction editor for Omni magazine from January 1980 through September 1981, and was named Author Emeritus by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2001.

Reviews

[Judith Paterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots happens and enjoyed it

[Jennifer Baratta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fans of Babylon 5 and Crusade from JMS should read this Babylon 5 book.

[Wildcard · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the outside it looks to everyone like Alliance President John Sheridan has completely lost his marbles. If only that had actually been the case...

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an action-adventure book, it's first rate. Writing action sequences in print can be tricky, but Robert Sheckley pulls it off. Unfortunately, he can't quite fix the problem of introducing the soon-to-be-regular cast members of B5 spin-off "Crusade" any more than JMS could in his TV script. To be blunt, they are a rather bland bunch compared to the personality powerhouses of B5 regulars Sheridan and Garibaldi. Still worth the read.

[Spiegel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Copied from my Bookcrossing entry from 2002.

This is the novelization of the film that sets up the short-lived TV series Crusade (sequel to Babylon 5). All I remember about this book was thinking that it was your average media tie-in. It isn't the worst book I've ever read, but it was completely forgettable. Maybe you need to see the movie first in order to appreciate it.

[I. S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay - pretty close to a transcription of what aired. There was a little bit of fleshing out, but not much. The one Garibaldi chapter we got that was not an aired scene kind of fell flat, and if it was supposed to be an illustration of his comment about dreaming real dark, well, it really didn't measure up.

[Kristina Coop-a-Loop · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was so-so. Was missing the show so I read this book.

[RC · Rating 2 out of 5]

An average story which lacks the wit normally associated with Robert Sheckley.

[Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I missed the show, so perhaps I gave it more stars than it deserved? But that universe is full of potential. Only the Old ones left the galaxy. That leaves a lot of races to have conflicts with. The series would have dealt with races we knew little or nothing about. Oh well...