Blood Oath: Babylon 5, Book #3

Blood Oath is the third of the original nine novels. The book is set during the second season prior to events in "The Coming of Shadows." Ambassador G'Kar receives a death threat in the form of a Shon'Kar, a traditional Narn blood oath. Subsequently, Ivanova, Garibaldi and Na'Toth travel to the Narn Homeworld for the ambassador's funeral. Meanwhile, back on Babylon 5, as well as on the ship en route, people get the feeling that G'Kar might still be alive. Could this be what it seems or is there more than meets than eye? John Vornholt makes use of existing B5 plots and subplots regarding the Narns and G'kar in particular, on which he bases this novel. The book is well written and presented, and the reader feels that they have been transported to the Narn Homeworld. The information conveyed about the Narns' home planet as well as G'kar's rapid rise to the Third circle is interesting and never mentioned before in such detail. Ivanova's handling of a ride on a Narn lift, on page 150, was enlightening and amusing at the same time: "A second later, Ivanova was close to screaming after what seemed like a sheer drop to the bottom of the shaft. Her stomach churned, her ears ached until they popped, and she could see Na'Toth yawning. The lift finally began to slow, and it deposited them gently at the bottom level of the canyon." On page 71, the author provides for an excellent description of Narn courting: "The flower of Narn womanhood is the thorn. I cannot wait to return to the land of thorny women." "Under the thorn is the softest fruit." Finally, on pages 224-225, the author foreshadows G'Kar's transformation from being bitter, vengeful, and aggressive to becoming compassionate, altruistic, and noble. On the downside, the novel is at times much too slow to the point of actually being bland and boring. Moreover, regarding the plot and the main characters' actions, they seemed forced and unconvincing. Al Vernon was simply uninteresting and the twist at the end was as lame as they get, though the finishing words exchanged between the two ambassadors was highly enjoyable. In short, with the series over, thank goodness for the novels. 3.5 Stars More novels please...

Blood Oath involves a plot by G'Kar to fake his own death in order to evade assassins. The other B5 characters receiving significant attention are Garibaldi and Ivanova. The story, while mildly interesting, is not as fast-moving as the first two B5 novels. There is an interesting look at the Narn Homeworld, so G'Kar fans should pick this one up.

although this book is no where "Legions Of Fire" or "To Dream in The City of Sorrows". Blood Oath is one of the better books in this series. Slow at time but a great ending. I liked the stuff about the Narn Homeworld. This book takes place when in 2258 (season 1). It was a great side read until "Armies Of Light and Dark" comes out. So I would highly reccomend this book, You have nothing to loose

For a small book written for a TV show I think it was not bad. I enjoyed reading about how G'Kar got where he is. It's not all action but that's B5 and that's how I like it.

A very exciting, well planned, brilliantly written novel which fits in perfectly with the story arc that B5 fans have come to love. Top notch book, a must read for all B5 fans and a thrilling read for anyone else.