Diplomatic Act

Hilariously written, entertaining, and somehow plausible, this story is much better than the one borrowed... er... written for a movie with a similar plot. The authors obviously had a great working relationship with Keith's technical mastery and humor paired with Jurasik's Hollywood insight. If you like humorous sci-fi and fantasy a la Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett, this is a must-read!

Since I like both the authors I decidec to pick up this book. Despite a somewhat slow beginning, this was an excellent book. The wonderfully thoughtout alien that is just not a human in an alien suit is a William H. Keith hallmark. Delightful Alien aliens make this book a keeper. The advanced technology is not used as a crutch to cover a lack of story. This book gets better the second time around, and I found things that I missed the first go 'round. While somewhat implausable, the suspension of disbelief is complete, and you find yourself identifying with the various aliens in this hilarious romp through Hollywood's darker side. Well worth the price.

I picked up Diplomatic Act because I wanted to support the creative endeavors of the talented actors on Babylon 5. While the book falls short of the mark of good literature, it is better written than many of the mass-market SF titles that I have read. I found the book's basic premise implausible: that an alien observing earth and learning of its culture from American TV broadcasts could not discern the difference between reality and fiction. Nevertheless, it proved to be an entertaining foundation for an engaging story. I too thought that it was a little slow getting started; I also thought that the adventures of the alien as Faraday on Earth deserved more attention. During the latter half of the book it seemed to be relegated to a very minor story and then suddenly it reappeared in the finale. Despite the faults, I respect the authors' effort to take convention and turn it on its head and to combine humor and SF. Afficianodos of Babylon 5 will find themselves smiling as a detail here and there reminds them of their favorite show. The references are subtle and in no way detract from the story. In fact, those who are unfamiliar with Babylon 5 won't know that they missed a thing.

I bought this book a few weeks ago and didn't devour it immediately. I kept starting and stopping as I felt the first two or three chapters were slow and plodding, but things began to take off when we were in space with Faraday and simulataneously on the earth with the alien. If you persevere you'll find a real page-turner emerges. The satire is good, the characterisation improves once the authors get into their stride and the plot develops very nicely, with gentle hints all the way through about who is really behind what's going on. Recommended.

Good book with a lot in store for B5 fans. The main character is an actor who plays a diplomat on syndicated SF TV show. While many parallels exist with B5 (the diplomat looks like Londo with long white hair, the captain is a pretty boy actor) the fun comes from the differences (the "Great Maker" of this show is facinated by cute aliens, the scripts are very badly written, the directors suck, etc.) The plot itself is very good without being too deep with a lot of fun sections. The end has a slight twist that isn't that surprising although it is very pleasing to the reader's ego.Oh, as for the cover, just like "The Rising" this book was given a cover that depicts the star author, not the main character. Also, there is this huge "A Star of Babylon 5" message there to insult the intelligence of B5 fans everywhere.