Personal Agenda: Babylon 5, Book #8

Personal Agendas is the eighth of the original nine Babylon 5 novels. The story is set in 2261 as the Shadow War rages on and G'Kar is held captive on Centauri Prime. Commander Ivanova, Security Chief Garibaldi, and Doctor Franklin disguise themselves as Centauri jewel merchants and arrive at the Centauri homeworld in an effort to free G'Kar who is held prisoner and is being tortured by Emperor Cartagia. Meanwhile, Captain John Sheridan and ambassador Delenn go undercover in order to shed some light on some shady dealings taking place on B5. Al Sarrantonio makes use of existing B5 plots and subplots to write this novel. The book is well written and presented, and the reader feels that they are watching another B5 feature film. Personal Agendas starts off very well catching the reader's interest and attention, and holding on to it until the end. Throughout the book Al Sarrantonio brings to the forefront characters that we have come to know and love in a way that does not sway from accuracy and additionally introduces new interesting characters. On the downside, the author includes 67 chapters in a total of 212 pages, which does not make much sense, nevertheless, that is a minor flaw considering the overall enjoyment that one gets out of the book. Other reviewers criticized Ivanova's shaved head (for this expedition) and her wearing a wig once back on B5, however, it should be noted that the author does not specify how long she has to wear it; there must be inducers that allow for rapid hair growth in the mid-23rd century, which would mean that she would not have to wear it for too long. In short, with the main series over and as we wait to hopefully see some more (and much better) Lost Tales or another B5 spinoff, thank goodness for the novels. More novels please...

Unlike some of the reviewers on this page, I like this book. The best part of this novel was the rescue of G'Kar. Dr. Franklin and Ivonova have to sport hair similar to Vir to rescue G'Kar from prison. I must have finished it in a few hours with the short chapters. It's not a serious story, however it did provide fans with a few hours of what would have made a funny episode.

Not all Babylon 5 has to be dead serious and gripping. I thought this book was just fun. It was a good addition to the B5 book series. It was enjoyable having Vir Cotto as the hero. The book was kind of silly. But in a GOOD way!

There are no happy endings. Things are the way they must be. In style this book is a lot like Clark's Law, you can almost see the chapters as scenes already filmed and shown to you. I know that some may think that short chapters are distracting and hard to follow, but in my opinion that isn't the case; it keeps the tempo up, and helps the reader to keep track of everything that's happening in multiple places at the same time. The story has two or three separate plots. The main plot concentrates on events surrounding G'Kar's incarceration. One plot studies what Lyndisty's plans for Vir really are and a separate plot allows John and Delenn get some time together, but not in the way they expected. The events take place in 2261, before "Falling Toward Apotheosis".