The Shadow Within: Babylon 5, Book #7

You know I did not want to like Anna but I had to remind myself that we saw a thing made up to look like her on TV.In reading this book I enjoyed her backstory. Made me cry at the end.Good Companion to the TV show.

I know that it ruins a story if you know how it ends,in this case, what happens to Anna Sheridan on Z'ha'dum, but you probably wouldn't have gotten the book unless you did. But for the Shadow Within, it is not what happens that matters, but how and why they did. You see, this book explains how the ancient Shadows were awakened, as mentioned in the television series, and why Mr. Morden came to be in their service. The story is greatly inhanced by the dramatic irony that is always present with Morden. He gives a fresh air to the story. This is a very well crafted story, which gets the reader out of the crampt five mile long station everyone has come to love. It explores the B5 universe. Other books in the series are dry, dull stories that sound like rejects from the first season.(Except Jim Mortimore's book: Clark's Law) Many familar characters are in it, including: Delenn, Sinclair, Kosh, and even the lovable Garibaldi. Let's not forget the Sheridans, whose marriage will be torn apart by the shadows within.

I have read most of the books in the Babylon 5 series, and can say that this book is right now my favorite because you find out what happened to Sheriden's wife, and the mystery that leads up to the awakening of the Shadows on Z'ardom. The characters are not just steriotypes, but are full of life. You discover the dark secret of Morden, and why he came to the aid of the Shadows. Over all this is one of the best SciFi novels that I have read with a female hero, or Shero, as some prefer. A good suspensful novel.

Considering that B5 is a series that thrives on continuity, this was a great effort. I enjoyed reading the details behind stories we'd heard here and there in the series - just *why* Sheridan forgot to say 'I love you' the last time he spoke to Anna, exactly *how* Morden became a Shadow servant.I really enjoyed the 'B' plot, telling of the problems Sheridan had when he first took command of the Agamemnon. We begin to see what it must have been like for him to have to leave her behind - in short, it gives us a lot of insight into who he is.I did find myself expecting things that didn't turn up, though...for example, the writing on the side of the 'Egg': 'What is desired', sounded so much to my like 'What do you want', but the characters then went off on a tangent about 'all that is desired', leaving me feeling a little unfulfilled.In short, a great book, with a great plot and a wonderful feel for the series, that's only let down occasionally by the style of writing. Highly recommended.

PROs :) This Book was great. I watch Babylon5 and I like it alot. When I saw this book I thought it would just be another corny spinoff but it wasn't. This is good enogh to be a stand alone book with the exception of some of the words (ie: Link, plasma laser, PPG, EVA suit, HeavyCuiser, ect.) that would not make sense to a non-babylon5 viewer. The Plot is great, their is actually three plots and each has it's own section in the chapter, just like the show. The cliff hanger chapters and "Commercial break like" endings to chapters won't let you stop reading, really!CONs :( It leaves some unanswered questions at the end but I suppose their trying to be dramatic. if you watch the series some questions will be answered if you don't, you probably won't even notice most of the unanswered questions. The begining starts off slow (the first chapter or so) but after that it's great.Conclusion :/ All in all you should get this book it is Great!!! If you watch the series or like Sci-fi this is the book for you.

I read "The Shadow Within" with some trepidation since I was afraid that my views of the events would be clouded by my opinions of the characters in the "current" timeline. Instead I found myself forgetting about the fate of the characters and focusing on the events of the story. The insight into Morden and Sheridan was particularly nice and I liked the references to some of the other characters in the past. I am difficult to please when it comes to novels of ST shows because often the quality of the novel is less than the quality of the show or characters don't feel right, but "The Shadow Within" was an excellent read.