Dark Genesis:
The Birth of PSI Corps

Written by: J. Gregory Keyes

Published: October 1998

"Welcome home, Alfred Bester."

Best book of the telepath trilogy. Almost faultless, and that is a lot to say about a tie-in novel. Keyes writes well and manages to hold the book together despite the large cast of characters and long time span.

Notes:

• Canon
• Covers the period of time from 2115 to 2189

Deadly Relations:
Bester Ascendant

Written by: J. Gregory Keyes

Published: March 1999

"The Corps is mother, the Corps is father."

Not quite as good as Dark Genesis, but good nevertheless. Keyes' knowledge of B5 universe is impressive (at least when comparing to the non-canon Dell books or Legions of Fire) as he even makes references to the events of Shadow Within.

Notes:

• Canon
• Set mainly before B5, beginning from 2195 and ending in 2258, just before "Mind War"
• According to the book Byron's full name is Byron Gordon. However, in Phoenix Rising, when Byron is flying around in his starfury, there is a badge in his uniform that spells 'Byron' suggesting that it is his surname.

Final Reckoning:
The Fate of Bester

Written by: J. Gregory Keyes

Published: 1999

"There were worse things in life than a little rain."

A worthy end to the trilogy. I especially liked the potrayal of Garibaldi. To me he seemed more sympathic than in the series (or Legions of Fire where he was nothing but a charichature). Also, the 23rd century Earth seemed rather more realistic (or should that be futuristic?) than, for example, in the novelization of A Call to Arms or Voices.

Notes:

• Canon
• Set after B5 and Crusade, starting from 2271 and ending in 2281, soon after Sheridan's death.
• It is interesting that the blurb in the back cover has almost nothing to do with the book itself. It is merely a summary of the telepath war which was strategically left outside the trilogy.

Legions of Fire, Book I:
The Long Night of Centauri Prime

Written by: Peter David

Published: December 1999

"What is greater than the Great Maker... more frightening than a Shadow ship... the poor have it... the rich need it... and if you eat it, you die."

A disappointment, to say the least. Entertaining at the first read, but if you make the mistake of reading it again, you'll start to notice the plotholes. Some of the characters don't quite feel like themselves and Peter David's attempts to lighten things up with humour usually fail - don't even get me started on Drak'hul. Nevertheless, if you liked the Centauri, the trilogy is worth reading.

Notes:

• Canon (more or less)
• Begins at the end of the fifth season (2262) when Londo becomes the emperor and a slave to the Drakh and ends in 2267 (though at some points there seems to be terrible glitches in the chronology).
• If you don't want to be spoiled, don't read the blurb on the back cover before you have read the book itself.
• There is a huge glitch in the book regarding the events of "Objects in Rest" and the drakh urn. In the series Londo gave the urn to Sheridan and Delenn in the aforementioned episode (and thus at the end of 2262), but TLNoCP suggests that this happened as late as in 2264 or 2265.
• Senna is of course the Centauri woman who looks after the children in the frame story of In the Beginning.

Legions of Fire, Book II:
Armies of Light and Dark

Written by: Peter David

Published: May 2000

"Do not think," I told her. "It is an entirely overrated pastime."

If possible, AoFAD is even worse than TLNoCP. That's about all I have to say about it.

Notes:

• Canon (more or less)
• Covers the period of time between 2267 and 2273.

Legions of Fire, Book III:
Out of the Darkness

Written by: Peter David

Published: November 2000

"Hello, little sun."

Compared to the first two Centauri books OotD is rather good... at least until the end which can only be described with the word 'cheesy'. Take my advise and stop reading after Chapter 29. Even an open ending would have been better than what Peter David came up with. Oh, and could the cover be any more horrible? What happened to the artist, I mean, the first two books had good covers?

Notes:

• Canon (more or less)
• Covers the period of time between 2274 and 2278, including Sheridan's timeflash from "World Without End II"

Read also: A longer review of the book spoilers