| Title | : | Deadly Relations: Bester Ascendant (Babylon 5: Saga of Psi Corps, #2) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0345427165 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780345427168 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 266 |
| Publication | : | First published March 1, 1999 |
he was destined to become their darkest enemy . . .
In the twenty-second century, the discovery of human telepaths led to terror and bloodshed, and to the creation of the Psi Corps--a government agency of elite telepaths who were used to control their own kind. Under the command of a power-mad politician, the Corps became a ruthless tool of oppression, and the telepath underground was formed.
Matthew and Fiona Dexter led the resistance to its greatest victories. But when they were martyred for the cause, their only child was claimed by the very forces they had died opposing.
Raised from infancy within the Psi Corps, Alfred Bester was a telepath of exceptional ability, determined to make his mark by transforming himself into a master of deceit. Schooled in hate but tormented by shards of conscience, he wrestled with the seductiveness of the sinister cause he served. But slowly stripped of humanity by the war between decency and betrayal, he surrendered his soul--and rose to become the most dreaded figure of his time . . .
Book Two in the gripping new epic trilogy that uncovers the secret history of the Psi Corps.
Deadly Relations: Bester Ascendant (Babylon 5: Saga of Psi Corps, #2) Reviews
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So what do you on a quiet Sunday afternoon - in my case head back to the stack of books you promised yourself you would get round the finishing and pick one - hey presto - Deadly relations - Bester ascendent!
I will hold my hand up say in the day I was a huge fan of the series - and yes looking back on it now it was a little dated (and sure there are plenty of other descriptions out there people can substitute) however there is no denying it pushed the boundaries of CGI use in live action filming in realtime plus it championed long running cleverly thought stories lines compared to the baddie of the week and finally you did get to see some truely fun characters - one of which was Alfred Bester - and yes the name was intentionally a homage to the author and was referred as such.
But what of this book and the PSI-CORPS trilogy - well this is the story of not only PSI-CORPS but more importantly that of Alfred Bester the character you all loved to hate in the show.
The trilogy covers his birth, rise and I guess fall (although that I assume is in the last of the trilogy and the book I need to read next). Here we have Bester rising through his training, his early years and how he becomes the powerful and feared telepath.
The book is pretty straight forward and the action full on although some of the scene changes are a little jarring. One of the touches I did like were the references to the TV series - nothing obvious (and boy have I seen some painful ones) but easy enough to spot and identify with. What is more this book gives a little bit of fleshing out of major events which actually make this book more worthwhile - after all I have come away knowing a little more about the major storylines than I did before.
So what did I think - well this is TV tie-in at its best, you have a story you knew would be out there but was never alluded to in the series. You have a story which not only fits in with know events but actually expands them (slightly) and most important of all you have a character presented which matches what you would expect and know from the show.
All in all a pretty decent effort, now lets see where the third one goes. -
I’ve mentioned earlier on this blog that I am a big fan of the 1990’s television sci-fi show, Babylon 5. I own all the DVDs, have bought most of the behind-the-scenes series of books that have been published, and, of course, the novels. Some have been better than others, of course. I have been looking forward to the Psi Corps trilogy, since Bester was one of the most intriguing characters on the show. I just finished the second book in the trilogy, and it was a bit of a letdown.
The first book, Dark Genesis, was interesting. It told Bester’s story from his infancy. Actually, it started before he was born, with his parents. Not to give too much away, but his background is a bit surprising. This second book picks up with Alfred now in training at the Psi Corps centers. He’s an obnoxious little so-and-so even as a kid, and doesn’t make a lot of friends. He tends to have an independent streak and that gets him into trouble more than once. But he is a P12, and seems destined for greatness. The story follows his education, early days as a Psi Cop, and leads into the years when Bester has become one of the top ranking Psi Cops. It is still an interesting story, but it just didn’t engage me like some of the other novels.
One thing that worked against it was that Bester himself seemed a rather distant character. In some ways, it fits, since he does distance himself from others to a great extent. And even though the story is told from Bester’s point of view, it never felt like I was fully involved with his character. It was more like watching from a distance than being in the middle of a life. It made the whole story less engaging.
There were some nice tie-ins with the story arc as it aired on TV. Bester interacts with several of the characters that were in the show in his early days, and we get a glimpse of them along with Bester.
Even with the above, there are a lot of details revealed about Bester’s life and how he got to the point he was when the show aired. He is still one of the more interesting characters to come out of Babylon 5. -
The second book in J. Gregory Keye's Babylon 5 Psi Corps trilogy, Deadly Relations - Bester Ascendant, was a marked improvement over the first. I think the first was necessary to provide the complete background to the Psi Corps itself but it involved a lengthy timeline, and multiple characters that all served to set up the story of Alfred Bester himself. And afterall, most readers of this trilogy will be fans of the TV series and Bester is who we want to read about.
The book itself was very nicely written. We get to see Bester from the age of six all the way up until his first visit to the Babylon 5 station. It effectively captures the essence of his younger life and the circumstances in which he grew up, leading us to understand how he evolved into the character on the TV show. It answers many questions on how he came to be so ruthless, how he came to allow himself to bend the rules to get things done, and, most importantly, how he came to be so prejudice against non-psi powered humans (homo sapiens vs homo supremes).
I do tend to like it when "villains" get to have their side of the story heard. Bester, in this book, is a sympathetic figure, more of an anti-hero than a villain. I've read some background on the book and it apparently ties in with other B5 novels and comic books just as well as the TV series. Of course, J. Michael Straczynski has fleshed out the history of his B5 universe far more than most other writers...far beyond what is even hinted at in the TV series. And since he provided the outline for this novel as well as approved the final version, it is no wonder this novel ties in so well. Between his care in building the universe of B5 and the superb writing of Mr Keyes, this book is a winner! -
This is book 2 in the Psi Corp Trilogy. It's the story of the underground, Bester's parents, and Bester's early life growing up in and being trained by the Psi Corp. It gives us a very human and compassionate look at the man who by the time we find him in Babylon 5, seems to have no goodness or redeeming qualities in his nature. Seeing the journey Bester's life takes and how he becomes the man we see later is interesting. This book is not as compelling as the first book in the trilogy, but it does help us understand a complex man and what shaped him and it's well worth reading.
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I've read quite a few series tie-ins (I know, bottom of the nerd spiral), few were as good as these two. I look forward to finishing the trilogy once the final book comes in the mail. Big fan of the writing style, and the way the story treats the content seriously, tackles the story competently, and tells it in a well paced and relatively well written style. I started the first of the numbered books directly after finishing this, and boy was that a mistake. It has Bester jovialy asking to play Mars basketball with one of his lower rank guys. Not exactly in character for the guy.
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A detailed, fictional, biography describing the events in Alfred Besters life. Probably not a great read for those not already invested in either the character of the Babylon 5 setting, but for those who are. It's really pretty awesome.
Full detailed review:
https://eternal-bookcase.com/deadly-r... -
I liked how the story developed in the second book. I love the B5 Universe, so there was no stopping, even if was awful, which it wasn't.
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Эпично.
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Excellent second novella in this trilogy, better than the first and moves at a cracking pace
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This is the second book in the trilogy about Bester, the Psi Cop from the Babylon 5 TV series. I’ve always been a big fan of the TV show, so I was pleased to discover that books based on the series could be pretty good.
This installment of the trilogy covers the demise of the Telepath Underground on Earth and the rise of the Psi Corps, which was created by the Earth Government to ‘protect’ telepaths from beinng killed by ‘mundanes’ who feared their suprahuman powers. Alfred Bester is a key character in the Babylon 5 TV series; this novel charts his early life in the schools of the Corps and his subsequent rise to power. -
The least interesting of the Psi Corps books. It's just as well written as books one and three, but the story of Bester growing up seems a rather tame anti-climax, compared to the build up of book one, or the tantilizing glimpse of the post-TV series future seen in book three. It exists as a rather mechanical chess game -- taking book one's pieces, and shuffling them to where they will be required for the end game.
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If you're not a Babylon 5 fan, really no reason to read this book. I really enjoyed the first 2/3 of it, but then Bester just became an ass and it felt like a couple familiar characters were thrown in just to tie it more closely to the TV show. Nevertheless, it was enjoyable enough that I'll probably spend some money on getting a couple more. I do love the show and enjoy seeing some more of the backstory pieces that JMS had to fill out the world.
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Bester's biography from a kid to the opening of the Babylon 5 TV series. There are some interesting parts, but it's often a dull, try book that still tries to cover too much territory.
Read my full review at
Carstairs Considers. -
Ok, unlike the first book in this series, I did enjoy this second one. Seemed to have better pacing, and I cared more about the characters. This was a good time for someone like me who loves the whole B5 world.
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WOW..... What a wonderfully insightful look into a particularly interesting character.... This book was a little bit slow but the links and tie ins and background information makes for a very interesting read and makes me love the series even more...
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I haven't picked this up in years.. as it is just too hard to get through. Why waste two books on useless, draw-out background material when you could've had a perfectly good trilogy like LoF? My gosh, I'd rather read a summary than finish this series.
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Political
-Socialism and the scholar -
I generally don't read books based on series, but I did enjoy the Bab-5 books that J. Michael Straczynski plotted, including this one.
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A little bit better than the first of the series, though it too is a little on the inconsistent side of things.
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quick read...liked the first one better.
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Bester is one of my favorite characters in B5, and this book is all about him!
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More solid sci fi and character development.
