Babylon 5 Archives - Gary David Gillen

Conference Marcon Columbus 2022

Conference Marcon Columbus 2022 Recap

Introduction

I attended the SF Conference Marcon Columbus 2022 on May 7, 2022. They held the conference at 350 North High Street Columbus, Ohio 43215 at the Hyatt Regency Columbus. The drive was two-plus hours taken in the morning and back in the evening. I also attended Marcon in 2017, 2018, and 2019. The missing two years were because the conference was canceled those years. The story going around the con this year was that this might be the last Marcon because the coordinating group of this con will no longer do it going forward. Will someone run the con next year? Stay tuned. I attended three panels and one concert at the 2022 conference.

This is a link to the Marcon Conference Facebook account. Their website was down then and still is down.

https://www.facebook.com/MARConOH/

Summary

Saturday, May 7th at 11:00 AM

It was the best of Kynes, it was the worst of Kynes: The new Dune film, a panel with Denver Karchner, Ted Dickinson, Paul Hahn, Emily Lydic, and Sean Mead.

The panel debated what they liked and didn’t like about the Dune (2021) film. The film covered the first part of the novel Dune. They will make a second film covering the rest of the novel and its scheduled release is on October 20, 2023. They compared the current film with the Dune (1984) film and the Sci-Fi Channel series from 2000. The panelists enjoyed the movie but felt that some concepts could have been explained better for non-book readers. They are cautiously optimistic that the second film will answer their questions.

They held the panel in Salon B/C Room with 19 attendees.

Saturday, May 7th at 12:00 PM

The Harp Twins, a concert with Camille Kitt and Kennerly Kitt.

The Harp twins are identical twins that both play electric harps. They arrange their music. They played nine songs in the concert including Nothing Else Matter by Metallica and Fear of the Dark by Iron Maiden. In between songs they engaged in humorous banter between them and introduced each piece before they played them. A very enjoyable concert, not what I expected, but they won me over.

This is a link to their website which has a bio, links to purchase their music, music videos, and a schedule of upcoming performances.

https://www.harptwins.com/

They held the concert in the Buckeye Room with 70 attendees.

Saturday, May 7th at 1:00 PM

Writing for Hire, a discussion with Marie Vibbert.

The discussion was about the author’s experience in taking a writing for-hire job. She says that a lot of mass-market books are ghostwritten. She told us what it’s like writing someone else’s property to a specification. The book is expected to be released on July 12, 2022. The book is named MegaDeath with the name of the author Tory Quinn. The interesting thing is that the book says Tory Quinn with Marie Vibbert. The other two books “written” by Tory Quinn were written by other ghostwriters. Marie said it was an interesting experience. She was given a specific outline that must be followed in writing the book. The business model for the publisher was pitching a movie concept by having a written novel adapted into a screenplay. There wasn’t much room for creativity but the pay was good.

This is the link to the Goodreads page for MegaDeath by Tory Quinn

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56603442-megadeath

They held the discussion in the Capital Room with 7 attendees.

Saturday, May 7th at 2:00 PM

Babylon 5: Reborn or Retreaded, a panel with Lee Shamblin, Rachael Thurston, Denver Karshner, Emily Lydic, and Ken Keisel.

The reason for the panel was to discuss the proposed reboot of the series by the original show writer, J. Michael Straczynski. At the time of the panel, the details of the reboot were hazy. What complicates matters is that the CW channel planned to produce it with a projected release in 2023. Nexstar will purchase CW and that might impact the status of the Babylon 5 reboot. The panel questioned what would happen going forward.

They held the panel in Salon B/C with 27 attendees.

Recommendation – Conclusion

I had a great time at Conference Marcon Columbus 2022. My co-stars of the con were The Harp Twins for their concert and the Writing for Hire discussion presented by Marie Vibbert. I also attended Marcon in 2017, 2018, and 2019 and hope the con will return in 2023.

Links

Recap for SF Conference Marcon Columbus on May 11, 2019. They held it at Crowne Plaza – Columbus North. I also attended Marcon in 2017 and 2018. This year I attended four panels, a performance, and an interview.

Recap Marcon Conference 2019

Recap for SF Conference Marcon Columbus I attended on May 12, 2018, at the Hyatt Regency in Columbus, Ohio. I attended four panels and two game shows.

Marcon Conference 2018

Recap for SF Conference Marcon Columbus on May 13, 2017. They held the conference at the Hyatt Regency Columbus. I also attended Marcon in 2018 and 2019. I attended five panels at the 2017 conference.

Conference Recap Marcon Columbus 2017

To Dream in the City of Sorrows by Kathryn M. Drennan

To Dream in the City of Sorrows by Kathryn Drennan.

To Dream in the City of Sorrows by Kathryn Drennan, Book #9 of the Babylon 5 Universe.

Introduction

To Dream in the City of Sorrows by Kathryn Drennan is a tie-in novel for the Babylon 5 TV show. The author connects three stories not covered in the show. What happened to Minbari Ambassador Jeffrey Sinclair on Minbar, what happened to Sinclair’s fiancé Catherine Sakai, and how did Marcus Cole become a Ranger. This novel shows what brought Jeffrey Sinclair, Catherine Sakai, and Marcus Cole together to fight the Shadows.

Summary

To Dream in the City of Sorrows by Kathryn M. Drennan tells the stories of Jeffrey Sinclair, Catherine Sakai, and Marcus Cole that were not covered in the Babylon 5 TV show. There were three questions answered in this novel that was not detailed in the show. Why was Jeffrey Sinclair removed from Babylon 5 and assigned as the Ambassador to Minbar? What happened to Sinclair’s fiancé, Catherine Sakai? How did Marcus Cole become a Ranger?

Marcus Cole owns a mining company on the colony world of Arisia III. A deadly encounter with the Shadows changes his life plan.

Catherine Sakai is a planetary surveyor for the Universal Terraform Corporation. She spends weeks and months on missions discovering resource-rich planets on the Rim. An encounter with Shadows leads her to a new mission.

Jeffrey Sinclair is the Ambassador to Minbar assigned by the Earth Alliance. No one on Minbar will tell him his expected role. He can’t contact Babylon 5 or Earth. The key to his position comes from the Minbari’s belief that Sinclair has a Minbari soul. He ends up becoming involved with the order of the Rangers. The Rangers’ mission is to look for the return of the Shadows.

Recommendation

To Dream in the City of Sorrows by Kathryn M. Drennan combines small ideas from the TV show to create a plot. In the show, Marcus mentions that his brother’s death led him to become a Ranger. It bridges the gap between three stories involving Jeffrey Sinclair. First is season 1 episode 22, Chrysalis, when Sinclair left the series at the end of season 1. Second is Season 3 episodes 16 and 17, War Without End Parts 1 and 2, when they reveal Babylon 4’s fate. Last is a three-part comic series named In Valen’s Name, which ties up remaining loose ends. They use Catherine Sakai’s occupation and her potential encounter with the Shadows.

I liked this novel. It explained some unanswered questions left from the series. I would have liked a clearer explanation of Catherine Sakai’s fate. They implied her fate, but not definitively.

Links

This is the link to the Goodreads page of To Dream in the City of Sorrows by Kathryn M. Drennan.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/797210.To_Dream_in_the_City_of_Sorrows

My review of The Shadow Within by Jeanne Cavelos, Book #7 of the Babylon 5 Universe. Can Anna Sheridan escape Z’Ha’dum and can John Sheridan unravel a plot to destroy Babylon 5?

Shadow Within by Jeanne Cavelos

Shadow Within by Jeanne Cavelos

Shadow Within by Jeanne Cavelos.

Shadow Within by Jeanne Cavelos, Book #7 of the Babylon 5 Universe.

Introduction

The Shadow Within by Jeanne Cavelos is a tie-in novel for the Babylon 5 TV show. It tells the background to three stories that were not covered in the show. What happened to Anna Sheridan at Z’Ha’dum, John Sheridan taking command as the captain of the Agamemnon, and the events surrounding the dedication of Babylon 5. The novel brings these three stories together. Can Anna escape Z’Ha’dum, can John defeat a plot to destroy Babylon 5, and will Commander Sinclair keep order on Babylon 5?

Summary

The Shadow Within by Jeanne Cavelos begins with Anna Sheridan, who is the focus character of the novel. Her story is the one the reader wants to know the most since they did not dramatize it in the TV show. The novel begins in November 2256, just before the dedication ceremony for Babylon 5. The events of the novel include December 2256 and January 2257. The pilot episode of the show begins immediately after the events of the novel, and season one begins in January 2258.

The novel’s plot follows three separate parts. Anna Sheridan’s journey to Z’Ha’dum, John Sheridan’s taking command of the Agamemnon, and the events on Babylon 5 itself.

Anna Sheridan is an exo-anthropologist and a consultant for Interplanetary Expeditions. Interplanetary Expeditions sponsors scientific missions to distant planets. Anna’s mentor is Dr. Chang, who asks her to come on a mission to explore the ancient ruins on the planet Alpha Omega III. They take the spaceship Icarus to Alpha Omega III, but they don’t know that the planet is also known as Z’Ha’dum and is the home planet of the Shadows. They are accompanied by the mysterious Mr. Morden, an archeo-linguist. Mr. Morden is important because of his subsequent role in the TV series. They are not prepared for what they find at Z’Ha’dum.

Summary – Continued

John Sheridan is assigned as the captain of the Earthforce spaceship Agamemnon. The crew of the spaceship suffers from low morale because of the policies of their former captain, Captain Best. John and Anna plan to celebrate their wedding anniversary together, but Earthforce assigns John a vital mission that ruins their plans. John must get through to his new crew and foil a plot to destroy Babylon 5. The first four Babylon stations were destroyed or missing, so protecting Babylon 5 is a vital mission for Earthforce. John wants to complete his mission and go see his wife after she returns from her mission to Alpha Omega III.

In orbit around Alpha Omega III, we meet the Vorlon Ambassador Kosh. On Babylon 5, we meet the Minbari Ambassador Delenn, Commander Jeffrey Sinclair, and Security Chief Michael Garibaldi. Kosh sees the Icarus land at Z’Ha’dum. Sinclair investigates the knowledge the Earth Alliance has of the Icarus’s mission. Delenn tells the Earth Alliance to avoid Z’Ha’dum in the future. Garibaldi investigates potential threats to the upcoming dedication.

Recommendation

Shadow Within by Jeanne Cavelos tells a great origin story for John and Anna Sheridan. The ending was perfect and sad, but linked up seamlessly with the TV show. The reader knows something that was not known before reading the book, and that was the purpose to add this novel to the lore of the show.

It surprised me when Kosh appears in Chapter 11 and calls Delenn. The first ten chapters were all in either Anna or John’s POV. The author added Sinclair and Garibaldi in Chapter 12. There are only 18 Chapters in the novel, so these characters are late additions to the story. Garibaldi’s part would have hardly been a “C” story in the TV show.

I would have liked to see the Babylon 5 crew through John Sheridan’s eyes. Put him inside Babylon 5, rather than having him watch the dedication. I think that would have been more interesting than seeing Garibaldi put down a lessor plot from inside the station. Keep the novel as a novel of Anna and John before we meet them on the TV show.

Links

This is the link to the Goodreads page of The Shadow Within by Jeanne Cavelos.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1111834.The_Shadow_Within

Old Man’s War by John Scalzi is the first novel in the Old Man’s War series. It is a book in the space opera category and similar to The Shadow Within. This is the link to my review.

Old Man’s War by John Scalzi

Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey, book #1 of The Expanse, is a space opera set in the near future when the solar system is settled. It is a book in the space opera category and similar to The Shadow Within. In Leviathan Wakes, Jim Holden becomes the captain of the Rocinante, and Detective Miller is on a missing person case. Their paths cross and the fate of the solar system lies in their hands. This is a link to my review.

Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey