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?