Babylon 5: Signs and Portents

by Jane Killick

Book Overview

The hottest outer-space-based sf drama on television since Star Trek: The Next Generation, Babylon 5 launches its fifth season this year on a new network -- cable's TNT -- with an original movie-length feature kicking off the action. And now, hot on the heels of the hit behind-the-scenes book, Creating Babylon 5, Del Rey is proud to present the first two books in a comprehensive episode-guide series that the show's legions of fans will want to own.
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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345424476
• ISBN13: 9780345424471
• Release Date: March 1998
• Publisher: Random House Worlds
• Length: 190 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.3" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

A Great Guide to a Great Series

Babylon 5 was unique in television. The main plot for the entire series was mapped out before the show even started. As a result, it developed a loyal fan base that still loves it.This book is the first in a series of five episode guides to the series. Covering the first season, it has a separate chapter for each of the twenty-two episodes, plus the pilot. Each starts with a plot summary, but then goes into behind the scenes stories and commentaries. Through interviews with cast, crew, and creator J. Michael Straczynski, author Jane Killick is able to give a full picture of what went into each episode. Some of my favorite parts are the stories of bloopers or jokes the cast played on each other. I also find the summaries useful if I'm looking for a particular episode to rewatch.Starting out the book is an interesting chapter about the five year struggle the producers had to get the show on the air. It really gave me a new appreciation for what JMS went through to make his vision a reality.Also included is a season 1 overview. While I might not agree with all of the author's commentary, I find her perspective interesting.Any fan will love to have this well researched book for a behind the scenes look at a wonderful piece of science fiction television history.

an excellent companion to a video collection

I have taped all of the shows, & proceed to watch them at my own leisure one by one. After watching each episode, I then read the synopsis of the episode out of the book. It tends to make some minute things come to life.Things that I consider minor, are shown to be of great importance by the creator. The insights on why things were done, the timing of those things, it was all very excellent. I reccommend it for any real Baylon 5 fan. There is sooo much to learn from this series of books.

A fine reference book that every B5 fan should have.

This is an excellent reference book. I skipped the capsule descriptions of the episodes and went to the real meat: the behind-the-scenes stuff. Whether it's an anecdote by one of the actors/actresses, or getting into the nuts-and-bolts business of keeping the show on the air and staying within budget, this volume never failed to delight.

For all serious fans of B5

This is an episode guide done by an English writer. Thus the delay in getting this on the market for almost five years. Well worth the wait. One of my pet peeves with the Starlog series magazines and the Starlog general magazine as well, is the lack of complete credit lists of the artists and creative personnel. Nothing is more annoying to me than wondering all through an episode who someone is (as in-- I've seen that face before, or, who's that, they're really good?) and wanting to find out what else they've done (using the net of course) and then there is a swing insert preview or teaser at the end which squinches up the cast credits. Or you missed the leading credits, but that doesn't matter anyway, because there are five or six guests in the opening credits and you don't know any of them by nane. And they go by too fast to write down. (Hercules and Xena do this scrunching all the time. Better to scrunch the chief grip, etc. ) These episode guide books are really handy for looking someone up, just as useful as the episode summaries themselves. In addition, there have well-written commentaries and analyses of the major themes of the series. This series is so well packed that since I have been watching the reruns on TNT, I picked up on sub-texts and hints that were not returned to until the fourth season when there was doubt that a fifth would be done. I am looking forward to buying the last three books, I already have the first two.

Two Questions, No Easy Answers.

"Who are you?" "What do you want?" These two questions, how they are answered, and in what order, define the televised novel Babylon 5. Be aware though. Answering these two questions is not nearly as easy as it sounds. Babylon 5 is about choices made (in response to the two questions), opportunities lost, and the effect of these on the development of each character. This theme is brought to light in a nicely written book covering Babylon 5's first season (which has the same title as the book - "Signs and Portents") by Jane Killick. For each episode and the pilot, there is a synopsis which, along with a well thought out analysis, helps greatly in rationalizing and understanding the motives of each of the major characters and the various races. Numerous interviews with the actors, writers, directors, and series creator, J. Michael Straczynski, provide additional insight into the series direction and each character's actions. Killick's book also contains a comprehensive section devoted to the events that led up to Babylon 5's creation. Because Babylon contains forshadowing of future events in almost every episode, I found that the book increased my understanding of the events taking place in the Babylon 5 universe considerably. From refreshing my memory about forgotten details, to pointing out what was overlooked in viewing the show, this book was an invaluable tool that could only have been made better by including more plot detail. Overall, I have to rate this book a "must buy" for those with even a passing interest in the show. It is the first authorized book of its type and it doesn't rely heavily on information posted on the web or hearsay sources, but instead on exclusive first person interviews. This reason alone makes it worth the price. No doubt about it, this book's a keeper (and you'll find out about those in the Season 3 book of the series - "Point of No Return").