Babylon 5: Book 9
               To Dream in the City of Sorrows
                  Author: Kathryn M Drennan

                A Channel Four Book RRP ś4.99

This book tells the story of the Anla'shok, a.k.a. the Rangers, an
elite Mimbari warrior group who were originally established by
Valen a thousand years before the time in which the Babylon 5 story
is set.  Their purpose was to fight the Shadows, an alien race who
had been discovered by the Mimbari when they first ventured into
space. The Shadows were a completely destructive race, but rarely
seen - hence their name - who laid waste to planets and destroyed
complete civilisations.

Valen also discovered the Vorlons who helped the Mimbari against
the Shadows. The Shadows eventually retreated and went into hiding.
No-one knew where but, for the moment, it seemed as though everyone
was safe again thanks to the Rangers, led by Valen who, as leader,
was designated Entil'Zha.  Valen realised that the Rangers could be
a dangerous group without an enemy to fight, since they'd been
organised strictly for that purpose, but he also didn't want to
disband them. So for the last thousand years, they existed as
watchers and guardians, keeping their ears and eyes open for any
sign that the Shadows had returned.

And, of course, they have.

Jeffrey Sinclair, ex Commander of Babylon 5, is now Ambassador to
the world of Mimbar. This he finds is a frustrating task. The
Mimbari work at their own pace with much duplication of effort, and
rarely give a straight answer to a straight question. Support from
Earth is negligible and finally, in desperation, he resigns. The
Chosen One, Jenimer, who is as close as one can get to a leader on
Mimbar, excluding the Grey Council, sends for Sinclair who is
convinced that he is going to try to persuade him to stay as
ambassador. But, no. Jenimer has a much more interesting and
important job for him which will affect his current life and put
his future life onto a new track.

When I reviewed one of the earlier books which was set on Narn, I
said that I hoped one day I would 'see' the Mimbari home world.
At last, in this book, I can, and it is a world of ice-blue
crystalline structures, some of which have been carved into
dwellings. I couldn't have imagined anything better. The title of
the book comes from an old Mimbari saying, 'to dream in the City
of Sorrows is to dream of a better future' and the City itself,
Tuzanor, was the site of a terrible Mimbari battle many years
before. Now it is a place of pilgrimage and also the home and
training ground for the Rangers. The story explains a lot about
their history and purpose, introduces Marcus Cole and explains how
he became a Ranger, and also continues the story of Catherine
Sakai, Sinclair's fianc‚e.

The storyline is a detailed excursion into the Babylon 5 universe
and though the story is generally fairly slow moving apart from a
few moments when it heats up, it is truly gripping. The epilogue
suddenly takes the reader into the future and will give away a few
secrets to those who, like me, were at the time still watching the

earlier episodes in the series. But despite that, I thoroughly
enjoyed it.

                                                     Sue















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