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.
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.