About
All feedback (495)
- d***o (2705)- Feedback left by buyer.Past monthVerified purchaseArrived promptly and safely…would definitely buy from again. Thanks.
- worldofbooks08 (10478081)- Feedback left by buyer.More than a year agoVerified purchaseGreat communication. A pleasure to do business with.
- n***. (522)- Feedback left by buyer.Past monthVerified purchaseThank you
- rupe-sind (65)- Feedback left by buyer.Past monthVerified purchaseGood Buyer
- investgroup (3017)- Feedback left by buyer.Past monthVerified purchaseGreat communication. A pleasure to do business with.
- tokenhammer-business (6)- Feedback left by buyer.Past monthVerified purchaseGood buyer, prompt payment, valued customer, highly recommended
Reviews (3)
12 July 2010
The late, great, B5. Season 5: Flawed yet satisfying.
The end of season four left us with the liberation of Earth from President Clarke, and the Shadows and Vorlons being told in no uncertain terms to join the other First Ones by the (immortal) words of Sheridan: "Get the hell out of our galaxy!". The consequences to these plots are effective at building up a picture of a galaxy in a state of upheaval and, ultimately, one at the dawn of a new era. Central to this new era is the newly-formed Interstellar Alliance, of which Sheridan is President.
The season involves two main story lines: the telepath “war” and the crumbling of the Interstellar Alliance.
A group of telepaths led by a man called Byron arrive on B5 looking for asylum from the Psi-Corps. Lyta Alexander becomes very sympathetic to their cause, and forms a strong bond with Byron. The Interstellar Alliance is beginning to be plagued by internal squabbles of its members. This is exacerbated when random attacks against alliance shipping routes are made by an attacker who remains unidentified until episode 15 of 22.
The galactic and themes of the first 4 seasons are replaced by a more human scale. Occasionally this is executed very well, such as in episode 4, which follows events from the perspective of two B5 technicians. Often, it is not, and the results seem trivial and tedious. Day of the Dead? I don’t care! The Very Long Night Of Londo Mollari? We had this in s4 already! Characters whose personas were forged by the shadow war are looking out of place in this “human” scale.
Indeed, Lennier announces early on that he “no longer feels comfortable on Bablylon 5” and leaves, on some dubious (and un-Lennier like) emotional reason. Claudia (Ivanova) quit the show, perhaps symptomatic of the general malaise of the show which could have run its course admirably in 4 seasons. Ivanovas replacement, Captain Lochley (Tracey Scoggins) is introduced and performs admirably. A note of her introduction is needed...Zak greets her on her arrival and introduces her to the station in a clumsy monologue which clearly is meant to serve as a recap...poor writing resulting in him obviously talking to the viewer rather than the captain. Lochley bizarrely disappears for the middle part of the season. Other things do not sit well in the opening episode, in particular the near death of a young telepath is greeted almost by nonchalance by the people present, as if it was the passing of a not-too-clever plot device rather than a human being.
The telepath leader Byron grates with his self imposed martyr-in-the-making attitude, and I think everybody will cringe as he introduces his telepath groupies. I’ll be honest, I don’t care for this telepath story at all, with the exception that we get to see Bester a few times. It is not until episode fifteen that the season comes together, when the perpertrators of the attacks on alliance shipping are exposed, that the series takes off. We then have direction at last, and after a few cool space battles we have time to dedicate the final few episodes to goodbyes and nostalgia. These bring some teary moments, and give a fitting end to a superb sci-fi series. This is why you'll see so many 5 star reviews for this season. It ends superbly well.
Despite some ragged scripts early on, there are some excellent perfomances. Some of G'Kars monologues are enthralling, and Franklin, Garibaldi and Londo make great contributions.
With boxed sets making the per-episode price dirt cheap, its well worth a watch.
06 October 2008
The Saga Continues
1 of 1 found this helpful If you liked Season 3 of Babylon 5, you'll love this!
If you are new to Babylon 5, due to its unique and stunning story arcs which bridge the entire show, you'll have to start at Season 1 to get the best out of the series. The CGI may appear a little dated, and the characters look a little strange, but if you make the effort you will discover a wealth of political intrigue, character development and breathtaking ideas which ultimately pay off in season 3 and after.
Season 3 saw the beginning of the Shadow war, ending in the disapearence of Garibaldi and Sheridan, and the bombing of Z'Ha'Dum.
Season 4 picks up where season 3 left off.
The early episodes answer two important questions left from the final episode of season 3: What happened to Garibaldi and Sheridan?
The answers to these questions uncover shocking truths about the Vorlons and Shadows, as well as uncovering plots involving the psi-corps and President Clarke.
These stories bridge well with the other themes of the season, namely the politics of the Centauri, Minbari, Narns, and members of the League. The consequences to these plots are effective at building up a picture of a galaxy in a state of upheaval and, ultimately, one at the dawn of a new era.
At this late stage of the show the writing is tighter than it ever has been (no "filler" episodes, and further no irrelevant sub-plots, such as Seasons 1&2 occaisionally suffered from), and the interaction between the characters is effortless. Stories are developed with a balanced mix of politics, battles, sacrifice and humour.
Season 4 does more than tie up "loose-ends" from season 3: it has a distinctly dark edge (deriving, in part, from the various sacrafices made by characters for one reason of another), and a number of plots which - in classic Babylon 5 style- eventually intertwine into a common finale.
In my opinion, season 4 is at least the equal of season 3, and possibly more enjoyable due to the fact it is also pays off season 3 concurrently.
Warning: Spoilers follow!
Personal highlights for me are: the resolution of the garibaldi question; the march to liberate earth; the sacrifices (to varying degrees) of G'kar, Sheridan and Marcus; the resolution of the first ones conflict; and the redemption of Londo.
04 October 2008
Time Machine: Stepping Stone - and Master Piece!
1 of 1 found this helpful As an introduction to Satriani's music I would recommend "Joe Satriani Live in San Fransisco". If you are already a fan of the most subtle instrumental guitar musician of the past 20 years, read on.
Having owned mostly all satriani's albums (Not of this Earth, Surfing with the alien, flying in a Blue Dream, the Extremist,Joe Satriani, crystal planet, engines of creation, strange beautiful music, super colossal, professor satchafunkilus; plus live and g3 albums), TIME MACHINE (1993, released between the extremist ['92] and joe satriani ['94]) was notably absent from my collection. This was due to its relative rarity and its relatively high price (£25 was standard at one time). Ebay gave me the chance to complete my collection and enjoy some new music (Time Machine songs are oddly absent from the live albums and tours) - at a good price!
The album fits in perfectly with the sequence as another step in the evolution of joe to a master musician. With a feel similar to that of "Blue dream" and "the extremist", it represents the final "80s" sounds to be put down on track before moving on to the jazzy "Joe satriani" album. Perhaps the name "Time Machine" itself is an indiction of this. Certainly "Woodstock Jam", the final track, is new, and shows that Joe's future plans lay with the creativity he proved to have in common with Hendrix.
Disc 1 features stand out songs such as "Time Machine" and "Mighty turtle head", pleasing songs such as "banana mango" and interspersed with gems like "baroque", making it a very listenable album, on which you will not "skip forward" tracks on a first listen.
The second disc contains live material, 14 songs taken equally from blue dream, surfing, extremist, and rubina from not of this earth. This disc gives the album an "anthology" feel, again emphasising the "end of an era" feel of the album.
Disc 1:
1. Time Machine
2. The Mighty Turtle Head
3. All Alone
4. Banana Mango II
5. Tinking of You
6. Crazy
7. Speed of Light
8. Baroque
9. Dweller On The Threshold
10. Banana Mango
11. Dreaming #11
12. I Am Become Death
13. Saying Goodbye
14. Woodstock Jam
Disc 2
1. Satch Boogie
2. Summer Song
3. Flying in a Blue Dream
4. Cryin'
5. Crush of Love
6. Tears in the Rain
7. Always With Me, Always With You
8. Big Bad Moon
9. Surfing With the Alien
10. Rubina
11. Circles
12. Drum Solo
13. Lords of Karma
14. Echo