Dark Genesis:
The Birth of the Psi Corps

by J. Gregory Keyes

Published by Del Rey

Telepaths and the Psi Corps are an undeniable part of the Babylon 5 universe. They are there, and that's a fact. But the series never really told the story of how telepathy was discovered, and how the Corps was formed. Now, we finally get the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

This book is very interesting, not only because of the many questions regarding telepathy and the Psi Corps that it answers. The stories in it are very well written. As you go along, you feel as though the many years the book encompasses have really gone by. You feel for all the main characters - for good and for bad.

One of the best aspects of the book is the story of the ancestors of some of the Babylon 5 telepaths. The long line of the Alexander "mitochondrial descent" - a family which goes by the mother's last name, is a big part of the story. First is Desa, as the first Psi Cop (although not called that name officially, the job is the same), and down to her great grandchild Natasha, the assistant to the Psi Corps director. It's hard not to spoil about the very big and important revelation regarding Natasha Alexander, so I'll just say the book gave me important information for my Vorlon Spirit story. People with the last names Ironheart and Winters were also mentioned in the book, probably the great grandparents of Talia Winters and Jason Ironheart.

The story took a few unexpected turns which caught me totally by surprise. The plot twists, political conniving, and the fighting action were all brought together in a fascinating way. Parts of the story seemed detatched from the rest of the book, but were proven essential later on in the plot.

In short, this is the best B5 book published by Del Rey, just as good as Dell's #7 and #9. This is a must to all Babylon 5 fans and viewers. It's also a great novel for science fiction fans, who don't necessarily know a lot about B5.