Synopsis and charactersThe Death of Flesh,
the Death of Dreams
A Future, Born in Pain
The Other Half of my Soul
Distorted Mirror
by Gareth Williams
Among the Stars, like Giants
| Introduction |
The Babylon Five Parallel Universe | Synopsis and characters |
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| Volume 3 - A Line in the Sand | ||||||
| Volume 2 - The Death of Flesh, the Death of Dreams |
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Volume 4 - A Future, Born in Pain |
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| Volume 1 - The Other Half of my Soul |
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A Dark, Distorted Mirror by Gareth Williams |
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Volume 5 - Among the Stars, like Giants |
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Welcome to the new domain for the Mirror Universe!
This site is the home of a five-volume series of novels which forms a dark "mirror universe" to the television show Babylon 5. The familiar characters are all there, but with a difference. Ten years before the story opens a single, pivotal event occurred differently....
.... And history changed. Destiny faded. All that was, and is, and yet may be was altered; irrevocably, eternally, forever.
And twelve years ago, as history changed, the two Vorlons in Dukhat's secret chamber, who once had been called the future, realised in that one, fateful moment, that the future they knew now belonged elsewhere, and a new future was theirs.
And the seeds of a bargain were struck.
| (Chapter 2, The One and the Nine) |
What was the event? And what was the bargain? Well, for that you'll have to read the story....
This story was originally published in the B5 Creative Works Archive and in the John and Delenn Storybook (defunct for many years, but largely recreated at JumpNow). The first volume won the "Best Alternate Universe" category in the latter's 1997 Storybook Awards. A selection of stories from volumes 1-4 won a special judges' award in the SF writing competition at Redemption 2001.
What the critics say:
| "Technically fan-fiction, but incredibly good fan fiction." | - Glenniebun |
| "The most worthwhile fanfic I've come across .... on the border of being canon. | - Stewi |
| "The best fanfic I've ever read .... stories as funny, as tragic and as engrossing as those on the TV show." | - Glenn W. Butler |
| "This is supposed to be the best alternate history of Babylon 5!" | - Alone in the Night |
| "epic and amazing" | - Marysia |
| "really cool" | - JumpNow |
| "All in all: You HAVE to read it. It is absolutely outstanding." | - Hesperos |
| "One of the Great Ones." | - Estrecca |
| "Das verdient kaum den Namen Fan-Fiction, dafür ist es viel zu gut .... einfach unglaublich gut." | - Kopernikus |
Be warned. Each of the five portrait links above leads to a long novel. This is a hefty read. Each volume has ended up longer than the one before it, and the whole thing runs to well over a million words (1,176,198 to be exact). This is about the same as War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy) and A Suitable Boy (Vikram Seth) put together, and pretty much dwarfs Lord of the Rings (possibly four times the length of the main text of that book).
So.... are you sitting comfortably? Then follow the links at the top of the page. Read the Introduction first, or just get cracking on the stories.
A discussion group was set up to allow readers to discuss the Mirror Universe among themselves, though at the time of writing this it is inactive. Click on the link above to access the home page, or sign up using the form on the right. The discussion group is being administered by Eric Gillespie Jr.
A Russian translation is available at the site of the Russian B5 magazine Babylosha, although this seems to have stalled towards the end of volume 2. There is also a German translation, but that hasn't got beyond part 5 of volume 1. The text is also available in an ebook edition (in English!).
| Editor and publisher: Morag G. Kerr (Morag[at]b5-dark-mirror.co.uk) |
Author: Gareth D. Williams (Gareth[at]b5-dark-mirror.co.uk) |
| Characters and situations of Babylon Five © J. Michael Straczynski and Warner Bros. Inc., 1993-2007. Original story © Gareth D. Williams, 1997-2003. |
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| URL: http://www.b5-dark-mirror.co.uk Epilogue published Friday 21st February 2003. |
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