Invoking Darkness

Press Release

THE BALLANTINE PUBLISHING GROUP
Ballantine • Del Rey • Ivy • One World

A Division of Random House, Inc.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The explosive confrontation between one
techno-mage and the evil power that spawned him

Babylon 5: Invoking Darkness

Book 3 of The Passing of the Techno-Mages Trilogy

By Jeanne Cavelos

In Babylon 5: Invoking Darkness (Del Rey; $6.99), third volume of the best-selling Passing of the Techno-Mages trilogy, World Fantasy Award winner Jeanne Cavelos brings the mages' story to a shocking climax.

The techno-mages are a mysterious order of humans and aliens implanted with extremely advanced technology that allows them to perform acts that seem magical. In Book 2, the dark secret of the techno-mages was revealed: their implants are provided by an ancient, evil race--the Shadows. By programming the implants to further their agenda, the Shadows have made the mages into agents of chaos and destruction.

Now the Shadows have engulfed the galaxy in war. As billions die and the flames of destruction rage unchecked, the Shadows seem poised for absolute victory. The mages, determined not to aid the Shadows, have withdrawn to a hiding place. Among them is Galen, who burns for revenge against the treacherous mage Elizar, who joined the Shadows and killed Galen's love. At last Galen wins permission to leave the hiding place and kill Elizar and two other enemies. Though the galaxy is being torn apart by bloody conflict, he is not to interfere in the Shadows' war; he is not to use his great spell of destruction against the mages' creators.

As Galen re-enters a war-torn galaxy, he must hold tightly to control. As much as he wants to strike against the Shadows, who infected him with the seeds of chaos and destruction, he knows that giving into those urges will only further the Shadows' ends. But once the Shadows learn of his presence, they have their own plans for Galen. In a desperate, apocalyptic battle, there's no telling who will be the victor. Or if there will be any survivors at all.

The Babylon 5 novels of Jeanne Cavelos have been highly praised by readers and critics as the best in this series, and as "real books," not TV tie-in knock-offs. Cavelos's readers include fans of the TV show and those who have never seen the show, but who love her compelling, page-turning stories.

NOTE: Reruns of Babylon 5 are currently airing on the Sci-Fi Channel, and a new Babylon 5 TV movie will be premiering on Sci-Fi January 2.

Praise for Books 1 & 2 of The Passing of the Techno-Mages

--#1 on the Amazon.com media-related bestseller list
--#1 on the Locus magazine media-related bestseller list

"A revelation. . . . Not 'television episodic' in look and feel. They are truly novels in their own right."
--Science Fiction Weekly

"It is the rare book that not only matches the quality of the material it is based upon, but surpasses it. . . . I have heard people talk before about books they just couldn't put down, but I had never experienced that feeling. Until now."
--The Zocalo Today

"An excellent novel in its own right regardless of its Babylon 5 connection. . . . Marvelous writing."
--About.com

"The beginning of an epic. . . . If the writer set out to prove that media tie-ins could fulfill the demanding art of original storytelling and not just capitalize on a brand name, then she's succeeded brilliantly here."
--Wigglefish

"Well written and evocative."
--Science Fiction Chronicle

"Engrossing. Galen becomes a sympathetic yet unpredictable seeker of self and truth in grim circumstances. . . . Powerfully written."
--Speculative Vision

Babylon 5: Invoking Darkness; A Del Rey Book, 368 pages
11/28; US $6.99/Canada $9.99; ISBN 0-345-43833-7
www.sff.net/people/jcavelos; www.randomhouse.com/delrey