T.P.Chai <104674.3064@compuserve.com> asks:
> your comments?

They're nitwits.

Look...first off, nobody *has* to buy anything. If you want to
learn more about the characters after the duration of the show, and you
want to buy the novels or whatever, fine, you have that option. But
you didn't have to buy them to enjoy the series...and I'm working hard
to make sure you don't even have to have watched the series to enjoy
the novels.

There are two fundamental choices here, given that fans want
more stuff in the B5 universe. Either you do novels that have nothing
to do with anything, or you make them canon. Fans wanted the books
canonical, as do I. That's the point of a coherent, consistent,
sustained universe.

The Psi Corps novels, for instance, track Bester's life from
birth to death, and the development of the Corps. Is that essential
reading to follow any of the B5 episodes? No. Is it cool if you want
to learn more about it and enrich the experience? Yes. So where here
is the problem?

Look...some folks have always looked for an excuse to rag on
this show, so they could bug me and anybody who likes the show. First
it was that B5 couldn't possibly be as good as Trek because there
wasn't any merchandise; now there's merchandise and they say now THAT
means it can't be good.

If you never bought a single book or outside material, you could
still enjoy the series. None of it is required. So the complaint is
unjustified and silly.

Should we not give fans of the show a chance to acquire more
info about the B5 universe and characters because a few folks complain
that it's a franchise? Nonsense. The problem is theirs, nobody
else's.

jms