The saga of J. Michael Straczynski and the Babylon 5 novels from Mongoose Publishing took another turn recently.  After agreeing to 'give Mongoose a second chance' by reviewing the upcoming series of Mongoose Babylon 5 novels for accuracy and 'level of writing' (see 'JMS To Oversee Babylon 5 Novels'), the Babylon 5 creator has washed his hands of the books, according to a post on his blog. 

Complaining that the novels he was shown were 'unprofessionally put together and edited,' JMS concluded 'my feeling is that as well-intentioned as they might be, they don't really have the chops when it comes to fiction... so I've stepped back and said I really can't be a part of this process because I can't endorse something if I don't think the quality is going to be there.  So it's between them and WB (Warner Brothers) at this point.'

Asked for comment, Matthew Sprange of Mongoose Publishing said that 'the situation is not resolved,' and that more news would be available later this week.