Exogenesis by Sonny Whitelaw and Elizabeth Christensen
Part of 50bookchallenge, book #10 (2007).
The eye of the beholder...
When Dr. Carson Beckett disturbs the rest of two long-dead Ancients, he unleashes devastating consequences of global proportions.
With the very existence of Lantea at risk, Colonel John Sheppard leads his team on a desperate search for the long lost Ancient device that could save Atlantis. While Teyla Emmagan and Dr. Elizabeth Weir battle their ecological meltdown consuming their world, Colonel Sheppard, Dr. Rodney McKay and Dr. Zelenka travel to a world created by the Ancients themselves. There they discover a human experiment that could mean their salvation...
But the truth is never as simple as it seems, and the team's prejudices lead them to make a fatal error-an error that could slaughter thousands, including their own Dr. McKay.
I am starting to think that when it comes to SGA books, it's not quite the authors I love, but the characters. However, I suppose good authors would write the characters in character as the characters that we knew and loved, so credits has to be given where it's due.
I'm pleasantly surprised that there's an Australian author who's writing for a UK publisher (Fandemonium) and surprised yet again to know that Sonny Whitelaw is a woman (I should have known). Both the authors of this book are well-learnt in science, one being a civilian engineer with the U.S. Air Force and the other educated in Geography and Anthropology.
Exogenesis is a good book in a lot of ways. The science in the story is really quite well-presented and made me miss learning science. Terraforming is the main topic in this book, how the Ancients experimented with terraforming to create future generations that has been shaped by their environment that they developed a natural immunity to the wraiths. McKay was put in a really grave danger here and for a few moments I wondered how were they going to bring his character back (so that the next authors can play with him).
Introducing McKay to humility and briefly exposing that softness yearning inside of him was somewhat interesting, but unfortunately we didn't see further what, possibly profound, changes it made in McKay's characters when all were said and done.
But my pure pleasure? Is the fact that Sheppard put his life and career on the line to rescue Rodney, when he didn't do as much as when Tayla was MIA.
Elizabeth closed her eyes. "Kwesi, I'm sorry. They couldn't reach you, and we had to recall them. We've lost contact with Jumper Three-the ship Teyla was on."
"That is what I feared. During the slide, we saw a jumper being carried down the mountain."
The tight knot in Elizabeth's chest that had begin to unwind with Rodney's proposal instantly snapped back into place. Damn it. She wanted to scream at the blatant unfairness of it all, but she didn't have that luxury. Looking at Teyla's teammates, she found the same bitter conflict reflected in their eyes.
"Until I see them dead, they're alive." the Satedan stated bluntly.
John hesitated for a second before nodding. "I'm with him."
Elizabeth wished she could share their faith.
Hee, so Elizabeth/Teyla.
And then, when Rodney was thought to be taken captive by the wraiths. John insisted on a rescue even when he damaged his inner ear (affecting his equilibrium):
John's condition:
"There's a fair bit of damage. A lot of it can be rectified with surgery, and we can manage the vertigo with medication until then. As for your hearing... I'm not a specialist, but I believe a cochlear implant would help you regain enough hearing to meet the military's medical standards."
A flash of unbridled anguish tightened Sheppard's features as the implications became clear. "Doc, you know what the limits are for the flight physical."
"Aye, I'm so sorry, John."
and
As soon as Jumper one emerged from the event horizon, John figured out why Beckett warned him against 'gate travel. The wormhole has scrambled his senses but good, and the jumper lurched drunkenly when the transit-sequence auto-pilot disengaged.
and he still insisted on rescuing his beloved, sneaking out of Atlantis, disobeying a direct order, hijacked a jumper and tried his hardest to pilot one.
Unfortunately...
It was as personal a statement as she'd ever heard him make, and it warmed her. "Thank you," she said quietly. "Does Rodney know what you risked to go after him?"
"Not unless Beckett told him about me leapfrogging him on the list of most annoying infirmary patients."
"He should know."
"He's got enough to deal with right now." The pilot gave a small shrug, the motion deceptively casual. "Like you said. We do what we have to."
*melts into a goo* Poor John!! Clueless Rodney!!
Other the slashy satisfaction I get from this book, I really enjoyed all the science presented in the book. I love life sciences (eg. biology, geography, etc.) so the whole idea of terraforming a planet to create inhabitants that are stronger because of the conditions on that planet is a very exciting idea. It may not be possible, but this is science-fiction where you can find ideas and concepts that just blows your mind. I really love the science aspect in this book, makes me want to go back studying science again.
Related links:
Sonny Whitelaw's HP | Sonny Whitelaw on Wiki | Elizabeth Christensen's HP | Elizabeth Christensen on Wiki
The eye of the beholder...
When Dr. Carson Beckett disturbs the rest of two long-dead Ancients, he unleashes devastating consequences of global proportions.
With the very existence of Lantea at risk, Colonel John Sheppard leads his team on a desperate search for the long lost Ancient device that could save Atlantis. While Teyla Emmagan and Dr. Elizabeth Weir battle their ecological meltdown consuming their world, Colonel Sheppard, Dr. Rodney McKay and Dr. Zelenka travel to a world created by the Ancients themselves. There they discover a human experiment that could mean their salvation...
But the truth is never as simple as it seems, and the team's prejudices lead them to make a fatal error-an error that could slaughter thousands, including their own Dr. McKay.
I am starting to think that when it comes to SGA books, it's not quite the authors I love, but the characters. However, I suppose good authors would write the characters in character as the characters that we knew and loved, so credits has to be given where it's due.
I'm pleasantly surprised that there's an Australian author who's writing for a UK publisher (Fandemonium) and surprised yet again to know that Sonny Whitelaw is a woman (I should have known). Both the authors of this book are well-learnt in science, one being a civilian engineer with the U.S. Air Force and the other educated in Geography and Anthropology.
Exogenesis is a good book in a lot of ways. The science in the story is really quite well-presented and made me miss learning science. Terraforming is the main topic in this book, how the Ancients experimented with terraforming to create future generations that has been shaped by their environment that they developed a natural immunity to the wraiths. McKay was put in a really grave danger here and for a few moments I wondered how were they going to bring his character back (so that the next authors can play with him).
Introducing McKay to humility and briefly exposing that softness yearning inside of him was somewhat interesting, but unfortunately we didn't see further what, possibly profound, changes it made in McKay's characters when all were said and done.
But my pure pleasure? Is the fact that Sheppard put his life and career on the line to rescue Rodney, when he didn't do as much as when Tayla was MIA.
Elizabeth closed her eyes. "Kwesi, I'm sorry. They couldn't reach you, and we had to recall them. We've lost contact with Jumper Three-the ship Teyla was on."
"That is what I feared. During the slide, we saw a jumper being carried down the mountain."
The tight knot in Elizabeth's chest that had begin to unwind with Rodney's proposal instantly snapped back into place. Damn it. She wanted to scream at the blatant unfairness of it all, but she didn't have that luxury. Looking at Teyla's teammates, she found the same bitter conflict reflected in their eyes.
"Until I see them dead, they're alive." the Satedan stated bluntly.
John hesitated for a second before nodding. "I'm with him."
Elizabeth wished she could share their faith.
Hee, so Elizabeth/Teyla.
And then, when Rodney was thought to be taken captive by the wraiths. John insisted on a rescue even when he damaged his inner ear (affecting his equilibrium):
John's condition:
"There's a fair bit of damage. A lot of it can be rectified with surgery, and we can manage the vertigo with medication until then. As for your hearing... I'm not a specialist, but I believe a cochlear implant would help you regain enough hearing to meet the military's medical standards."
A flash of unbridled anguish tightened Sheppard's features as the implications became clear. "Doc, you know what the limits are for the flight physical."
"Aye, I'm so sorry, John."
and
As soon as Jumper one emerged from the event horizon, John figured out why Beckett warned him against 'gate travel. The wormhole has scrambled his senses but good, and the jumper lurched drunkenly when the transit-sequence auto-pilot disengaged.
and he still insisted on rescuing his beloved, sneaking out of Atlantis, disobeying a direct order, hijacked a jumper and tried his hardest to pilot one.
Unfortunately...
It was as personal a statement as she'd ever heard him make, and it warmed her. "Thank you," she said quietly. "Does Rodney know what you risked to go after him?"
"Not unless Beckett told him about me leapfrogging him on the list of most annoying infirmary patients."
"He should know."
"He's got enough to deal with right now." The pilot gave a small shrug, the motion deceptively casual. "Like you said. We do what we have to."
*melts into a goo* Poor John!! Clueless Rodney!!
Other the slashy satisfaction I get from this book, I really enjoyed all the science presented in the book. I love life sciences (eg. biology, geography, etc.) so the whole idea of terraforming a planet to create inhabitants that are stronger because of the conditions on that planet is a very exciting idea. It may not be possible, but this is science-fiction where you can find ideas and concepts that just blows your mind. I really love the science aspect in this book, makes me want to go back studying science again.
Related links:
Sonny Whitelaw's HP | Sonny Whitelaw on Wiki | Elizabeth Christensen's HP | Elizabeth Christensen on Wiki