Witty title goes here
ETA: Sorry about that guys - my cuts weren't working? It looked right in Semagic, so I don't know what happened.
More Stargate Fandemonium book reviews… but turn away if you loved these two or were really looking forward to reading them, because my reviews are not that favorable.
#10 Relativity by James Swallow
It wasn't horrible. That's about the best praise I can give it. Mostly it seemed tired and clichéd, especially with Jack's characterization. I mean, it starts off with the "Jack hates trees" shtick and goes right into Simpsons references. I just don't feel like the author tried very hard. There were other characterization moments that bugged me too: for one, I didn't think Daniel was that adept with Ancient technology? Also, this takes place in Season 7 *before* Lost City, but here they're already talking about ZPMs, like they have one and know what it does.
The Pack was kind of interesting - I like the idea of space gypsy societies - but SGA did that with The Travelers (I don't know which came first; both book and episode came in 2007). And bringing back the old enemies of SG1 is always a good thing in my book (I like continuity!). But the OC was very clichéd… I think I knew she was Jack's daughter after about two pages of reading about her, as well as figuring out that "The Commander" was future!Jack. So it was surprising that it took the majority of the novel for SG1 to figure this out. And who thinks that Jack would name his daughter "Jade" anyway? Not me.
#11 Barque of Heaven by Suzanne Wood
I was warned about this one, so I was able to laugh through most of its absurdities. It was extremely J/D slashy - and considering how much time the author spent on the "Daniel broods about Sha're" moments, that's, uh, quite an accomplishment? The basic premise is that the team gets stuck doing this "Trial" set up by Ra a zillion years ago, where they have to hop to 13 different planets and pass a test on each planet in order to get to the next planet. But in reality, Daniel could have just done the thing by himself because the rest of the team is too stupid or something to help. Oh, I guess they get to help by being the muscle. *epic eye roll*
I don't have a problem with Daniel-centric stories; I freely admit he's not my favorite, but he's an interesting and complex character. But in this novel the characterization of the other SG1 members is so awful, and so obviously skewed to serve one purpose: build up Saint Daniel. (Now I know where this term comes from!) Throughout the book he keeps getting hurt (the whole team gets hurt, but everyone else stoically bears the pain so that they can worry about Daniel. Knife wounds? Mere scratches, because OMG! Daniel tripped over a rock!) Seriously, I kept expecting Jack and Teal'c to start fighting over who got to cradle their precious Danny in their arms. In a manly way, of course. (And oh yes, Jack calls him "Danny" multiple times.)
Then there's one part where Daniel goes off on Sam, blaming her for the fact that they haven't found Sha're yet, simply because Sam's too chicken shit to use her Jolinar memories. Epic WTF. And then when Sam tries to defend herself, Jack yells at her and orders her out of the room to do recon. And then Daniel pitches multiple fits because the rest of the team suggests a little caution when dealing with Goa'uld technology, even if it is just a "library". I'm sorry, but the Jack O'Neill I know would have sat Daniel on his ass for that alone. Gah! I can't talk about this anymore!
There were a couple of off-hand scenes where Jack showed some strong military skill or tactical leadership, which I thought were nice. But on the whole, this book is the worst of the 12 that I've read.
(And I am weird, but the whole time I was reading, my brain kept translating "barque" as "baroque".)
+
I finally have a Ronon of my own, yay! Along with Atlantis!Sam, Keller (I still can't believe they made a Keller before they made Carson), John in black BDUs, and a Wraith in a hockey mask. I'm very disappointed in the Sam figure. Her face looks *nothing* like AT. The SG1 Sam figures are OK, but this one is really bad. Ronon, however, is awesome, and he's definitely coming out of the packaging and onto my desk to play with Jayne Cobb and Legolas. Pictures forthcoming when I can remember to bring my camera to the office. Also! The next SG-1 set has Dress Blues General Jack, Black Ops Sam, and GENERAL HAMMOND!!!! And the PX figure is Ba'al (though I do not think he comes with multiple outfits like he should).
+
You guys, I can't believe I missed this but there was a Deadliest Catch convention here in Seattle last month! Someone needs to let me know about these things.
+
I saw Star Trek, and though fandom has mixed feelings, I quite enjoyed myself. The geek!p0rn, if nothing else, was spectacular. Those Federation ships were awesome looking.
Karl Urban, ILU. You were my very favorite! I thought Simon Pegg was fun but a little over-the-top. I think I'm still sad about Paul McGillion losing out on the Scotty role. At least they gave him a cameo, even though it's always strange to hear him without the accent. Chekov was adorable. Winonna Ryder as Spock's mom? AHAHAHAHAHA. Leonard Nimoy was *fantastic*. And of course I was sad about Vulcan, but am intrigued about the possibilities for the franchise. If only it had a couple more female characters (or, you know, did something interesting with Uhura) it would have been pretty near perfect.
Mostly the geek in me just liked pretty, pretty space ships.
More Stargate Fandemonium book reviews… but turn away if you loved these two or were really looking forward to reading them, because my reviews are not that favorable.
#10 Relativity by James Swallow
It wasn't horrible. That's about the best praise I can give it. Mostly it seemed tired and clichéd, especially with Jack's characterization. I mean, it starts off with the "Jack hates trees" shtick and goes right into Simpsons references. I just don't feel like the author tried very hard. There were other characterization moments that bugged me too: for one, I didn't think Daniel was that adept with Ancient technology? Also, this takes place in Season 7 *before* Lost City, but here they're already talking about ZPMs, like they have one and know what it does.
The Pack was kind of interesting - I like the idea of space gypsy societies - but SGA did that with The Travelers (I don't know which came first; both book and episode came in 2007). And bringing back the old enemies of SG1 is always a good thing in my book (I like continuity!). But the OC was very clichéd… I think I knew she was Jack's daughter after about two pages of reading about her, as well as figuring out that "The Commander" was future!Jack. So it was surprising that it took the majority of the novel for SG1 to figure this out. And who thinks that Jack would name his daughter "Jade" anyway? Not me.
#11 Barque of Heaven by Suzanne Wood
I was warned about this one, so I was able to laugh through most of its absurdities. It was extremely J/D slashy - and considering how much time the author spent on the "Daniel broods about Sha're" moments, that's, uh, quite an accomplishment? The basic premise is that the team gets stuck doing this "Trial" set up by Ra a zillion years ago, where they have to hop to 13 different planets and pass a test on each planet in order to get to the next planet. But in reality, Daniel could have just done the thing by himself because the rest of the team is too stupid or something to help. Oh, I guess they get to help by being the muscle. *epic eye roll*
I don't have a problem with Daniel-centric stories; I freely admit he's not my favorite, but he's an interesting and complex character. But in this novel the characterization of the other SG1 members is so awful, and so obviously skewed to serve one purpose: build up Saint Daniel. (Now I know where this term comes from!) Throughout the book he keeps getting hurt (the whole team gets hurt, but everyone else stoically bears the pain so that they can worry about Daniel. Knife wounds? Mere scratches, because OMG! Daniel tripped over a rock!) Seriously, I kept expecting Jack and Teal'c to start fighting over who got to cradle their precious Danny in their arms. In a manly way, of course. (And oh yes, Jack calls him "Danny" multiple times.)
Then there's one part where Daniel goes off on Sam, blaming her for the fact that they haven't found Sha're yet, simply because Sam's too chicken shit to use her Jolinar memories. Epic WTF. And then when Sam tries to defend herself, Jack yells at her and orders her out of the room to do recon. And then Daniel pitches multiple fits because the rest of the team suggests a little caution when dealing with Goa'uld technology, even if it is just a "library". I'm sorry, but the Jack O'Neill I know would have sat Daniel on his ass for that alone. Gah! I can't talk about this anymore!
There were a couple of off-hand scenes where Jack showed some strong military skill or tactical leadership, which I thought were nice. But on the whole, this book is the worst of the 12 that I've read.
(And I am weird, but the whole time I was reading, my brain kept translating "barque" as "baroque".)
+
I finally have a Ronon of my own, yay! Along with Atlantis!Sam, Keller (I still can't believe they made a Keller before they made Carson), John in black BDUs, and a Wraith in a hockey mask. I'm very disappointed in the Sam figure. Her face looks *nothing* like AT. The SG1 Sam figures are OK, but this one is really bad. Ronon, however, is awesome, and he's definitely coming out of the packaging and onto my desk to play with Jayne Cobb and Legolas. Pictures forthcoming when I can remember to bring my camera to the office. Also! The next SG-1 set has Dress Blues General Jack, Black Ops Sam, and GENERAL HAMMOND!!!! And the PX figure is Ba'al (though I do not think he comes with multiple outfits like he should).
+
You guys, I can't believe I missed this but there was a Deadliest Catch convention here in Seattle last month! Someone needs to let me know about these things.
+
I saw Star Trek, and though fandom has mixed feelings, I quite enjoyed myself. The geek!p0rn, if nothing else, was spectacular. Those Federation ships were awesome looking.
Karl Urban, ILU. You were my very favorite! I thought Simon Pegg was fun but a little over-the-top. I think I'm still sad about Paul McGillion losing out on the Scotty role. At least they gave him a cameo, even though it's always strange to hear him without the accent. Chekov was adorable. Winonna Ryder as Spock's mom? AHAHAHAHAHA. Leonard Nimoy was *fantastic*. And of course I was sad about Vulcan, but am intrigued about the possibilities for the franchise. If only it had a couple more female characters (or, you know, did something interesting with Uhura) it would have been pretty near perfect.
Mostly the geek in me just liked pretty, pretty space ships.