Stargate books - Sunrise
Mags's post about Four Dragons reminded me that I've not reviewed it myself. And I won't right now, because I can't remember much about it other than I didn't find it very interesting and it didn't really help redeem the series in my eyes. I'll come back to that one.
But Sunrise, the next novel, turned up on Saturday, and I read it, and while it's fresh in my brain...
I was a bit wary, I must admit. Not because of anything in the blurb, etc, but just because the Stargate novels have burned me recently. So I went in with low expectations. But I loved this one! I even got emotional at the end, when the people saved the other people and it was all... *sniff*... no, it's just something in my eye...
I'm going to bullet point this one. Everyone loves bullet points, right?
The good points:
The bad points:
I didn't find out until the end that this was co-written by Sally Malcolm, but when I did, it seemed really obvious (I mean that in a good way). There are certain things that she does that I noticed in this one, in particular: wordless looks between Jack and Sam (*happy sigh*), and taking full advantage of the fact that, in books, you don't have to pay for big SFX.
Non-spoilery summation: it kept me interested, it kept me reading until past my bedtime, the characters felt true to the show, and aside from some minor doubts about the climax, I liked the storytelling. It won't be to everyone's taste due to some shippy bits, but they're not central to the story. So, yeah, infinitely better.
This entry is also posted at http://pepper.dreamwidth.org/239273.html
But Sunrise, the next novel, turned up on Saturday, and I read it, and while it's fresh in my brain...
I was a bit wary, I must admit. Not because of anything in the blurb, etc, but just because the Stargate novels have burned me recently. So I went in with low expectations. But I loved this one! I even got emotional at the end, when the people saved the other people and it was all... *sniff*... no, it's just something in my eye...
I'm going to bullet point this one. Everyone loves bullet points, right?
The good points:
- Jack was Jack and Sam was Sam and Daniel was Daniel and Teal'c was Teal'c. No, that shouldn't be a plus point, but after the last couple of novels, BOY is it. They play to their strengths and they get the job done, SG-1 style (plan B? Plan C? Oh, just try something at the very last second and pray that it works).
- Some resolution following the events of Beneath The Surface. Oh, show, and your emotional reset button. Jack is struggling to find equilibrium between how Jonah would react and how he thinks Colonel O'Neill should react. Sam keeps making slips. Daniel and Teal'c are... actually, they're pretty much recovered, but that's okay, they can't all be crazy.
- Interesting original characters that I actually wanted to read about (except maybe Sorcha, who felt a bit inconsistent).
- Exciting world-building. Lots of scenes that I loved - the domed city (I love domed scifi cities), the rainbows in the sky, the shanty town, the nearly-flying ships, the drowned skyscraper colony, the whales (with a nod to RDA's anti-whaling involvement).
The bad points:
- The ship, if you're a slasher / gen fan / not into Sam/Jack. Also, in a couple of places, it felt like "my ship is pastede on yay!". There was one point where I felt it was extremely unlikely that original!character would be in the slightest bit interested / aware of anything between Jack and Sam. On the other hand, if you don't like Sam/Jack but still managed to get through the early part of season 4, this should be a doddle.
- Teal'c could have had more to do. It felt at times like the Jack, Sam and Daniel Show. But Teal'c wasn't completely neglected, he does get things to do and an occasional POV, and I've read much worse.
- The resolution was slightly rushed. We never meet the Ark populace except to have them pointed out as a brainless audience, so when they turn against their leaders, a) I didn't really have any emotional investment in them, and b) I felt it happened awfully quickly. Kudos to the authors, though, for saying that it wasn't a permanent fix, it was kind of a temporary high, and the actual work of rebuilding a civilisation would be long and complicated and will take generations.
- No one understands the technology, it's in the hands of the Elect, everyone is under the sway of the Evil Television Producer Dude... except there are lots of people who are sufficiently involved in the workings (the performers, the production team... the food sellers?) that they ought to see that there's Something Hinky Going On, IMO. It's not completely bad, but it needed a bit more fiddling to make it work for me.
I didn't find out until the end that this was co-written by Sally Malcolm, but when I did, it seemed really obvious (I mean that in a good way). There are certain things that she does that I noticed in this one, in particular: wordless looks between Jack and Sam (*happy sigh*), and taking full advantage of the fact that, in books, you don't have to pay for big SFX.
Non-spoilery summation: it kept me interested, it kept me reading until past my bedtime, the characters felt true to the show, and aside from some minor doubts about the climax, I liked the storytelling. It won't be to everyone's taste due to some shippy bits, but they're not central to the story. So, yeah, infinitely better.
This entry is also posted at http://pepper.dreamwidth.org/239273.html