Customer Reviews

Armageddon: Battlestar Galactica

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Battlestar Galatica Armageddon is one of the best books I have read in long time , this book was written by Richard Hatch and Mr Golden it contiues where the tv serial left before battlestar Galatica 1980 it starts where Starbuck has been lost , it a true Battlestar Galatica story I recommend any fan of this Tv show will love the book.

I have missed the tv series Battlestar Galactica for quite some time.Thanks to Amazon.com, I have been able to view the series through the several videos offered. That is when I discovered this book. If Richard Hatch had concentrated more on the Cylons and the humans struggle with these demons, and less on his "Use the Force Apollo", this would have been a far better read. The book was also a bit immature at times. I think Richard Hatch takes himself and his character far too seriously. And yes, I will buy the next one. Why? It will hopefully continue the story and have less to do with the devil (Count Iblis) and the "Force".

Excellent reading. Richard Hatch has stayed true to the original premise of Battlestar Galactica. One cannot help but empathize with the characters, old and new. As well, the plot is well developed. I cannot wait for the next book!

I admit I was a bit skeptical at first. An actor from a defunct campy sci-fi show I loved as a child attempting to continue the voyages of the Galactica.

I bought it anyway for nostalgia's sake, and I was very pleasantly surprised. All you favorites are there, plus an introduction to a few new characters.

It was very interesting to see what has happened after all these years to the fleet, the characters, their children, Baltar, the Cylons and more. The book does a great job in bringing you up to speed, and filling in many blanks they plagued T.V. viewers so many years ago. I liked the origin explanation of the Cylons.

Also, you can see where many themes of the old testament are relevant here as they are also mixed in with Greek mythos. Those that are familar with the bible will appreciate many of the parallel's drwan here in the book.

Decent plot, begs for a sequel. The only reason this did not rate 5 stars was the lack of action in space battles. Though the battles were there, I felt as if I were missing the feel of sitting in a Viper and blasting Cylons.

Kudos to Richard Hatch and Christopher Golden.

NB: This review is in two parts.

Armageddon is not the best battlestar galactica book I have read, I feel that accolade should go to Robert Thurston/Glen Larson's original BSG novel. The reason, beside's that it is brilliantly written, is that it is the story of BSG at it's most raw. The novel was written directly from the original script as the first episode (Saga of a Starworld!) of BSG was being filmed, hence the reason why there are pre-production paintings of the battlestar and it's vipers displayed within the novel as opposed to actual FX shots from the episode. The story reflected how Larson originally envisioned the BSG saga to be, with the Cylons being scripted as a sort of cybernetic reptillian hybrid, plus Serina (Apollo's love interest) survives at the end of the novel as it was originally scripted. Though for the TV episode, at Jane Seymour's request, the death of her character was written into the final shooting script and filmed, only to have her death then edited out again of the episode when test audiences found it too upsetting. So I would recommend the Thurston/ Larson original novel to any fan of BSG who wanted to see how the story was originally envisioned.

The reason why I mentioned that novel in this review is because Hatch's Armageddon returns the BSG saga to this standard. I have read some of the unfair complaints here about how Hatch is only glorifying his character of Apollo at the expense of the others. This is untrue, actually the plot revolves around quite a lot of the original characters (some of whom merely served as window dressing in the TV series) as well as the new ones. Hatch actually creates an intriguing character out of Athena, turning her into a thoughtful but discplinarian individual who finds herself promoted to battlestar commander.

Hatch not only ressurrects the BSG saga but also adds a touch of much-needed revisionism to it's studio-induced faults. For instance Hatch completely ignores the final TV episode "The Hand of God" in his continuation (which I welcome because I always found the idea of Adama releasing Baltar just because he aides them in destroying a Cylon base ship absolutely ridiculous - I mean the presence of the base ship threatened Baltar's life as much as the Colonials, there was no need to make any bargains with the traitor!). Hatch most probably ignored this episode because at the end of the it the Colonials receive a transmission of the Apollo moon landing from earth which led way to the whole awful Galactica 80 concept.

The Cylons themselves also undergo some revisionism as Hatch reverts them back to their reptillian/cyborg origins. I think this is the most welcome change! I hated the way the studio execs interferred and had the Cylons rewritten as being robots (explained to us through an awful piece of exposition between Apollo and boxey which was added at the last minute to episode 1 befored it aired on TV. Thankfully the cinema version had no such interference!). Another character who gets a bit of a rewrite is Lucifer, the annoying "fem-bot" who was obviously modelled on C3PO and who spent most of the series involved in a "queenie" power struggle with Baltar. In Armageddon Lucifer becomes an evil and physically strong cyborg who lusts for the death of Baltar and the human race. He comes off as quite a scary character in the novel. Thanks to Hatch, he finally becomes a villain worthy of the name of "Lucifer".

Hatch also tries to explain some of the plot holes in the TV series that were caused by studio-interference. Hatch, for instance, explains why Baltar was promoted to Cylon commander in the TV series whereas in the movie/ original novel he was killed by the Cylons (according to Hatch the Cylons were secretly studying the logic traits of Baltar so they could create a Human Logic Function chip for their cyborg warriors. They planned to kill Baltar once it was completed!). It turns out the Cylons were only using Baltar after all, he never really was in charge of a Cylon base ship. Anyway I never liked that absured studio-induced plot device in the TV series which saw baltar being the main villain who leads the Cylon task force against the Galactica. I much preferred the poetic justice of him being killed off by his Cylon collaborators. I do like the way that Hatch has Baltar being a scheming prisoner (like some sort of Dr Smith from Lost in Space) of the colonials. I feel that this concept suits the Baltar character much better than the "primary villain" he became in the TV series.

As for villains, Hatch does reveal the origins of the Cylons :

****SPOILERS******!!! In the novel it is explained that the natives of the planet Cylon were a reptillian race who were visited by Count Iblis who gave them the technology to evolve themselves into cyborg warriors and conquer the universe. ******* END OF SPOILERS!!!!

Now although the above explanation for the Cylons is not exactly one that I would have preferred, it is however far better than the awful one conjured up by the studio-execs in that exposition delivered by Apollo in episode 1 (That the Cylons are actually meglomanical robotic servants of some long-exctinct alien race, who hate humans for getting involved in their affairs).

Continues in part 2....

For the first Galactica book in a decade that is not a novelization of a previous teleplay, this book will likely be a disappointment to loyal fans who have waited with anticipation for its arrival. I know that I, for one, checked out the bookstore each day until it came in, then quickly purchased it when it was available. It was worth the $20 to satisfy my burning curiosity, but that was about it. If Battlestar Galactica is ever to enjoy a comeback (as I really, really would like to see), writers such as Hatch and Golden will have to take a long, very serious look at how creative and tightly written the competition is these days. This book wouldn't make it to Michael Piller's desk for even a cursory perusal.

After reading the first chapter, I thought to myself, "this writing is terrible." The book is far too dependent on dialogue to convey the story line. When narrative is introduced, far too often it is third-person description of what a character is thinking. After a while, I got to feeling that I really didn't care what Starbuck, Apollo, Athena, or anyone else thought about something they were witnessing or reflecting upon. The reader is told everything, and as such the reader is disengaged as an active participant in the plot and character development.

The reason being that the characters themselves are transparent as cellophane. Compared to the novelization of the original Battlestar Galactica, they only have meaning by what they do in the book, and through what they have done, as relayed awkwardly through brief descriptions of moments from the past, where the authors slip out of style and begin writing in parenthetical statements without the parentheses.

The writing itself is nothing short of pedestrian. There are instances where certain words are used over and over again: words that should be used sparingly. The one that comes to mind is the word "irised" as a verb for "opened." On two consecutive pages, I think the door "irised" open about five times. It got really old after the second time.

As for the timeline, the authors try to stick to references from the original series to explain some history. In some places, once again, this third-person omnipotent storytelling is awkwardly inserted into the middle of the thought process of a character. However, despite the authors' attempt to "remind" readers of what happened during the series, there are obvious errors and inconsistencies. For example, the authors never explain how Baltar got back aboard a Base Star; we would assume that, indeed, he was set free as Adama promised he would do in exchange for information regarding the internal structure of the Base Star that Apollo and Starbuck sabotaged in "The Hand Of God," the very last episode of the series. Similarly, as Apollo and Starbuck are making their way around a Base Star in this book, there is no mention made of them ever having been on one before.

In addition, the fact that Starbuck discovers what's under all that plating on a centurion doesn't conform with the series either. In the episode "Baltar's Escape," Dr. Wilker is charged with the task of piecing together one of the centurions who co-piloted Baltar's Cylon Raider when he surrendered to the Galactica in "War of the Gods." Dr. Wilker had been studying the centurions and, as far as I recall, found them to be all wires and electronics. After all, if they had been organic life forms, wouldn't Dr. Salik have been studying them?

As much as the authors try to stick to Colonial time units, they missed a bunch of places where they use "year" for "yahren" and "day" for "cycle." Furthermore, I had always thought the spelling of one of their expletives was "felgercarb;" in fact, if you listen to Starbuck on any of the episodes (he's the only one that ever says it), you can clearly hear the "c" in "...carb". Anyway, in the book it has become "feldergarb."

Another problem that I have is the fact that every one of the familiar characters is now a very high-ranking military officer (Captain, Major, Lieutenant Colonel) yet they are still just pilots, not serving any other function other than that which they have always filled. Yes, while I will admit that after 18 years, Starbuck and Boomer shouldn't be Lieutenants anymore, the Colonial military looks a little top heavy. Of course, I've never understood the use of army ranks on Galactica, when every other ship I've ever seen on a screen follows navy ranks. After all, they are on a ship, not in the Cavalry.

As for the story line itself, there is a lot crammed into this 12-point type on 16-point leading, 309-page book (there's lots of blank pages). Too much, I think. The synopsis: Apollo and Starbuck are on patrol; they run into Cylons whom they haven't seen in six years (it says "years" at one point); Starbuck's ship is clobbered and he crashes on a planet and is presumed by Apollo to be dead. Apollo returns to the fleet just as Adama dies; Apollo is named "acting" commander until the Quorum can assess other candidates for the position; a power struggle ensues, with Ambassador Puck leading the way; Apollo finds a secret room in Adama's chambers and finds out secrets about the Lords of Kobol, and the origins of the colonies and of his own family; he has a vision that Starbuck is still alive; he puts Athena in charge of the fleet and leaves to rescue Starbuck; there is a murder on one of the Agro ships, but no one can identify the remains; insurrections begin on several ships regarding leadership of the fleet, with most of malcontents favoring Puck; on route to the planet where Starbuck crashed (yes, he is alive), Apollo runs into "new" Cylons with a cloaking device; he is saved at the last minute by one of the lightships from "War of the Gods;" he meets his dead brother Zak on the lightship, who gives him more details about the Lords of Kobol and about Count Iblis, who it appears is behind the trouble in the fleet; Apollo rescues Starbuck; there is major rebellion on a number of ships in the fleet; Starbuck and Apollo have discovered the Cylons' plan to attack the Galactica and the fleet; they decide to go after Baltar to get the last piece of the Kobol-Earth puzzle; Baltar helps them to escape after escaping execution himself; they return to the Galactica; Apollo and Starbuck play some heroics and win the day despite overwhelming Cylon odds; Iblis is defeated.

There's plenty of loose ends for the next book.

There's lots of cutesy going on as well: Sheba and Apollo are going to get married; Starbuck still can't decide on Athena or Cassiopeia; Troy (Boxey) and Dalton (Starbuck and Cassiopeia's daughter) have the hots for each other. It's not exciting nor is it in the least bit dramatic. The tension between any one of the main characters is totally diffused by their allegiance to the Galactica and whomever's in charge. The hardest pill to swallow is the 180-degree turn-around in the relationship between Athena and Apollo, which is described early in the book as cautious, but which becomes as comfortable as a pair of old Chuck Taylors by the time Apollo returns from rescuing Starbuck.

Not to sound totally negative, there are some things that are interesting, even compelling. But I'll leave that to the die-hards out there to find out for themselves. The book will only be for them in the end; I doubt if such mediocre writing and thin character development will ever appeal to the general reading public.

I thought this book wouldn't be that good because of the reviews on the site. BUT they were wrong! I like this book because it has alot of adventure! and flying vipers, I always love reading about flying in space battles, and the pure excitement! this book is in no way borring! I missed out for about a year when I didn't read this book. SO DON'T YOU MISS OUT and order this book right now! buy some excitment!

Mr. Hatch is doing Galactica fans a wonderful service and could really pull off a remake (I hope). However, this book needed another going over to make it more professional. Not to upset the man as he is a likable person and I admire him greatly, but the writing style needs to be honed just a bit more. He will move the characters through a situation in chapter 4 and in chapter 5 recap what had happened. I found examples like this very distracting and it took away from the flow of an otherwise good story. Altho, the beginning seemed a bit too padded for me. Too much mourning over the passing of Adama and worry over who's to be commander. Isn't the Galactica under martial law? Are elections for Commanders really an issue? Why not just promote Apollo? Why whould his own sister turn against him? And so forth. the infighting was annoying, but the continuation of the story and Baltar's story was fascinating (altho, I feel that if he were really no longer needed, the Cylons would just kill him. Always wondered why Baltar WANTED to catch the humans. That would spell his end anyway...). Ah well, Warhawk is probably better...(I hope)

Much has been written about Battlestar Galactica, the story of a mammoth warship guarding the last survivors of Twelve Worlds seeking the final outpost of humanity - Earth. It began as a television series in 1978, one that lasted but one season due to the show's expense and to network indifference. A spinoff series ran briefly in 1980 but was unsatisfying at most levels.

Battlestar Galactica has often been condemned as poorly conceived and abysmally written. True, it was made into a weekly series when it should have been a series of bi-monthly movies (the original concept creator-producer Glen Larson had in mind) and as a result scripts had a very uneven quality to them. That they nonetheless turned out quite well says a great deal about the concept.

It wasn't until Rob Liefeld and Robert Napton came out with a Battlestar Galactica comic book series in 1995 that the concept truly came into its own. The comic was beautifully written and created, able to explore c! haracters and ideas the show was unable to explore at the time of its initial run, and remains among the finest graphic novels ever put to print.

Richard Hatch, the show's star as Captain Apollo, contributed one of the comic's stories, "Apollo's Journey," a story that served as a rough draft for the novel he has coauthored with Chris Golden. Hatch expands on the basic "Apollo's Journey" storyline and co-fashions a gripping read.

The Galactica and the fleet of refugee ships under her protection are caught in the grip of political turmoil, as Commander Adama, the fleet's leader since the Final Destruction of the Twelve Colonies, dies. The turmoil, it turns out, is the machinations of Count Iblis, a mystical being with a stunning tie to the scourge of the fleet, the Cylons.

The plot and its branches are too extensive to detail here, but they are grippingly laid out, with superb exploration of the huge cast of characters created for Galactica.

Th! ere are minor nits to pick - the novel lists the Galactica ! as only carrying 75 fightercraft, yet the ship's vast size - well over 2,000 feet in length - allows the fielding of nearly 200 fightercraft. But such quibbles don't greatly injure what is an immensely enjoyable story.

I DID NOT HAVE HIGH HOPES FOR THESE GALACTICA BOOKS. I'M A BIG TIME BSG FAN FROM WAY BACK AND DIDN'T EXPECT ARMAGEDDON TO CAPTURE THE SPIRIT AND FUN OF THE SERIES... BUT IT DID! THE SPIRIT OF THE ORIGINAL IS ALIVE IN THIS NOVEL AND THEY'VE UPDATED THINGS TOO. THE ORIGINAL CHARACTERS HAVE GROWN OVER THE YEARS AND THERE'S NEW BLOOD ADDED WITH THE ADDITION OF NEW AND YOUNGER CHARACTERS. VERY IMPRESSIVE! ARMAGEDDON GIVE US THE BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS.