| ||||||||||||||||||
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Basis for SG1 and Atlantis - Sam Carter is there!,
By
This review is from: To Control the Stars (Mass Market Paperback)
This book and its sequel undoubtedly form the basis for the two TV series and possibly the movie. There is even a field agent (male) named Sam'l Carter who appears in the early and late chapters of the first book. There are too many other parallels between the books and the series for them not to be related. The writing is mediocre and several ideas and terms have been lifted from other franchises (e.g., the Federation - Star Trek, psychohistory - Isaac Asimov's Foundation series). Consider a few ideas from the book/series: Humans didn't evolve on Earth but rather came to Earth and displaced hominids who were rapidly advancing. Earth's gate was buried at the pole. There was a forerunner race that seeded the galaxy with stargates and people. The stargates are built out of materials that last for millions of years. There is an ancient race of people that kept their history and technology intact and that remain aloof from the rest of the galaxy's inhabitants. This race has the keys (locations and codes) for all the stargates and they give this technology and other advanced tech to a group of humans before they leave for another galaxy. Stargates can be located on ships. Stargates can't operate between each other on planets. The stargates are controlled by pedestals using a control crystal. The ancient race (Alnians) leave behind holographic copies of themselves to talk to people who go on quests to find them. They fled to another nearby galaxy and discovered too late that their genetic diversity has been compromised and that they are dying as a race. Pretty much except for the Goauld and the wraith, the major elements of SG1 and Atlantis are here. My personal opinion is that SG1 is the best science fiction series of all time. It was pretty cool to come across what appears to me to be the inspiration for the series.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
No Kurt Russell/Richard Dean Anderson here,
By Khavrinen (Vancouver, WA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: To Control the Stars (Mass Market Paperback)
Despite the fact that this book revolves around the use of "stargates," it has nothing to do with the movie or television series of that name, as should be obvious by the publication date. Published in 1977, the book has a very "seventies" feel about it, though it is set a bit more than a thousand years in the future. Even in the seventies, it would probably have been considered little more than a collection of the standard SciFi ideas: Earth as only one planet of an ancient, fallen Empire; stargates that allow instant travel between planets; a shady, quasi-governmental conspiracy to seize control; the plucky, newly-graduated hero the conspiracy tries to silence because he Knows Too Much; etc. The writing isn't bad, just mediocre. This isn't a book that will change your life, but if you are bored it will kill a few hours relatively painlessly.
The sequel, "To Escape the Stars," is quite a bit better, both darker and yet more hopeful. From the back cover: Surrounded by armed, watchful soldiers, Shan and Luvici followed the priests down the low-ceilinged corridor. The smell of damp was everywhere. As they turned the corner, the two men had their first glimpse of the room where they would be offered as human sacrifices in some ancient, savage ritual. "Look!" Shan cried. "The shrine -- it's a gate!" The Stargate itself was unlike any construction he had ever seen; it was framed by twisting pillars of translucence. What was a Stargate doing here in this primitive place? How could these barbarians have one of the gates...the very gates which enabled Shan's civilization to move instantly from any one of their 3000 worlds to any other? How could a Stargate possibly be in this dungeon which reeked of human blood and superstition? Shan followed the steps down, down, down...his eyes riveted on the gate. Would the gate still function? That was his only hope...
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
