Customer Reviews

The Morpheus factor

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This book was a difficult read for me. First of all, she kept referring to Daniel's BLONDE hair. In one scene there was a reference to Amanda Carter (played by Samantha Tapping, maybe?) and she mentioned a Stargate in Iceland. I assume she was referring to the season one episode where the 'gate was in Antartica. I was just happy she got the name of Jack's son right. I got the feeling that this book was hastily thrown together and I got an all-together bad feeling from it. It was an excellent story, but I've read fan fiction that was better.

The book trodded along for far too long, without any real plot. 304 pages went by before the author was stunned to realize she should probably stop writing and wrapped up the entire thing in two pages. There are many, many fan fiction stories which are superior to this one. Even the bad fan fic is over before you have time to worry about it's shoddiness. The basic errors (Daniel's BLONDE hair) and AMANDA Carter proved to me that this book was thrown together. I wish I had waited before buying this book. Live and learn, I suppose.

Good point: The plot is an interesting idea.

Bad points: No background for the characters, jumps right into the story and the story does seem to end VERY swiftly. I wanted more about the planet, the alien race and more interaction between SG-1 itself. Details, details to give it flavor, color, shapes, to make it a meal to enjoy. This book was more like pre-chewed gum!
Weak and not for a person NEW to the TV series. This is my first read from the book series and I hope the first three books were BETTER. Maybe starting from the beginning would have been better...

The book, The Morpheus Factor, left me speechless... and not in the good way. Sam seems to be cursed -- in this book she's refereed to as 'Amanda Carter' which gives me serious doubts about the author's familiarity with the characters. Daniel somehow went blonde. Jack and Frasier flirt. There are weird, endless dream sequences with seemingly no meaning. The plot was a joke and the conclusion nonexistent -- as though the author had simply up and stopped writing. It's not that I haven't read bad Stargate fiction before... it's just that before TMF, that fiction had always been free on the Net and written by unpaid fans.

Seldom do you get such a clear idea of why a series of books has been discontinued. The author not only got several key details wrong (calling Daniel a blonde, at one point referring to Amanda Carter), but the story was convaluted and pointless. It seemed they pulled the resolution out of thin air. I don't know about you, but I prefer a little more thought to go into solutions. It also ended way too soon. How did they get home? How'd they get past the aliens? We don't know and, I believe, neither does Ms. McConnell.

If they plan to make more Stargate SG-1 books, perhaps they could find someone who has actually seen an episode or two.

I thought it was an ok story, but there were a lot of mistakes coming from the author and the time-line of this book: first off was that the names of the main characters were messed up, second was that this book was supposed to be some-time after their mission to Netu and their run-in with their biggest enemy, thirdly was that it wasn't till the 4th season that they met up with Osiris , and finally they got the relationships between the characters all wrong as well, such as O'neill and Frasier when in the show it would be between him and Carter. As well as the issue with messing with the imaginations of the main characters and their memories which was also brought up in the season 2 episode" The Game Keeper", and they made the crucial mistake of getting the wrong area when they mentioned finding the 2nd gate since they found it Anartica rather then in Iceland. But other then these mistakes the story was really good. Read the other three books before you read this since this is during the middle of the third season, so it'll make a little more since after a while.

When the author used the name Amanda Carter, my suspicion that this novel was not all that good, was cemented. And what was up with the Dr. Frasier and Jack O'Neill flirtation? If you love the show, don't ruin it by reading this book. Find a fanfic writer you like <or 2 or 3> and stay with them.

Devoted viewers of Stargate SG-1 will be dismayed by the rampant factual errors and wonder if the author has even once watched the show. Casual readers will be horrified by the lack of a plot. Readers new to the fandom will hope that the show isn't THIS bad. All will be pleased to know that (supposably) McConnell's contract to write these books has been cancelled (which might help explain the total lack of an ending)?

You can find infinitely better stories about these characters written by fans, on the internet, for FREE.

When SG-1 goes to P4V-837, they encounter a hospitable environment and seemingly friendly natives, the Kayeechi. But after a while, they realize that they are each seeing a different landscape, and they don't know who is hallucinting. Then they are pulled into deep, dark dreams, and find themselves unable to wake up. What are the Kayeechi trying to do?

On the good side, I liked the idea a lot more than I liked the book itself, especially since all the dream sequences would have made it too confusing as an episode, which makes it worthwhile to have it in novel form. I also liked the quote at the end of the book, althought I think it might have been better at the very beginning.

But while the plot may have been a good idea, in the transition between mind and paper something flopped. First of all, no one seemed to be in character, especially toward the end. The overstated Jack/Janet attraction seemed unnatural and forced. (Anyway, I thought canon was leaning more towards Jack/Sam and Daniel/Janet, but whatever.) But what really bothered me was that nothing was really explained. We never find out how the Kayeechi turn dreams into reality, which would make more sense in the long run than what the team decides to do. The Kayeechi could make a powerful ally or a formiddable enemy, and as Vair says, they are "neither enemy nor friend" at the moment. The bad parts drag the good parts down, and it all builds up to finally crash into the wall that is the nonsensical, unsatisfying ending. Add to this the references to Daniel's blond hair and Major Amanda Carter, and this is one book you should skip.

I usually expect published material to be more well-written than fanfiction. Apparently the publishers had lower standards. this lame attempt at making money assumes that fans are stupid and will buy anything. Please prove them wrong.

This book was even worse than the last one. I waited alomst 6 months to buy this and it was an utter disappointment. It was either incredibly boring or just plain ridiculous. The aliens in the book seemed to resemble colorful Ewoks. Then, there were the dream sequences. These seemed to drag on forever and grew increasingly more stupid by the page. Such as O'Neill swimming with an Ewok transformed into an octopus. This novel seemed like a sick joke. I kept hoping as I read it, that I would wake up and find that it was just a horrible nightmare. Even more so as I found mistake after mistake. The ending seemed like something I would have expected from a Goosebumps book. I think it's time for the people at Stargate to hire a decent author like Peter David.