Customer Reviews

Resurrection (Battlestar Galactica)

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

 

 

I gave this book one star when it came out in hardback. That edition was a major disappointment. Richard Hatch claimed that the publisher had printed a very early draft of the story by mistake. It sure looked that way to me. I hoped that the publisher would correct that mistake by using the completed draft in future printings. I have now read the paperback edition of Resurrection and they got it right. Resurrection is a marvelous novel that's on par with the first two books in the series. Skip the hardback, but order the paperback.

This is one difficult book to read, even for a huge Galactica fan such as myself. I found the first book (Armageddon) to be very well written and plotted, while the second (Warhawk) was well written but not as entertaining. But the writing this time around relies too much on exposition. It's tedious when each line or exchange of dialog is followed by one or more paragraphs of background or insight. It just happens too frequently in this book for my taste. I'll leave the actual story review to others who had less of a problem with the writing style.

Warning: This book suffers from a lack of decent editing.

HOWEVER: It's still a great read. I loved the story. I enjoyed the characters. The evolving mythos is engrossing.

Battle with the alien Chitain fleet has cost the colonial fleet a terrible price. As Commander Apollo decides to take his remaining people and ships to coordinates provided by a newly discovered holocube that maps the expansion across the galaxy of the now-vanished Thirteenth Tribe of Kobol, Commander Cain ("The Living Legend") challenges both his leadership and his decision. With food, fuel, and other resources running perilously low, Cain believes the fleet must make its stand instead of risking this journey into the unknown.

Apollo prevails for the moment, and the fleet soon finds itself at the Thirteenth Tribe's starting point. Kobol, home planet to their race. It's now (apparently) deserted and barren, blasted by the ancient Cylons just as viciously as the Twelve Colonies were by modern Cylons at the start of the fleet's own 20-yahren journey. Before this adventure is over, Apollo's closest and lifelong friend Starbuck will lie dead (no, this is not a spoiler - read the book to find out why!). His long romance with Cain's daughter, his comrade-in-arms Sheba, will end because he can't let go of his dead wife Serina. His sister and colleague Athena will join with another once-staunch ally, Council President Tighe, in supporting Cain's renewed challenge for control of the fleet; and the allied Cylon and Chitain fleets will find the Colonials again, at Kobol.

It appears that I enjoyed this book a great deal more than did other readers who've posted their reviews. Yes, I noticed the editing errors. They were distracting, but by no means spoiled the book for me. I thought it much better written than "Warhawk," in which we first met the Chitains. My only complaints are that Apollo's breakup with Sheba apparently took place off camera, which left me feeling cheated; and that some of Apollo's interior monologue scenes served the unfortunate purpose of "telling instead of showing."

With that said, I found the story generally well paced, exciting, and filled with surprises. I was pleased that the authors addressed the old TV series' sexism, instead of pretending that it never existed. If you were watching in 1978, as I was, you'll remember that women started flying Vipers into combat only when there were no longer enough men to do so; and that the episode in which that first happened treated it as the cutest thing imaginable. Meh. Nevertheless, I'd much rather have it addressed than pretend it never was filmed that way - and this book's authors have, while resolving the long rivalry between Apollo and Athena, dealt with the entire "Colonial culture and gender" issue both believably and gracefully.

I found the ending, with its foreshadowing of the next book, a delightful chill. I am not running out to buy that next book in hardcover - I will wait quite calmly for the paperback's eventual release. But I will get it then for sure, because I must know what Count Iblis is up to now!

After having read, re-read and thoroughly enjoying the previous two books, I found myself checking the Amazon website regularly for indications the third book was imminent... I was so anxious to have ordered it in advance... but, what a complete letdown. From both a characterization and story continuity perspective, Ressuerection was a very significant divestiture from Arm and Hawk. What in the galaxy happened to Dalton? I found myself hating this character in Book III... what a ridiculous redirection of her character wrt the Troy relationship. Apollo and Cassie... give me a break... what would have been appropriate was an exploration and degree of closure around the complex relationship with Sheba and Apollo after the twist in Hawk... weren't they to be sealed in Arm??? Just like it never happened. On top of all this, I had a hard time determining whether Starbuck was dead, alive, dying or being resurrected most of the time. Clearly the attention and focus and care taken with the first two books was absent. Overall, the characterization was poor - news flash to the authors... Apollo is a great character, but not the only one capable of sustained growth. What happened to the smart, intelligent Athena and Sheba, Tigh and Cain? Why is Cain made to appear as one small step away from insignficance when not being painted like a robotic, unbalanced, self serving despot? Cain was always enjoyable as the military " larger than life" warrior character... but also ( as in LL I + II ) for the deep affection he had for Sheba and Cassie... none of this in Ressurection. Killing Cain at the end was meaningless and almost like an afterthought ... but given the bungling of the character, perhaps a mercy. Equally damaging to the book was the complete and total misdirection and unlikely representation of Baltar. If this is an indication of Richard Hatch's views on BSG, I certainly hope he will have nothing to do with any resurection of the TV series in either movie or tv venues. This book had tremendous potential after the splendid Arm and Hawk, but threw it all away... barely worth checking out of a one book library. If there is to be a fourth book, Richard needs a lot more help then he accepted on this one.

I have read all three of these BG books. I have thouroughly enjoyed them. The authors have done a good job in staying true to their characters, and have injected those emotions and thoughts that make the simple tv characters become more interesting. I have especially enjoyed the expanded and more emotional best friend relationship between Starbuck and Apollo. There are some memorable characters from the series that are written into these storylines, and anyone who is a fan of Cain, Baltar, and the Noman will love these! I certainly hope Richard Hatch continues to write more on this series. There are a few typos and the book could use some editing, but the content is very satisfying.

Having been a fan of the TV show, I was delighted when Richard Hatch started writing his Battlestar series and bought each book upon publication. I was looking forward to the third installment that would resolve the cliffhanger of "Will Starbuck survive?" (As if we didn't know)

Shortly before "Resurrection"s publication, I read a letter by Richard Hatch, explaining beforehand some problems with the publisher that caused him to be extremely unhappy with the finished product - I believe he said what they published was actually only a first draft. I hesitated but bought the book anyway and was actually pleasantly surprised -- I thought the story was the best of the three. Despite some glaring mistakes -- did ANYone edit this book? -- the story held me. Yes, there are huge holes, character names are confused, and the timing of one critical event is off, making me wonder if they were playing some kind of trick, and thus distrusting what I was reading. When it wasn't a trick, I thought "OOPS, there's a goof." BUT I really liked the story. I found it exciting, sometimes emotional and overall, gratifying -- much moreso than the previous two installments.

I wish Mr. Hatch and Mr. Timmons had been able to properly flesh out their characters and storylines -- no matter whose fault it was in the end. No one likes to read a half-finished book. It would have been a really great read then.

It's ironic to think that this book seems to have suffered the same fate as the TV show -- both had the potential to be so much more than just entertaining sci-fi -- but something with just that little extra depth that makes them truly special. It saddens me to think what could have been if just given the time and attention it deserved.

I'm most of the way through this book and HAD to write a review, if only for the public good.

I have read (and own) the first two Battlestar Galactica books; I enjoyed them and thought they were good. Good enough that when I saw THIS one out, I snapped it up. Mistake.

This book is NOT co-authored with Christopher Golden and it shows. The voice between books doesn't even sound the same. Titles that characters had in the previous books are rarely (if ever) used. Characters that were NEVER on the bridge in the previous two books are suddenly back to their old positions. Close relationships that existed between characters in earlier books are not even MENTIONED in this book.

It has NUMEROUS misspelled words, words run together and sometimes...words just left out. It often goes into completely different scenes without even the courtesy of a dividing line between paragraphs. I've had to back up several times and just...try to figure out what was going on. What I'm saying is this: the stuff that spellchecker and FIRST YEAR editors would catch are MISSED here.

It feels like Richard Hatch just found some kid on the Internet who LOVES Battlestar Galactica and paid him some ridiculous sum of money to write the next installment of the series the way that the kid thought it should go. Then Richard got it from him and didn't even bother to READ IT before sending if off to his publisher.

No, that's not necessarily true. I can tell when different people are writing different sections of the book. Some sections are eloquent and almost poetic. Others are...literal with almost no description accompanying it.

It's like really bad fanfiction.

I suppose I wouldn't be so irritated if I hadn't paid the full hardback price for it. My advice is: if you want to read this book, borrow it from the library. Or if you MUST own it, wait till it comes out in paperback.

Okay Here we go - The Colonial Fleet is on the verge of being annahilated by the Cylons. Apollo who directed the fleet to go to the planet Kirasolia after the events in Warhawk has his fleet use the advanced QSE technology to escape destruction. The Colonials return to the planet Kobol and learn some very important lessons one being sometimes you have to go back in order to go forward. Richard Hatch and Stan Timmons take the legend to new levels and in new directions. Apollo goes head to head with "The Legendary" Commander Cain when Cain challenges Apollo for leadership of the fleet. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. There are other twists and surprises that make this book a good read.

Richard Hatch is right on with his third in a now four book series about the journey of the Battlestar Galactica and her fleet of human survivors to find Earth.
Mr. Timmons' lets flow onto paper the spirit of Richard's Galactica adventure 20 years after the Galactica and the Rag Tag Fleet began their pilgramage away from the crushing blow the Cylon Empire delt them all.
Richard takes his main character, Apollo, on a search for his own soul by having him encounter those he loved the most in his past. His dreams reveal a doubt in himself that leaves a leader in anguish. He takes a chance when times are the roughest and almost pays by sacrificing his best friend and the entire fleet. It is a dramatic "back to the beginning" tale that will leave you with a deeper respect of the leader as a man as well as a hero.
Richard tells an emotionally action packed tale that leaves his readers with a twist in the end. It is a must read if you enjoyed the first two novels! Thanks Richard!