Stargate Atlantis: Blood Ties: SGA-8 [Kindle Edition]

Sonny Whitelaw (Author), Elizabeth Christensen (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The Atlantis team return from the Pegasus Galaxy to investigate a Wraith sighting on Earth. Teaming up with members of SG-1, they soon discover that the Wraith aren't the only monsters stalking human prey.

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 3394 KB
• Print Length: 336 pages
• Publisher: Fandemonium Books; Mti edition (February 25, 2008)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B001WAK7SM
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #233,642 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars If the summary had accurately depicted this books content, I wouldn't have bought it., January 4, 2008

By 

Sherri Quirke - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stargate Atlantis: Blood Ties: SGA-8 (Mass Market Paperback)

When I buy a Stargate Atlantis novel, I'm reading it because I enjoy the Atlantis characters and I wish to read about them. I was mislead by this books summary into thinking it would let me do that. Instead, what I got was the adventures of the multi-talented Rebecca Larance (featuring guest appearances by Lt. Col. John Sheppard and Dr. Daniel Jackson).

Larance is a blatant Mary Sue. She's "gorgeous" and supposedly a "brilliant" profiler, without whom the SGC, despite being populated by sundry geniuses, can't proceed in its murder investigation, yet she does next to nothing to justify being there. She was also the one who did Sheppard's psychological evaluation before he went to Antarctica, so, of course, she "really understands" him. And that she choose to let her bad marriage end in divorce means that she completely understands all the important, potentially life threatening decisions that Sheppard has had to make since going to Atlantis, because her problems must be on the same level as his. In addition, not only does she have the ATA gene and another rare gene, but she is "the one", complete with a sad, sad, tragic childhood and her very own prophecy. (The books end also leaves the door to further adventures of Larance wide open.)

The plot, which is convoluted to the point of being ridiculous, reads like the authors wanted to write two or three books, but they just couldn't develop their ideas well enough to do so, opting instead to throw it all into one book and attempt to draw flimsy connections between things which didn't believably relate, all in-between stating that long held truths in the canon of the Stargate universe are wrong because their ideas are the real truth.

The characterization was bad enough to be cringe worthy, especially that of Dr. McKay. Exogenesis had given me hope that maybe the authors had taken the time to watch the show, but Blood Ties shows me that they haven't. Dr. McKay, for example, is written as a coward (and while Rodney's words may at times be cowardly, his actions most certainly are not) and as borderline stupid in several occasions.

If the authors want to write an original book, they should have done so and sold it as such. This farce is only a Stargate Atlantis novel if you stand on your head and squint at it.

34 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Without a doubt the worst Stargate novel yet, January 24, 2008

By 

M.A.R.D. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stargate Atlantis: Blood Ties: SGA-8 (Mass Market Paperback)

I was fully prepared to give this book a go. The author's first SGA book, The Chosen, wasn't terribly good. They didn't seem to have a firm handle on some of the main characters, but hey, it was an early book, a season one story, the characters were still settling into their personalities on the show, and the plot (although cliched) wasn't as bad as some of the other SG tie-ins. Their second book, Exogenesis, showed signs of improvement, characters not as grating, narrative tighter, things were looking up. This book however... I have never, in my life, thrown a book away until this one. From the bogged down plot to the "ultra perfect" original character who dominates the book, to the atrociously out of character main characters, Blood Ties is dreadful in nearly every respect. At several points in the story I couldn't help wondering if the authors had actually seen the show or just read broad outlines of certain characters personalities and improvised from there.

The main victim of this problem was Dr Rodney McKay, one of the shows more popular characters. In the show itself he is probably one of the better developed characters, self-confessed "petty, arrogant and bad with people", he nevertheless rises to the challanges set before him (while complaining mightily) and has shown unexpected bravery and loyalty on many occasions, despite his acerbic personality. He has also shown definate personality growth through the course of the four years SGA has been on the air, his flaws offset slightly by a certain geeky insecure charm and the fact that he has some of the wittiest lines. Thanks to the shows writers and the actor who plays him he is a firm fan favourite.

In this novel ( set late season three) he is reduced to an arrogant cowardly waste of oxygen who is incapable of controlling himself in any way. He suffers a full blown panic attack after being told of the books major threat (which is not actually as threatening as the things he faces on a weekly basis on the show) and behaves appallingly throughout, loudly discussing classified information in front of the general public and holding up scientific enquiry with his immaturity and general unpleasantness. Even if you ignore the canon representation of the character, there is no way that the Dr McKay depicted here would ever have been trusted with secrets that could comprimise planetary security, let alone allowed to be the chief scientist of the Atlantis Expedition. He is suppposed to be the smartest person in two galaxies, even allowing for his (many) personality flaws. Here he is reduced to a two dimensional object of derision for the other characters, who constantly roll their eyes and smirk, puncturing his pomposity with their superior wit and timing, even the ones who are supposed to be his friends. At one point Elizabeth Weir (here a rather unpleasant, shallower version of herself) removes him from a science meeting like a naughty child because he just can't control himself.

The other characters don't fare much better, generally two dimensional (Weir, Sheppard) or idealised (Zelenka, Jackson). Most of the actual development seems to have gone into the original female character. This was also a problem in Exogenesis, although as that character had less interaction with the leads it was less obvious. I don't know about other readers, but I don't buy the Stargate books (easy-reading fluff that they are) to read pages upon pages about how wonderful the authors pet creation is.

Nobody expects these books to be high art, but I at least expect to see the characters I tune in for every week. Hopefully this will pass when the new episodes start, but I think this book actually made me like the Stargate franchise less than I did before I read it.

I probably own several thousand books, from classic works of literature to light, fun, filler books like the Stargate tie-ins, and as I stated before, this is the only book I've ever paid good money for, read once and thrown straight in the bin.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars terrible story and very disappointing, June 11, 2008

By 

Lee (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stargate Atlantis: Blood Ties: SGA-8 (Mass Market Paperback)

I love SG1 and Atlantis and own all the novels. I have found that Sonny W and Elisabeth C 's novels to be poorly lacking in understanding the tv show or the characters. They often write as if they are removed from the characters or plot and do not follow the wonderful characters created by the tv show. They certainly do not understand the fun needed. I would highly recommend to anyone to read the STARGATE authors Sally Malcom, James Swallow and Martha Wells. I cannot understand why they do not publish more by these authors.