Customer Reviews

Stargate Atlantis: Blood Ties: SGA-8

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Long before I was halfway through the book, I had already guessed certain key plot points for the remaining half and found the basic premise to be unlikely at best, even within the context of the Stargate franchise. The idea that thousands of people on Earth are somehow 'Wraith-lite' and actively feeding throughout recorded history, yet remain undiscovered until the events in the book strains credulity. This is accomplished despite the apparent lack of very visible mechanism that allows the canon Wraith to feed and the thousands of desiccated bodies that must have been produced.

Each chapter in the book is a complete setting change, hopping between locations and events until the reader must flip between pages to keep track of the plot. The book dates itself by involving the Atlantis characters in the Iraq war, something the shows have been careful never to mention or use as a setting, instead using a completely fictionalized universe. From there, we jump to telepathic dinosaurs from Earth's ancient past that have colonized a planet in the Pegasus galaxy and oversee an Ancient outpost. Next, we follow Wraith-lite sects across Earth and encounter a 'misunderstood' Wraith-lite sect where the author rationalizes 'real' vampires, werewolves, centaurs, minotaurs, etc. into the Stargate universe.

The protagonist introduced for this book, an amalgamation of both Mulder and Scully, demonstrates several Mary Sue traits. Before she obtains her superpowers, she appears in nearly every scene as the focus of the book, while being constantly haunted by her Tragic Past. The series' main characters become two-dimensional, accepting her unquestioningly and ignoring key warning signs. Credulity is further strained when she just happens to be the Wraith-lite Messiah with little human DNA, yet drops into the SGC at exactly the right time and is on our side.

We're told that there are five hundred million potential Wraith-lite on Earth, and they all need ginkgo (provided by the telepathic alien dinosaurs) in order to begin feeding from any being they choose. How this would go unnoticed and why the main characters would want this to happen, I'm not sure. Most of the Wraith-lite, with their modern infantry weapons and artillery, are defeated by the power of song and our heroes mourn their deaths with sorrow. Several of the 'good' Wraith-lite survive, and the book ends with the Atlantis team unanimously and deliberately deceiving the SGC to leave the source of ginkgo available for them, just in case.

Given the absurdity of the premise, the warped characterization, and the gaping plot holes, I can't help but give the book one star. Bonus points for the misleading cover art, as no actual Wraith are featured in the book. I've read better fanfiction on the Internet and that was free.

This would have made a fairly good stand alone novel, but it is not believable that the facts established about the Wraith are that far wrong, even though the authors did a good job trying to tie their concept in with canon.

While most of the other Atlantis and SG-1 novels feel like actual episodes, and feel quite believable within the series, this one feels like a very bizarre alternate universe (not even something that would fit in one of the universes we have occasionally seen a glimpse of).

I was dubious about this novel from the beginning (especially since it came out while the series was still on the air--it is somewhat arrogant to write a novel stating that "everything we thought we knew about the Wraith is wrong" (as the description for the book states) when the series is still running and could very well establish otherwise. I wish I had trusted my instincts and not bought it.

The plot was interesting and I found myself wanting to finish the book despite the irritating parts that included Agent Lawrence (I skimmed over any sections that involved her). She was so dis-likable that I don't think the reader is meant to like her! The book was fun to read and I thought stayed true to the Stargate Characters. The imagery of the dinosaur planet was great.

Before I even started it, I had come across some not so positive reviews for this book - and I'm glad that I didn't listen to them. The book is really good, you get the usually bickering and team-feeling, everybody's reaction to Carson's death and some exciting space exploration - yes, non-human aliens! A major part of this book takes place on Earth though which was kind of unusual in a SGA book.

The reason why I didn't give it five stars? Dr. Larance was just a barely disguised Mary...more Before I even started it, I had come across some not so positive reviews for this book - and I'm glad that I didn't listen to them. The book is really good, you get the usually bickering and team-feeling, everybody's reaction to Carson's death and some exciting space exploration - yes, non-human aliens! A major part of this book takes place on Earth though which was kind of unusual in a SGA book.

The reason why I didn't give it five stars? Dr. Larance was just a barely disguised Mary-Sue. I mean, I love outsider's POV, so I didn't mind the addition of an original character, but did she really have to be Miss Perfect?

Other than that, a really, really, really good book!

I admit I do see a few of the characters as a little off in this book, but nowhere near the extent so ranted about by previous writers. I do not like driving a book into the ground just because you personally dislike the authors. The original character-Rebecca-is at times overly ideal but she serves a definite purpose that is clear when you actually finish reading the book. I admit McKay may not be fairly treated, however, he is NOT a major player in this adventure and should not be a complete topic of judgement. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The plot was amazing in the way it took real events here on Earth and the Atlantis universe we so love and blended them so believably. If Wraith were real I would believe this to be a true account! I think Daniel tends to steal the show for a while, but otherwise I really enjoyed it and wish others would not judge it on a few hiccups. They should try writing a novel with this much information and facts and see how they do, probably not this well! Besides, the show messes up the characters personalities at times too-we still watch it and LOVE it!

I really enjoyed this book, from the plot line to the characterization. The authors did a nice job of weaving the mythology of Lillith and succubi into the SG universe. I thought the characters were written pretty well, and I enjoyed Daniel Jackson's involvement in this tale that spans both the Milky Way and Pegasus galaxies. This story would make a great SG Atlantis movie.

You won't be able to put it down! While some characters evoke pity, others, loathing this book is unforgettable and well-worth the money to buy it and the time to read it.