Customer Reviews

Stargate SG-1 The Illustrated Companion Seasons 5 and 6

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

 

 

This is the first in set of episode guides to the TV science fiction series "Stargate SG-1", which formerly ran on Showtime in original release and now debuts new episodes on the Sci-Fi Channel. The existence of these guides is not too well known from what I gather, which may be because they're produced out of the UK by one of the genre specialists on that side of the pond.

Readers spoiled by the hefty and image-packed guides typical of "Star Trek", "The X-Files", or "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" will most definitely be very disappointed here. (For my money, the definitive ep guide is the one for "Deep Space Nine".) Other guides have dozens of photos (including color plates), large sections dedicated to set and costume design, cinematography, casting, and special effects, detailed actor and character biographies, cast and crew credits, and episode synopses, reviews, and ratings, usually with frank behind-the-scenes discussions from the writers, actors, and directors.

Here? Not so much. The entire two first seasons are jammed into one very small book, and each episode is addressed quite fleetingly. There's a fair bit of input from the actors, mostly Christopher Judge and Amanda Tapping, and a few pages at the end about the production side of the show, but on the whole, the material is thin and not at all revelatory. Far greater detail can be found at fan websites.

I'm discouraged to say that the hightest praise I can offer for this guide is a lukewarm "Well, it's better than nothing." So unless you're a hardcore fan who collects the action figures and everything else, give this one a pass.

I bought this guide in hopes of learning a lot of background information about each episode. I was disappointed in what I found although it can be useful and interesting.
Covering the first two seasons the guide gives each episode a single B/W photo, a guest cast list, the writer and director (and sometimes who did the teleplay). This is followed by a quote from one of the characters in each episode, a one paragraph synopsis and a paragraph or two about the episode by a cast member or someone behind the scenes. A gray box with information about a character or race in some episodes.
The forward, the character profiles at the books end, and a couple of other short sections on episode production actually gave the most information. It seems obvious to me that the cast seem to like each other and generally enjoy doing the show, I just wish I'd gotten more information about how it's all done.

If you've gotten the first two books in Ms. Gibson's series you'll find this book to be very similar in nature. This time she visits the 5th and 6th seasons giving you a picture and quote from each episode and a paragraph about each. You are also informed of the guest cast and writer/directors and several paragraphs about each episode, this is actually the most informative part about each story.
I thought the charactor/ actor profiles at the end of this edition were very interesting (some very nice photos too)as were the chapters about various aspects of producing the series. It's a good bok ofr a fan of the series to own but if you're new to StarGate you'll be sort of lost as it assumes you know what's going on.

If you can't afford the DVD sets then this is a decent little guide. A bit of an expansion on just seeing the episodes, but not in depth. If however you can swing the DVDs they have all the background on the episodes and much much more. Believe me if you buy the set you will be so happy watching them again with an exceptional clear picture and sound and commercial free. Then when you start looking at all the extras on the DVDs you will realize it is money well spent.

I was pretty disappointed to see that in an "illustrated" companion, the best they could do was one image per episode, and black and white no less. The pictures are fair, and sometimes grainy. No color, no sharp detail. Some look like the were scanned in using a low quality scanner.

The text is interesting at times, but if you're buying this to look at all the pictures, don't bother.

The written content is excellent. I was disappointed in the quality of the paper and the illustrations. Why black and white? It would be worth paying a little bit more for color and glossier and clearer print. Too bad since the articles and commentaries were very good.

...than this author's approach to a 'series companion' is for you. Otherwise, save your money for something that's more comprehensive and balanced, has some good color illustration, leaves out the self-promotion and fawning and doesn't pander to one faction of a very large viewership. Save your money for a better licensee.

I'm a SG-1 fan and the extras included in the last pages of the book (creating a past for Dr. Fraiser, for example) are a good reason for buying it.

I don't like the black and white format and maybe the experience sharing could be longer.

I love behind the scene stuff!

this is just what i needed.
The whole series of books rules!