The Price You Pay (Stargate SG-1, Book 2) (Paperback)

~ Ashley McConnell (Author), Dean Devlin (Creator) (Author), Roland Emmerich (Author), Jonathan Glassner (Creator) (Author), Brad Wright (Creator) (Author) "Jack O'Neill pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, leaning back in the gray chair and shoving himself away from the metal desk..." (more)
Key Phrases: energy staffs, Rejected Ones, Serpent Guards, Daniel Jackson (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The Stargate has been breached by the serpent god Apophis, whose legions threaten to overwhelm Earth in a brutal conquest. Only Colonel Jack O'Neill possesses the courage and cunning to lead an elite group of specialists through the Stargate to halt the invasion. If they fail, they risk being trapped in an alternate universe forever.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Roc (July 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451457269
• ISBN-13: 978-0451457264
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #573,598 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sit back and enjoy the show... book... you know., September 13, 2002

By	Scarab (the Lost Galaxy) - See all my reviews

If a good story is more important to you than esoteric details about technology that doesn't actually exist, the errors in this book mean nothing. I didn't even notice them before they were pointed out to me, as I was too deep into O'Neill and Daniel having to evade Serpent Guards on Saqqara. Though purists will have a great deal to nitpick about in this book, I for one read a book for the story, not for Gate mechanics, and, with the exception of McKay's "Retribution," this is the best book to carry the name Stargate. Though unimportant details about how the inner workings of alien devices aren't always on target and she calls Mafdet "Mafret," if you want a good story, you want this book. It's well-told, with a twofold story and likable characters both on the planet SG-1 visits, and on the Goa'uld world that they pay tribute to. The planet M'kwethet's situation is an strange relationship with the Goa'uld: They must pay tribute to Apophis by periodically turning a group of their children over to him. The Goa'uld keep the people free of disease (Apophis wants healthy slaves, after all) but if they refuse to pay tribute, the consequences are, of course, quite unpleasant. These people don't want SG-1's help, feeling it could only lead to an attack by Apophis. At the same time, O'Neill discovers that there is no DHD with which to operate M'kwethet Gate. This may take place before The Torment of Tantalus, in which the idea of manual dialling was introduced. This is where sitting back and enjoying the show comes in: Realize that for right here, right now, no DHD means no way back, and go from there. O'Neill and Daniel figure that, since you can't go into an outgoing Gate and vice versa, and tributes still get from M'kwethet to... somewhere, the Serpent Guards who take them must have a way to make the Gate work from M'kwethet. So, O'Neill and Daniel must take a trip to the Goa'uld world Saqqara as part of the tribute, and try to figure out the key to unlocking the Gate and get back to M'kwethet without getting blasted. At the same time, on M'kwethet, Carter and Teal'c try to protect the victims of the next tribute... whether the people want that or not. And let's just say it doesn't all go as planned. To say any more would give too much away. And it has fun as well; a drunken Daniel and Carter, among other things. Very believable, with not just one, but two good stories. The only thing that could make it better would be if it had been an actual episode. No, scratch that. It'd just make the *show* better if this had been an actual episode.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Could We Hire Another Author?, January 12, 2000

By A Customer

Like many SG-1 fans, I was excited to see an original novel based on the series. However, Ms. McConnell seems to have some problems writing science fiction. (I've noticed that I dislike her "Quantum Leap" books for much the same reasons.) Not only does she need to watch the series more, in order to more accurately capture the characters and their relationships, she needs to study the series "bible" to figure out the science behind the Gate and various technical devices and situations.

The further into the book I got, the more irritated I became; Carter's character is particularly off-base, first season or not. The plot has large holes in it, most revolving around problems following through on the science of the series; towards the end, it becomes downright illogical. I would have given this book no stars at all, but I love the series -- and the cover picture is nice.

I hope we get more original novels for SG-1, but not from Ashley McConnell.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best of Ashley McConnell's books I've read, March 16, 2005

By	creay (Midwestern USA) - See all my reviews

Although it is obvious that this was written and set very early on in the series, which makes some of the details given seem slightly... off somehow, it is a very enjoyable book that I would recommend to anyone. I liked it better than the other two Ashley McConnell Stargate SG-1 books I have read. The story was interesting and although nothing truly surprising happened, it had enough twists to keep it quite engaging.

The characters were well handled. An admitted Jack O'Neill fan, I rather enjoyed all the little refrences and illusions to his past and of course his deftly portrayed wit. Daniel was well done as well, although he seemed a wee bit over-fixiated on Sha're to the exclusion of all else, but again, this is early SG-1, so that makes sense in a way. Otherwise his character was spot-on. Teal'c was also deftly handled which isn't easy to do as his character can oft be a writer's nightmare. :o) I will admit I'm not entirely sure that Sam Carter's character was portrayed to her full potential, but it was not greatly disrupting from the rest of the book.

All in all, I definitely recommend it as the best of Ashley McConnell's books.