Stargate SG-1: Trial by Fire: SG1-1 (Stargate Sg-1) by Sabine C. Bauer Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Stargate SG-1: Trial by Fire: SG1-1 (Stargate Sg-1)
Book Review: Classic Stargate written with the fans in mind
Summary: 5 Stars
Daniel Jackson's discovery of a Punic stele in the middle of the New Mexico desert leads SG-1 to a planet where an 'ancient enemy' who call themselves 'Phrygians' regularly abduct the children of the peaceful inhabitants. Confronted with the horrific evidence of one such encounter, SG-1 plan to recover the children, but are thwarted when O'Neill and an aging archeologist are kidnapped by the Phrygians. While O'Neill undergoes an archaic initiation, the rest of SG-1 find themselves caught up in a holy war. What none of them knows is that on this world nothing is quite what it seems-especially the gods. Trial by Fire is a must-read for fans of the television series. The plot is classic Saturday Matinee episodic television, yet the quality of writing and cultural immersion elevate it to the level of a mega budget movie production. Author Sabine C Bauer has combined her obvious love of the show with meticulous research of ancient Rome, Phoenicia, and Carthage to craft a ripping good yarn in the finest tradition of Stargate SG-1. Where Bauer has truly excelled is in her respect for the characters, and her ability to get inside the minds of Jack O'Neill, Daniel Jackson, Samantha Carter and Teal'c, adding an entirely new dimension to the Stargate world. If this first edition of a new series of Stargate novels is anything to go by, I can't wait for the next one!
Book Review: Close but not dialling home -- yet
Summary: 2 Stars
If I hear Samantha Carter say the words "Holy Hannah" one more time courtesy of this author, I think I might fling the good astrophysicist through the stargate without her DHD. That General Hammond at one point actually agreed with her saying this made me want to toss the great bald-headed one after her and slam the iris shut. Look, Carter said it ONCE on the TV show and the writers later said it was a bad idea and dropped it. After all, she's in the military and not the Girl Guides. Time for the author to get the hint too. It really detracted from my reading pleasure having to butt up against that god-awful line every crisis.
That aside: The characterisations were not bad, although the old English woman grated as appallingly over-the-top; the narrative at times was overlong and not progressing the plot -- more about smelling every petal on every rose than moving on -- but at other times, nicely done and showing lots of promise.
I have come to expect a high standard of published fan fiction, as established by the Star Trek novel authors, and this novel didn't really hit that mark -- for me. Others will doubtlessly disagree, and more power to them if they love it.
Book Review: Missed The Mark
Summary: 2 Stars
As a fan of the tv show Stargate:SG1 I ordered this book with much anticipation given the promises made by Fandemonium Books that this time around Stargate novels would actually read like someone who had watched the show.I have no doubt Sabine Bauer is a fan, but I found her character depictions somewhat unconvincing, particularly, Dr Siobhan Kelly. The addition of this new character actually detracted from the plot. Odd that a character who was supposed to be quintessentially (read stereotpyically) English had an Irish surname. Siobhan is also an odd name for an English woman of her advanced years and obvious upper class background. It's small details like these that make up the authenticity of any character, and thus, allow us to become immersed in a story. Nevertheless, I gave the book a 'fair go', reading it cover to cover in the vain hope the author would hit her stride.
Carter was reduced to a one-dimensional character who appeared only long enough to insert her apparent response for all occasions -'Holy Hannah'. The character only said this line once in the actual tv series, and that was one time too many. Unfortunately, the character inconsistencies and Kelly's jarring presence were enough to make me lose interest in the rest of the plot.
Book Review: At last!
Summary: 5 Stars
At last someone who can write about this show and its characters in a proper manner! Everything that makes the series successful is there: the humour, the action, the bond between SG-1's team mates. The references to particular episodes are right on and the story integrates them to add and enrich this adventure. I hope the other books in this series will be as good as this one!Book Review: A Trial to Finish
Summary: 2 Stars
I give this book 2 stars. I would have given it 1 based on the first half of the book. But about halfway through, the book does manage to pick up speed. The action really gets going. It just seems to kind of take off. The first half of the book is incredibly plodding. I had to *force* myself to continue reading. If it hadn't been about characters that I love, a book I paid a lot of money for and an official product that I will keep for my collection, I would have stopped reading early on.There were also many annoying things about it. For one thing, the original character. She was awful. She took up way too much of the book. She spent far too much of the book with Jack when I wanted to see Jack with his team (we see enough of that separation *on the show* these days). The take on Abyss and the author's insistence that Daniel did nothing to help Jack at all (oh, but Jack magnanimously forgives him ... and Jack, poor baby, has nightmares all the time about it but he won't talk about it, of course, even with Daniel or tell Daniel what happened and what Daniel *actually* did -- even when he knows Daniel is angsting over it). Of course, the little snarky asides here and there about Daniel, usually in Sam's and sometimes Teal'c's inner thoughts didn't help. I've read a lot of fan fiction written by fans of Jack and Daniel, many of whom no longer particularly like Sam, but they don't usually write stories where Jack and/or Daniel is having unkind and/or snarky thoughts about *Sam*. It reminded me of "Grace" where we suddenly seem to see this incredibly nasty side of Sam's conscience and what she *really* thinks of Daniel. It did not endear Sam to me at all.
In short, I thought the writing was plodding in style and difficult to wade through, the original character took up far too much of the story and was annoying to boot, and the portrayal of the major characters of SG-1 was "off" and even offensive in some parts.
I really expected to like this book. I've liked the author's fan fiction over the years. I *wanted* to like this book. I certainly didn't pay to import it from England so I could dislike it. But there you go. It gets a so-so from me and really I wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless you can get it at a fairly cheap price.
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