BOOKS. stargate sg1: sacrifice moon (book 2)

ah, now this is what i was hoping these stargate books would be like! after starting the book series at number one, i was a bit disappointed with the first entry, 'trial by fire'. this one is much much better! the fun thing about these different books is that they can be set in whatever season the author wants. this particular book takes place near the beginning of the first season, when the sg-1 team was still trying to get to know each other and try to get the hang of the whole 'visiting other worlds' thing. the team finds themselves on a planet that seems to be similar to ancient rome. the arrive and find themselves it a bit of trouble. they are sent off through the gate to another world where the goddess of the moon rules. while there they discover that all those who are sent to this world are brought to play a deadly game where some are the hunters and others are the prey. the story line itself was pretty good, i kept thinking i knew where it was going to go, but then surprised by some of the twists and turns it took. the best part of the book though wasnt the storytelling, rather it was the interesting and insightful characterizations of the four members of sg-1. julie fortune, the author of the book, did a wonderful job of digging in to the characters and really showing what was going on in their heads, something that the show itself is never able to do. we get a great look at how and why these four work so well together, and get a sense of what keeps them together for all the years they travel through the stargate together. a great read. it makes me really excited to read more in the series!

BOOKS. stargate sg1: trial by fire (book 1)

i've recently begun reading stargate sg-1 novels, so i thought i'd start at the beginning with the first of the series. its been a very long time since i read a book based on a tv show (back in high school i read a couple x-files books that were pretty bad) so i wasnt too sure if they would be any good. they have published more than 15 stargate sg-1 novels so far and they dont seem to be slowing down at all, so they must be pretty good, right? well, it turns out that the first one in the series is pretty bad.
the book follows the sg-1 team as they investigate a new planet with two warring factions. the story is rather poorly written in that there were quite a few long passages where i didnt exactly know what was going on. the action and events are muddled and poorly written, with the stargate team itself doing things that are not in character for how they would really react. the show has 10 years worth of episodes, so there is a really really strong foundation of character traits and personalities that are set out. also, there are some pretty basic rules that the team has followed on all 200 plus episodes that this book quickly throws out the window in the first pages. one major problem with the book is that the team takes a normal person from our world, a professor, and brings her through the gate with them. this would have never happened no matter how knowledgeable they think someone might be about a particular culture. never! yet here they are bringing a civilian with them. and to top it off, the character is really really annoying! every scene of the book that the professor was in was hard to get through. there are times where she is in danger and i was actively rooting for o'neil to just let her die! the final resolution for the book was pretty vapid and didnt play much part in the set-up that had been created over the former 200 pages.
over all, a terrible start to the novel series, but i'm willing to try again on the next novel. fortunately there are different writers that take over the series, so as long as sabine c. bauer stays away from novelized stargate, then i'm sure i will enjoy them!