the fourth book in a long series of stargate sg-1 novels, city of gods takes the stargate team to a new planet, this one seems to have a culture fashioned after the ancient mayans and azteks of central america. the story joins our crew as they try and get the exploration team off the planet before an impending ecological disaster strikes. they get themselves mixed up with a bunch of young kids, who seem to be without families, but know their way around pretty well. after traveling with them for a while, they are brought to the native people of that planet, and they seem to be trying to appease their gods by offering human sacrifices to stave off their destruction. the story plays out, as one might expect, with the white man being seen as the messengers of the gods and o'neill is more than happy to play up that angle if it means getting off the planet quicker!
the highlight of this particular story is the wealth of knowledge shared about the working of the planet's geology and ecosystems. it is very obvious that the writer, sonny whitelaw, has an intimate understanding of nature and its interconnectedness. whitelaw does a good job with nailing the characters and their traits, but the book really comes alive when he talks about the environment itself. with vivid descriptions of caves, archaeology and volcano stuff, its very clear that this guy knows his stuff and feels passionately about it- his interest in it is infectious through his writing. also, he has a very interesting perspective on the mayan and aztek culture and its connection with life's value, both human life and the life in nature. definitely worth checking out!
