After the first Galactica trilogy, Rebellion is a very different type of book indeed. Whereas the first three gave us a very grand and sweeping saga like the original series, Rebellion reads like 'an episode set entirely on the ship'.
After the battle of Kobol, the Fleet has made a hyperlight jump using the co-ordinates that both Apollo and Athena received by telepathic communication from an as yet unknown source. However, instead of finding a safe haven for the people, the Fleet becomes trapped in an Ur Cloud, a place where the engines will not function and power is slowly drained away.
With the Fleet facing imminent danger, ships powering down, supplies low combined with the disappearance of their supply vessels, the Quorum stir up a rebellion against the military and try to stage a coup.
The characters of the Quorum are unfortuantely a little two diemnsional, the typical egocentric megalomaniacs but that said they were like that in the series :)
Some elements of the story are a little confusing and the physics of certain things is a little rusty but the highlight of this book (very much like the new series) is Baltar. The dialogue between him and Apollo is excellently written and lays the ground for some rather disturbing plotlines yet to come about the Cylons. The ending of the book jumps ahead to the middle of the next novel Paradis as a taste of what's to come and the true nature of Cassiopia's baby is both chilling and disturbing.
All in all, Rebellion isn't a bad book, it's like the calm before the storm but a must have for those great Baltar moments.