Having read all the Fandemonium Stargate: Atlantis novels so far, this one definitely rates in my top three. Elizabeth Christensen builds up a complex picture of a society that is fractured seemingly beyond repair... and whose descent into chaos is precipitated by the arrival of the Atlantis team. As well as detailed world-building and credible, life-like original characters, she also brings the reader a perfectly-pitched portrayal of the Atlantis team; from the core members of Sheppard's gate team, to Drs Weir and Beckett, to recurring characters such as Major Lorne and Dr Zelenka, every "voice" is perfectly captured, both in their speech and their internal monologue and motivations. The banter between the core gate team in particular is beautifully translated from the screen onto the page and, perhaps more importantly, Christensen manages to show us another side of the characters - Weir and Sheppard in particular - and the pressures and fears they live with, without making them out of character.
The overall storyline is gripping and if I did manage to work out a couple of the twists in the tale before they were revealed, I feel that was probably the authors intent... and indeed added to the sense of frustration, and of the implacable, hopeless descent into war and chaos, as I railed helplessly at the characters on the page to work it out too! :) I found the book enjoyable and absorbing - so much so that I read it in one day! The plot was detailed and complex and tension-filled, but the joy of the book, for me, was the pitch-perfect depiction of the characters I enjoy from the TV show... and getting a glimpse inside those characters thoughts, at the fears and the doubts that we rarely get to see portrayed on the show.
Definitely a book I will want to re-read... probably several times! :)