Stargate SG-1: City of the Gods (Mass Market Paperback)

Adventure genre readers should probably avoid this book, simply because the flowery, romance-style prose will drive them insane.

Romance genre readers will at least be accustomed to the style, but unlike a true romance novel, there's no happily-ever-after, romantic payoff at the end. These readers will probably be disappointed with this book.

I also wouldn't recommend this novel to the average fan of Stargate SG-1, as it doesn't really read like an episode of the show.

Honestly, I think the reader would have to be a fan of both trashy romance novels and the show to appreciate this book. There's nothing wrong with enjoying trashy, fluffy fiction, but it can be quite jarring if you're not expecting it. Like in this book.

If you're a U.S. fan of the show, you might want to give this one a pass unless you fit into the above category of reader. The shipping costs are just too huge to take such an unfortunate gamble.

As for the book itelf, it's a convulted mess of a story. The narrative is difficult to follow because of the excessive use of flashbacks, and the tough aztec names, which make it hard to keep the cast of characters straight. Also, some of the historical 'facts' aren't quite factual.

This a very Sam-centric story, which came as an unpleasant surprise to me. While it's true that all four main characters are present and accounted for, not all of them have interesting stories. As a team fan, I didn't find this story satisfying because so much of it was focused on Sam. As a Daniel fan, I was miffed because "The Crystal Skull", the episode this is a follow up to, was about Daniel and his grandfather, and this barely touches on them. There's also quite a bit of Sam and Jack goopy romance, and that left a bad taste in my mouth.

All in all, I can't recommend this book. Reading it was not an enjoyable experience for me.

If you're a fan of the show, then you'll probably be happy enough with the story line. The general plot has all the usual things that make an episode great; tension, drama, splitting up and re-uniting the team, tenuous links to the Goa'uld, some team members thinking other team members have died... It's all there. The pace of the story is good, and besides some complicated Aztec names it is fairly easy to follow.

So why only three stars?

Well, the book lets itself down on certain areas. As a geologist myself there are a number of occasions where people are getting much closer to an erupting volcano than is actually possible without being turned into BBQ-SG1. The imagery in the book is certainly of a more disturbing nature than most of the television episodes; with themes including the sacrifice of children, rivers of blood from hundreds of people queuing up to have their throats cut and rooms full of hoardes of skeletons and skulls it is possibly not one for the kids. Also, references to an earlier book in the Fandemonium series can be very confusing if you're reading the books out of order like I was.

I would disagree with those that find certain of the character interactions distracting and galling; maybe once or twice certain thoughts are above and beyond accepted canon, but it's very easy to miss them if you're reading quickly and getting into the story.

Overall, this is much better than your average fanfiction, and whilst it's possibly not yet up to the standard of classic novelists it is definitely worth spending a fiver or so on it.