» Stargate SG-1: City of the Gods: SG1-4 (Stargate Sg-1)

Stargate SG-1: City of the Gods: SG1-4 (Stargate Sg-1) Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: Good read if you can handle the gore
Comment: This book takes us to a moon called Xalotcan, an Aztec society like the ancient roots of the civilizations on Tollan and Orban, using the crystal skulls that Daniel Jackson's father, Nick, discovered. The skulls are actually part of a transportation network in the smae vein as the stargate network. The moon is self-destructing, and SG1 is determined to relocate the local population, but first they have to convince the natives to trust them. To do this, SG1 actually impersonates Aztec gods, which is a method I don't recall them using on any other mission...they are usually very clear about explaining that they are not gods, just humans like the locals. There is a lot of detailed description about the Aztec culture, which harkened me back to a vacation in Mexico where we toured many sacrificial temples. The story line is very cohesive, the dialog is practically perfect. The author makes references to the TV show, but also refers to the storyline of "Sacrifice Moon" (book 2 of this series) so if you haven't read that you may be lost for a few paragraphs. So if you can get past the gore this is a fun read.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: good story
Comment: Any fan who wants a good story from the classic team you need to get this book.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Good storyline But....
Comment: I love SG1 and I have read almost all of the books. This one has a really good storyline, however, alot of things just kept getting dropped. For instance, I enjoyed the fact that Daniel's granfather returned but whatever happened to him. Then whenever there was an accident it was automatically resolved. It isn't a horrible book(like another series is by another author) it just has some flaws. I do reccomend getting it if you are a SG1 fan.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Flawed but has potential...
Comment: This book has many good things about it, such as an interesting story, historical context, plenty of plot, and several references to previous novels and episodes of the show. A few things seemed a bit far-fetched, such as Daniel's rival archeologist friend going off the deep end by turning cannibal and pretending to be an Aztec god. But most of the story was believable, and the main characterizations were excellent.

The one thing that I found completely unacceptable is the fact that the author never follows through with her cliffhangers. The point of a cliffhanger is to end a scene with a dramatic situation in order to hook the reader so they continue reading. But if you don't follow through and deal with the problem presented in the cliffhanger, it cheats the reader out of that resolution.

Several times the author ends a chapter with a series of climactic events; for example, while Daniel is visiting an ancient temple in Mexico it collapses, leaving him trapped inside and knocked unconscious by falling rocks. As a reader, I was eager to know what happened: how he survived, how he escaped, all of that. However, the author altogether skips the resolution of Daniel's dilemma--the next day, Daniel is suddenly back home, safe and sound! He mentions the cave-in as though it were unimportant, reminding us how he got knocked out, and gee, wasn't it lucky that Teal'c happened to be right behind him in the temple and was able to drag him out of the building before it collapsed on them both....

In "City of the Gods", the author constantly leaves cliffhangers without being properly resolved. She diminishes the import of every climactic scene, because she repeatedly skips the resolution and, instead, later gives a brief summary of what happened. Why should I bother getting worried about the characters when something bad happens if I already know that the author isn't going to show what happens? I don't want to hear second-hand that someone rescued the hero or that he managed to escape--I want to read what happens for myself.

As far as I am concerned, this is a pretty serious writing flaw: one that marks the author as an amateur. But, as I said, she has other good qualities as a writer and lots of potential. So if you're not a picky reader, go ahead and give this book a try! Hopefully, as Ms Whitelaw writes more she'll learn to follow through with her cliffhangers; when that happens I will be pleased to buy more of her books.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Amateur Stuff
Comment: Terrible going...as slow as wading through molasses. To make matters worse, Daniel Jackson's Grandfather, Nick Ballard, vanishes partway through the novel with no explanation, and is never seen or spoken of again. I wish they had more professional writers handling this series.

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