SpaceGypsies

The 18th book in Fandemonium’s arsenal of Stargate SG-1 novels is out. Written by Sabine C. Bauer, Transitions falls shockingly short.

Sabine Bauer is not a newbie to the Stargate franchise. Her first novel, Trail by Fire, was the first Stargate book Fandemonium ever published, and I decided right then and there that I really liked her work. Later she wrote Survival of the Fittest, another fantastic SG-1 story, and then she took on Atlantis with Mirror Mirror. Trial by Fire was very accurate as far as the franchise canon goes. It is set in season seven and does very well at playing into Daniel’s return from Ascension and Jack’s previous encounter with our friend Baal. After having endured the work of American authors who didn’t know their Jaffa from their Tok’ra, I adored Bauer’s well researched and original story, and my favorite original character of all time. It is truly worthy of it’s own review, which I promise I will get to.

Mirror Mirror was a little different from Trial by Fire as far as plot style. It is in some ways psychological test of the characters. The characters encounter a device that fractures time, spitting each character off though all the potenial forks in the road that they could have taken. For instance, we see what could have happened to Elizabeth Weir if, after waking to rotate the ZPMs, the statis chamber wouldn’t work again and she is left alone in a sleeping city as seen in ‘Before I Sleep’. While it is a season two story and I am not as well trained in Atlantis canon as some fans I know, I didn’t find any obvious errors and I really enjoyed the book.

Survival of the Fittest is definitely the meatiest of Bauer’s first three books. I really enjoyed the depth of the story, and it is still among my favorite books of the novel series. However, it has a canyon-sized plot hole. According to events that the characters mention, the main antagonist, the ever annoying Colonel Simons, should have been in jail along side his pet Goa’uld. Try as I might, I couldn’t find a way for Bauer to have sidestepped this gaping hole and still keep all of her puzzle pieces. It was a real shame but I forgave her and I highly recommend the book.

Transitions, however . . . . I think that Bauer bit off much more than she could chew. Transitions is an SG-1/Atlantis crossover novel, and it is the first of its kind. Sonny Whitelaw and Elizabeth Christensen wrote Blood Ties, which is basically an Atlantis novel that includes Daniel Jackson. (I highly recommend it!) Transitions however is a true two full cast crossover. This made reading fun but not in a good way. Every time something huge happened on Earth with SG-1, the next chapter would send you to Atlantis until another cliffhanger chapter sent you back. In most stories this works really well, but in Transitions, the related events taking place between Earth and Atlantis took much too long to come together despite the prologue that attempted to provide the trigger event for the whole book.

I was so excited about this book when I first started hearing about it because it is the first book to bring back Cassandra Fraiser, the adopted daughter of the late lamented Dr. Janet Fraiser. Fans only saw Cassie three times during the course of the series, but it is a widely held belief that she is an integral part of SG-1′s life outside of Cheyanne Mountain. I became a lot more skeptical when I realized that the book would also be a crossover. I mean, that’s a lot to cram into 341 pages. It is a truly daunting task, which is no doubt why no one has tried it before! Plus, I really feel that Cassie should have been on the cover of this book!

Sometimes the devil is in the details, but for Transitions the devil is in the timing. The story is set right after SG-1′s season 8 concluded. The Goa’uld are decimated and declawed, the Replicators have been destroyed, Brigadier General Jack O’Neill has been offered another promotion and a position in Washington, Daniel Jackson is packing to go to Atlantis, Teal’c is on Dakara helping to establish the new Jaffa nation, and Sam Carter is trying to figure out what she is going to do next without her team. This is a perfectly fertile place for this novel, and it does a really good job of filling in that gap of time before season nine when the show returned and for fans, it was a nightmare without explanation. Not only does it show how we got there, but it also goes a long way to explain why Sam chose to lead R&D because Cassie was going through a “tough time.” Unfortunately filling in that gap is the only thing this story does well. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s official! NBC has picked up Michael Shanks’ new series, Saving Hope! According to Gateworld.net, NBC has ordered thirteen episodes. This sadly has become a standard for new series rather than a twenty episode season, and it may indicate that NBC has its qualms about the potential of the show. I am equally skeptical that NBC is going to give Saving Hope a fair chance to prove itself. They don’t exactly have an exemplary track record with fans, thanks to the SyFy Channel.

In Saving Hope, Shanks’ character of Dr. Charlie Harris become a patient in his own hospital. While his body is stuck in a coma, Harris’s spirit wanders the halls where his fiancée and fellow surgeon, Alex Reid (Erica Durance), also works. If you haven’t seen the trailer yet you should really click play below!

Saving Hope will premiere this Summer on NBC, and at the same time it will also air on CTV in Canada. The exact date has not been released, but we can expect NBC to start running promotional ads soon.

Want to read more about why you should tune in to Saving Hope this Summer? Check out my first reaction to the series in my review here!

While I am disappointed that Terra Nova hasn’t returned for Monday nights, Alcatraz is a pleasant surprise. In fact my 28 year old son sat here with me watching the entire premier, and he continues to watch it with me along with Castle.  You may say that doesn’t mean anything, but if you knew my son you’d realize it is!  He’s very critical when it comes to science fiction, so for him to take an hour out of his homework schedule it’s got to be good.

The show’s theme centers around the disappearance of the entire population of the prison’s inhabitants on the day they were to be transferred to other facilities, due to the closing of the prison.  The incident was covered up by the government with a fake paperwork trail showing the prisoners transferred, as well as death certificates for many of them.  Now these men are reappearing in the present day committing the same gruesome crimes they were incarcerated for,  have not aged a day since 1963, with no idea where they have been the past 60 years.

As for the actors, you almost can’t go wrong with Sam Neil in the starring role as Emerson Hauser,  the man who was suppose to oversee the transfer of the prisoners, now tracking them down and returning them to a secret facility.   Co-starring with Neil are  Jorge Garcia (formerly from Lost) as Dr. Diego Soto a college professor, writer and historian turned comic book store owner, who is an expert on the history of Alcatraz and it’s inhabitants.  Sarah Jones (Son’s of Anarchy, Lone Star) as Detective Rebecca Madsen, a San Francisco detective who’s partner was murdered by one of the missing prisoners, recruited by Hauser to join the team.  Incidentally Jones’ uncle is a former Alcatraz guard who now owns a bar in San Francisco.  And  Parminder Nagra (ER, Bend It Like Beckham) as Lucy Banerjee a Psychologist who had been working in the prison before it closed.  Unfortunately Lucy was shot in the first episode, and remains in a coma.  It will be interesting to see what Abrahms has planned for that character since she has not aged as day herself.

Alcatraz is brought to us by Producer J.J. Abrahms (Lost and Alias) stays true to form with twists, turns, and plenty of action, packed with psychological intrigue.   While science fiction premise of time and space displacement are not new,  Alcatraz is different for television.  The question is whether it can garner the same audience as Fringe is reserved for future episodes, but for now the writing is excellent.

If you have missed an episode you can catch up with full episodes, as well as clips, actor bios, full recaps and downloads at fox.com/alcatraz.

Happy Viewing

Ceramicat

The third book in the Stargate Atlantis Legacy series has arrived from Fandemonium! Authored by Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold, the book series is a continuation of the Stargate spin-off that ended before its time. It picks up right where the series left off with the first novel, Homecoming, and begins a whole new saga that is truly worthy of the franchise. Homecoming was followed by The Lost, and now Allegiance is the latest in the planned series of six books.

WARNING: This review assumes that you have read both Homecoming and The Lost! If you have not checked out this series yet, – where the heck have you been!? – go back and check out my review of Homecoming to learn why you really should!

The longer a series goes on, the more complicated things can get. This is maybe more true of a book series that is published one book at a time over a protracted period than it is for a TV series. There is a reason why I spent the weeks leading up to the newest Harry Potter book release re-reading all the other books to refresh my memory. You never knew when some seemingly trivial detail that you easily forgot about was going to come back and bite everyone in the butt. When I ordered my copy of Allegiance I was a bit concerned that I would need to re-read the previous books to really keep pace with the story, but when I got my copy I found a pleasant surprise. A prologue was included, perfect for refreshing my memory of the events of the series. I could kiss the authors for that, and I hope they keep including them because there are three more books to go!

The book starts out with everyone sitting around the conference table, trying to get their heads wrapped around what just happened. They finally know what the readers have known for quite some time: Rodney McKay has been changed into a Wraith, and the process whipped his memory clean. He believes he has always been a Wraith, so when his friends came to his rescue he fought them and stunned John Sheppard before the team was beamed to safety, leaving Rodney the Wraith behind. Read the rest of this entry »

Casey, Chuck & Sarah

After 5 years as one of the best shows on television, “Chuck” said goodbye with style, on January 27, 2012. Chuck will be missed, but not forgotten. I was introduced to Chuck by my husband, and was quickly hooked just as most of the geek world was. What’s not to like? It’s the story of a geek working as a techie at the local Buy More when, by accident, he is exposed to the Intersect, a database containing the identities of operatives from the worlds spy networks. It also gives the recipient superhuman abilities.

So what happens when a typical geek accidentally has this information downloaded to his brain? A whole lot of fun, comedy, awkwardness, and of course he is recruited to become a spy!  That is only after the NSA & CIA place him under protective custody. Chuck went from the awkward guy in love with the beautiful spy to a somewhat confident, skilled operative and the geek who got the girl! A true class act of a show, with fantastic writers and excellent actors. It’s only been a week, and already I miss Chuck, just as other fans.

Chuck & Sarah's Wedding

I’m not going to recap the episode because you can watch it on NBC.com, and get a full recap there that is more detailed.  However, Morgan moves in with Alex; Ellie & Awesome move to Chicago, and Sarah has lost her memory after using the intersect to help Chuck.  And finally we see Jeff & Lester helping the gang rather than causing trouble for them.   The last few episodes including the two hour finale take us in a 180 degree turn, giving us a look into Sarah’s life.  Up until now the focus was on Chuck & Ellie’s past, with a few episodes focusing on Casey.  Sarah has always been an enigma throughout the past five seasons, I was glad to see the final focus being on her life.

Although I wish that Sarah had been able to get the intersect glasses that would have given her her memories back. But that is not how it happened, and Sarah still does not remember her life with Chuck. Now Chuck must find her, and it is Morgan who tells him “Follow you heart.”

Chuck finds Sarah sitting on the beach.  He sits down next to her, then explains his feelings.  Sarah wants to find the memories she’s lost and to return to the life she had with Chuck, but first she must find those memories. She looks at Chuck and asks him to tell her everything about how they met to the present.  She leans her head on his shoulder as Chuck begins the story of their life, the scene fades as he begins recalling those memories, and this is how the series concludes.

The conclusion is short and sweet, so that’s how I am keeping this review.  Please go to nbc.com/chuck for the full video, recaps and Mosaic photos you can download as wallpaper, because you will be glad you did!

Happy Chuck Watching,

Ceramicat