Product Description

When a Crystal Skull is discovered beneath the Pyramid of the Sun in Mexico, it ignites a cataclysmic chain of events that maroons SG-1 on the dying world of Xalotcan, a brutal society, steeped in death and sacrifice, where the bloody gods of the Aztecs demand tribute from a fearful and superstitious population.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #108059 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 240 pages

Gateworld.net
All four members of the team are present and accounted for... a satisfying way to spend a couple of hours.

About the Author
With a degree in geomorphology and anthropology, Sonny Whitelaw decided that a career in academia wouldn't be as much fun as running a dive charter yacht and adventure tourism business in the South Pacific. Photojournalism came as a natural extension to her travels, and Sonny's work has been featured in numerous international publications, including National Geographic. Sonny is also the author of The Rhesus Factor, a contemporary eco-thriller, and Ark Ship, a sci-fi drama. She currently resides in Brisbane with her two children.

Excerpted from Stargate Sg1 City of the Gods (STARGATE SG1) by . Copyright © 2005. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
"Jack! What are you doing, why aren’t you…" Daniel stopped in his tracks and stared at him. His low voice was filled with apprehension. "Why is it so hot up here?"

Dabruzzi ran past them without pausing. Jack coughed, then coughed again, clinging to the pain searing his throat, an anchor against a different pain, one he could never articulate.

Something wriggled inside his cape. He glanced down at the miniature dog, Spiffy. They hadn’t been able to find the tunnel to the surface until it had jumped out of the cape and scampered up behind a rock fall. The animal had saved them, but it might have only delayed the inevitable. Jack reached in, unconsciously reassuring it with a gentle pat, feeling its warm life against his hand. "Our friendly neighborhood volcano decided to erupt all over the Stargate." He swallowed the grit in his mouth and stood.

Daniel’s eyes opened wide in disbelief. "What about Sam and the other kids?"

"They’re dead." Jack’s voice was as cracked and brittle as the cinders that covered the ground. "They’re all dead."

Customer Reviews

Romance-style prose jarring in an adventure novel
Okay, this book is odd. While ostensibly a media tie-in novel for an sci-fi/adventure-fantasy TV series, the writing style is evocative of third-rate romance novels. In places the prose is so purple it's verging on ultraviolet. It's been a long time since I've seen so many florid, adjective-laden passages in one book. This style incongruity tends to drown out the enjoyment that could have been obtained from the adventure plot. Pity.

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.

Confused Mess of a Story
First off, beware the spoilers in one of the other reviews. Naughty, naughty, I thought that was against the rules.

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.

Some flaws, but entertaining none-the-less
As a way to spend a couple of hours, 'City of the Gods' scores fairly highly. As an amazing piece of literature... maybe not, but what do you expect really?

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.