![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I'm bored, so have some of my thoughts on Roswell, A Matter of Honor, and The Cost of Honor. I put a good amount of space between each cut, so that should help segregate spoilers. (Please be aware that there are minor spoilers for all seasons, plus the movies, and all bets are off in the comments.) Please feel free to disagree with me, point out the flaws in my argument, or tell me I'm dead wrong.
Roswell
Okay, see, I had my issues with the time travel in Continuum, but the time travel in Roswell actually works for me. It's a closed loop--Sam travels back because she's already traveled back, and the team's actions follow logically from each previous action. Everything ends up a convoluted mess, but it's a convoluted mess you can understand and wrap all together with a nice little bow.
I have decided that the Asgard didn't really bite it in 'Unending.' I have always hated the idea that they would off themselves, and as much as I didn't hate the rest of the episode (sue me), I just can't stomach the initial premise. Not to mention, no one was NEARLY sad enough for it not to be some sort of trick. I also thought that there was some sort of weird foreshadowing in the book, when someone (I think it was Bill Lee) made a comment that he was glad the Asgard had finally stopped babysitting Sam when she used their technology.
How awesome was the conversation between Jack and General Sam? So awesome, and here's one reason why: VALA interpreted the whole thing for the reader. Why is this awesome? Because she doesn't know all the subtext to this relationship, and the little hints we get from Jack's PoV only highlight the confusion inherent in Vala's understanding. It's all a mess of slightly telepathic conversation, body tone, hints, looks--and it's all carefully designed by Sam to get Jack to do what she wants him to do, trusting her, and, that brings us to awesome thing number two about this: Sam was SO ordering Jack around. Yes. And she was totally playing against his desire to know only what's necessary to getting the job done--if he'd trusted her less, or needed to understand more, there's no way this would have worked.
I just about fell out of my seat when I realized who Howard was. Lovecraft! Bwa ha ha!. I had to explain the joke to my brother and father, though, which, seeing as they're big scifi geeks, made me feel kinda nerdier, actually. *g*
Despite how much I enjoyed it, I had a few nitpicks. Cam and Vala's storyline, while plausible in that Stargate way, had a few holes. Of course, if they had shown all of their adventures, the book would have been at LEAST twice as long. I also had issues with some of the things that were left purposefully vague--there was some Sam/Jack subtext that never really materialized *into* subtext (and not in a fun way), and there were a few things that I felt were skimmed over so they could be set up into the plot later on. I also never really felt, after the first two-thirds of the book, that any of the team were in real danger. The first part was just one thing after another, and then it almost became a little too easy, right at the end.
I LOVED the evilness and cunning of the Goa'uld, even though they didn't actually appear much at all.
All in all, a fun read.
A Matter of Honor and The Cost of Honor
Can I just say, first of all, that I love the idea of going back for Boyd and him team? A really, really good hook into a specific circumstance and characters. I loved seeing how it was just sort of nagging at Jack, and then when the solution came up, he was the first to understand what it could mean. That was really, really cool--how Jack was actually a step ahead of Sam in this particular instance.
I really liked the world development in these books, and I can totally see Kinsey going after the mind-reading technology. I like how it's presented really innocuously at first--just a simple archway--and then you realize there's this whole undercity thing going on, and the culture is basically creating monsters to keep everyone in line. I also love that even though you have the Oligarchy-type government at the top, it's clear that this is a relatively new development. That way, it's not so much about the ritual yet, and more about the power plays and government control.
I really wasn't sure that Jack would hide the plans like he did, although I can see how it worked better for the plot. I think, on the show, that Kinsey wouldn't have had quite as much influence, and that they would have presented the plans to Hammond. I think. I can definitely see where the idea of "Stealing technology isn't what we do," came from, but I don't think someone giving you the plans is quite the same thing.
All the Sam/Jack subtext in here? OH MAN. There was a LOT. It was all really subtle, and subject to interpretation--for instance, it could definitely be read (for the most part, anyway) as gen friendship. But it was pretty clear that they weren't ignoring the ship as much as concealing it.
Oh, and SAM. And Jack! Back in Ba'al's palace, and wasn't that just shudder-worthy? Because Jack's barely holding onto his edge, and then Sam really loses hers for a while. It's really interesting, too, what Sam ends up doing with the telepathy thing with the Outcast--you can see that she's handling it differently based on what she's just gone through. Definitely wallowing in it just a little more than is healthy.
Daniel and Teal'c were pretty solid in this, but it was really Jack's show. Daniel's observations of all of them, with the implication that he remembered what Ba'al did to Jack--those were fascinating. And the interaction between the Ancient culture and the rest of them was interesting, although I thought it could have been a little more detailed.
Okay, so...questions? Discussions? Thoughts about how much I can possibly consider canon?
Roswell
Okay, see, I had my issues with the time travel in Continuum, but the time travel in Roswell actually works for me. It's a closed loop--Sam travels back because she's already traveled back, and the team's actions follow logically from each previous action. Everything ends up a convoluted mess, but it's a convoluted mess you can understand and wrap all together with a nice little bow.
I have decided that the Asgard didn't really bite it in 'Unending.' I have always hated the idea that they would off themselves, and as much as I didn't hate the rest of the episode (sue me), I just can't stomach the initial premise. Not to mention, no one was NEARLY sad enough for it not to be some sort of trick. I also thought that there was some sort of weird foreshadowing in the book, when someone (I think it was Bill Lee) made a comment that he was glad the Asgard had finally stopped babysitting Sam when she used their technology.
How awesome was the conversation between Jack and General Sam? So awesome, and here's one reason why: VALA interpreted the whole thing for the reader. Why is this awesome? Because she doesn't know all the subtext to this relationship, and the little hints we get from Jack's PoV only highlight the confusion inherent in Vala's understanding. It's all a mess of slightly telepathic conversation, body tone, hints, looks--and it's all carefully designed by Sam to get Jack to do what she wants him to do, trusting her, and, that brings us to awesome thing number two about this: Sam was SO ordering Jack around. Yes. And she was totally playing against his desire to know only what's necessary to getting the job done--if he'd trusted her less, or needed to understand more, there's no way this would have worked.
I just about fell out of my seat when I realized who Howard was. Lovecraft! Bwa ha ha!. I had to explain the joke to my brother and father, though, which, seeing as they're big scifi geeks, made me feel kinda nerdier, actually. *g*
Despite how much I enjoyed it, I had a few nitpicks. Cam and Vala's storyline, while plausible in that Stargate way, had a few holes. Of course, if they had shown all of their adventures, the book would have been at LEAST twice as long. I also had issues with some of the things that were left purposefully vague--there was some Sam/Jack subtext that never really materialized *into* subtext (and not in a fun way), and there were a few things that I felt were skimmed over so they could be set up into the plot later on. I also never really felt, after the first two-thirds of the book, that any of the team were in real danger. The first part was just one thing after another, and then it almost became a little too easy, right at the end.
I LOVED the evilness and cunning of the Goa'uld, even though they didn't actually appear much at all.
All in all, a fun read.
A Matter of Honor and The Cost of Honor
Can I just say, first of all, that I love the idea of going back for Boyd and him team? A really, really good hook into a specific circumstance and characters. I loved seeing how it was just sort of nagging at Jack, and then when the solution came up, he was the first to understand what it could mean. That was really, really cool--how Jack was actually a step ahead of Sam in this particular instance.
I really liked the world development in these books, and I can totally see Kinsey going after the mind-reading technology. I like how it's presented really innocuously at first--just a simple archway--and then you realize there's this whole undercity thing going on, and the culture is basically creating monsters to keep everyone in line. I also love that even though you have the Oligarchy-type government at the top, it's clear that this is a relatively new development. That way, it's not so much about the ritual yet, and more about the power plays and government control.
I really wasn't sure that Jack would hide the plans like he did, although I can see how it worked better for the plot. I think, on the show, that Kinsey wouldn't have had quite as much influence, and that they would have presented the plans to Hammond. I think. I can definitely see where the idea of "Stealing technology isn't what we do," came from, but I don't think someone giving you the plans is quite the same thing.
All the Sam/Jack subtext in here? OH MAN. There was a LOT. It was all really subtle, and subject to interpretation--for instance, it could definitely be read (for the most part, anyway) as gen friendship. But it was pretty clear that they weren't ignoring the ship as much as concealing it.
Oh, and SAM. And Jack! Back in Ba'al's palace, and wasn't that just shudder-worthy? Because Jack's barely holding onto his edge, and then Sam really loses hers for a while. It's really interesting, too, what Sam ends up doing with the telepathy thing with the Outcast--you can see that she's handling it differently based on what she's just gone through. Definitely wallowing in it just a little more than is healthy.
Daniel and Teal'c were pretty solid in this, but it was really Jack's show. Daniel's observations of all of them, with the implication that he remembered what Ba'al did to Jack--those were fascinating. And the interaction between the Ancient culture and the rest of them was interesting, although I thought it could have been a little more detailed.
Okay, so...questions? Discussions? Thoughts about how much I can possibly consider canon?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-09-04 04:55 pm (UTC)From:Anyway, I have to get back to this overwhelming pile of busiwork I've been given to prevent me from ever writing my gorram fic.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-04 05:17 pm (UTC)From:Good luck on the housework!
no subject
Date: 2008-09-04 05:21 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2008-09-04 05:23 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2008-09-04 05:43 pm (UTC)From:I knew who the author was before I read them, so I remember being really curious as to how she'd handle Sam and Jack's relationship. And I think she was remarkably restrained considering how romantic her fanfic is. Heh.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-04 07:31 pm (UTC)From:I don't need complicated or brilliant in Stargate--just teamy, fun, and interesting. Engrossing is a nice plus.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-04 06:29 pm (UTC)From:Insert Dark!fic Cam/Qetesh/Vala angsty story line complete with very very dark!porn HERE
The rest of the story was great, too. All in all, right up there with Blood Ties, an SGA/SG-1 story involving John and Daniel (humminna humminna, bay-bay)
no subject
Date: 2008-09-04 07:28 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2008-09-04 09:39 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2008-09-05 01:48 pm (UTC)From:Yes, but sadly I cannot brain today.
I remember I loved the conversation with General Sam and Jack, though. I liked the image it evoked of how their relationship (romantic or other) had evolved. She's so the boss of him. :)
no subject
Date: 2008-09-05 03:32 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2008-09-06 01:53 pm (UTC)From:xx
no subject
Date: 2008-09-06 05:21 pm (UTC)From: