Category: Blog

Remember that promise about this week being the start of ‘Allegiance”?

Yeah, I’m about to break it.

Sorry.

Turns out this last week was not, for whatever reason, conducive to re-reading and typing up my review.

However!

This just so happens to be the week that started with the fabulous Stargate peeps playing the Stargate RPG, so….

We’re going to talk about that a very little because it’s quite late and I have a full day tomorrow that I need sleep for.

And the video is SO worth watching and enjoying on its own that unless I was willing to make ya’ll suffer through a tome of a review, I’ll sing peeps praises and let you watch for yourselves.

The video (found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXIOw4r_cCI ) lasted just shy of 3 hours so I would of course suggest you bring a drink and snack before sitting down to watch it!

It is fantastically fun and the fact that it was some of the Stargate peeps’ first time playing this type of game was fabulous because it gave us a chance to learn alongside them.

This preview of the game is just wonderful. I can’t express how excited I am to play and how cool it was to be able to contribute to the Kickstarter for it.

(if you missed last weeks post here’s the link for the Kickstarter. There should be about 9 days left still.  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wyvrengaming/stargate-roleplaying-game?ref=project_link)

Also, fair warning, you’ll be laughing a LOT!!

Again, the fact that some of our peeps don’t know what’s going on makes it hilarious and so relatable because that was ME when I first joined my sister to play Pathfinder!!

The Wyvern Gaming people were awesome and our host David was just as awesome for setting this up for everyone!

I suggest watching the video to get an idea of how the game is played (since it’s a Living game) and then watching some of the interviews that David and Dial the Gate have done. There’s quite a list for the interviews along with a great amount of other Stargate content that you’ll love if you’ve ever enjoyed the series.

The banter between the actors was funny and I even caught (and understood) some of the references! (‘the cake is a lie’)

Having not watched Stargate Universe yet, I don’t know how many of the actors worked with each other, but they certainly seemed to have a good report here. So yeah, the back-and-forth was what kept me in stitches.

I really wish I had been able to watch live, alas I worked yesterday and could not.

Not actually a bad thing because I can rewind if I ever miss something and pause if I need time to digest what’s happening.

I’m signing off now because even rereading what I’ve gotten so far doesn’t sound coherent, but I can’t focus to figure out how to fix it.

A thousand apologies and I’ll most likely make a better version of this post and release it later this week if I don’t just do my usual and make it next week’s post.

We shall get back to our regularly scheduled book reviews soon…quite, soon.

Laters!

And don’t forget to vote!

I apologize ahead of time for all the exclamation points in this post, but my excitement can’t be expressed any other way.

Another break from the usual peeps because I just found out some fantastic news!

I saw on another post a couple months ago about a Stargate RPG in the works and was super excited (follow this link if you want to see the post and/or love RPG’s https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/46494008/posts/2707077989).

I’ve only played Pathfinder and that only about three sessions before things happened and, well, we all know how the year has gone.

I really enjoyed Pathfinder though and have every intention of playing again if only so I can use the purple glow-in-the-dark dice my sister bought me!

Both of my siblings enjoy RPG’s, of both tabletop and online variety, so I know I have some peeps to play with if a community isn’t in my area. My mama isn’t so much into RPG’s on the playing side, but she said she’d think about it (trying to get her to watch through the series’ with me after we finish Downton Abbey!).

Why do I bring this news of an RPG up?

The Kickstarter went up on the 6^th and goes until the 29^th, so if you love Stargate or RPG’s go support them!

I’ll let you know now that they were fully funded within 3.5 hours of going live, but there are always Stretch Goals!

Here’s the link for the Kickstarter page for easy finding-

I haven’t had a chance to sit down and peruse the site yet, (again here’s the link https://stargatetherpg.com), but I intend to do that later this week after work one day.

Additionally!

The YouTube channel ‘Dial the Gate’ has a wonderfully fabulous playtest on October 18^th at 2pm pacific time!

That’s not the best part though ya’ll.

The best part is who’s slated to play.

(feel free to drum roll on your desk for this news!)

Alexis Cruz who we know from the earliest episodes of Stargate SG-1 played the fantastic Skaara. He’ll also be doing an interview!

Simone Bailly, who played the Jaffa Ka’lel in six seperate episodes and was fabulous!, also agreed to do interviews!

Rainbow Sun Francks is going to be playing!!! Lt. Ford we have missed you so much, but you’ll be doing interviews too later on so double yay!

Julie McNiven who played Ginn on Stargate Universe will be there along with David Blue who played Eli Wallace. I’m putting them together here because I’ve yet to watch Universe so I don’t know what I think about it, but I know there are a lot of fans of Universe who will be excited about this, and Julie has also agreed to doing interviews with Dial the Gate later on so subscribe to the channel so you don’t miss out.

And last, but so not least, David Hewlett!

Yay Rodney!!!

Apparently, David Hewlett has played already and was fantastic!

Don’t forget it’s the YouTube channel ‘Dial the Gate’ and the playtest will be on October 18^th at 2pm pacific time!

Check out their website https://www.gateworld.net/dial-the-gate/ for all things Stargate!

Since I haven’t gone through the site itself I can’t comment on more than this, so I’ll let ya’ll go with a promise that next weeks post will be the start of Legacy book 3, Allegiance (and it is SO GOOD!!).

Later peeps!

Stargate Atlantis Legacy: The Lost

SGA #17

ISBN: 9781905586547

…I can explain.

I know I said I’d try not to make so many posts about one book again but the Legacy series is different from the Atlantis series.

They deserve lots of attention.

Thus, we have the third post concerning book two of the Legacy series.

I want to start with Carson and a conversation he had with Teyla.

Closer to the end of the book we have Teyla handing Torren over to Kanaan for a visit on New Athos. She isn’t feeling so good about it because even though she knows neither New Athos or Atlantis are completely safe, it doesn’t help her peace of mind when the Wraith took Rodney so recently from New Athos.

Both Carson and Teyla end up in the mess hall and get to talking about Torren and more, interesting, things.

Teyla is concerned about her Wraith DNA and if it can make her go insane and kill people (the Genii call her kind Bloodtainted and blame a wide range of crimes on it even though they don’t have the technology to make that claim factual). Carson assures her that can’t happen and the conversation then takes an interesting turn.

To this point the theory about the Wraith has been that they evolved from the Iratus bug attacking but not killing a human. Mutations occurred and thousands of years later you got the Wraith.

(if you’ll remember, I never held that opinion for several reasons)

Here though, we have Carson very carefully bringing up another, far more, plausible explanation for the Wraith.

Teyla being the only other person he can truly trust not to say anything about it if only because of her history with the Wraith and her DNA.

Essentially, Carson now believes that the Wraith were engineered intentionally by the Alteran’s.

Not unlike the other experiments they conducted on the humans of the Pegasus galaxy, such an experiment would have gone so far before being considered a failure and the ‘subjects’ left to die.

But that’s not what typically happens because the Alteran’s are colossal morons and knowing this, Carson and Teyla believe that the Wraith flourished and when the Alteran’s returned, a war started and they were sent packing again.

This is pretty much what I was thinking way back when. That the Alteran’s experimented on another race and created the Wraith.

To say I was excited to see it was actually canon is an understatement.

To say this would completely upend the entire galaxy would also be an understatement.

If proven true, the entire history of the galaxy is a lie and the inhabitants aren’t going to take kindly to the truth.

At all.

On either side.

More interesting things to note from this book take us back to Dr. Robinson and the day-to-day interesting bits I love so much!

Needing milk for her coffee, Dr. Robinson goes into the kitchen to look for a Sgt. Pollard who is, according to the signs, in charge of such things.

She finds him and we get a pretty cool look at how the food works in Atlantis.

Being away from grocery stores means they have to supplement their supplies as best as they can. The milk for the day comes from the Athosian livestock and Sgt. Pollard takes Dr. Robinson around a little and explains about other foods and how the trading works in the galaxy.

She makes a comment about how he’ll have stories to tell when he goes back to Earth and Sgt. Pollard says what most on Atlantis feel.

He hopes he doesn’t go back.

Don’t forget that a lot of people from the original crew have no family, the family situation isn’t what you’d call the best, or simply that they planned for Atlantis to be their last home. One way or another. (I don’t mean suicide, I mean they figured they’d die in an attack or accident or something).

Sgt. Pollard talks about a cousin of Halling’s that he has a thing for. A nice woman with a business she wouldn’t mind getting help with and Dr. Robinson starts to see another side of Atlantis.

She also sees some major issues on the horizon for people who don’t have anything on Earth to go back to but plenty to stay in the Pegasus galaxy for.

She leaves thinking about who she can trust with helping such people and who she can mention it too without them making it a problem.

On the subject of trusting people back on Earth not to screw our peeps over.

Radek is having trouble with his sight. He hasn’t been seen about getting new glasses because he knows his sight is worse than it was when he joined and he’s afraid it’s no longer within acceptable range and that he’ll be sent back to Earth.

Trying to help, Ronon tells Shepard and Shepard asks Carter for a favor.

It all gets back to Dr. Keller who has a talk with Shepard.

She isn’t happy, and rightfully so, with how he went around her and didn’t trust her to keep to look after Radek.

Though both have good points on the topic they reach an accord and Radek is given an okay to continue work with a new prescription requested to correct his sight a little, though Keller doesn’t say exactly what the new prescription is in her report for why she’s asking for them.

Okay, one more funny thing before I actually end the reviews for book two.

When Guide contacts Atlantis to give them the information to rescue Rodney, Shepard was down with Teyla sparring. Only, the session became a little heated and at the least it’s insinuated that they were making out before Shepard was called to the control room.

When he gets within Guide’s sightline, Guide (highly amused) asks how the Young Queen is. (anyone else entertained that so many people know how Teyla and Shepard feel about each other?) Shepard, of course, doesn’t know what he’s referring to and since Guide can’t talk long or risk being discovered, he gives the information and signs off.

As I am doing now.

Later peeps!

Stargate Atlantis Legacy: The Lost

SGA #17

ISBN: 9781905586547

Let’s get into this post shall we?

I present, Quicksilver!

So you know that the Wraith Queen calling herself Death has turned Rodney into a Wraith. It isn’t a spoiler if you haven’t read the book yet, which I’m sure ya’ll have done by now because you can’t put them down!

If you haven’t started the book yet it’s still not a spoiler because the authors don’t really make it hard to figure out.

He’s the first POV in the book after all.

Anyways!

Quicksilver doesn’t remember anything but is told that he was taken by the Lanteans and hurt. Somehow (they say they don’t know) he was able to escape and they were able to find him and rescue him.

He isn’t sure about anything. His brother, Dust, won’t look him in the eye sometimes when telling him things and he can’t even remember how to do basic things like read the Wraith language.

We all know the reasons why, but it doesn’t make it any easier to read.

Poor Rodney/Quicksilver is scared he’ll never remember and be left as less than what he was.

Anyone who’s been with me from the start knows that of everything, the loss of his mind is the second biggest fear he has. Losing his family (both blood and of choice) is first, though it wasn’t always.

So on the one hand we have Quicksilver trying to remember anything that might help his Queen take revenge on the Lantean’s, and on the other hand we have Dr. Weir in his dreams stopping him from seeing the Gate address to Earth.

Yeah, you read that right and yeah she is dead.

But we’ll get to that in another post. For now we shall see how our team is doing.

Not good.

That pretty much sums it all up.

They’ve been going pretty much none stop since the abduction and need downtime. Nine missions in three days isn’t anything to sneeze at and none of them are exactly young and at peak health either.

Mr. Woolsey, after they’ve exhausted the Gate leads, tells them to standdown. He’s going to contact Ladon Radim and Todd/Guide to see if they have any information they’re willing to give or if they can work something out.

Ladon says he’s willing to use his spy network to try and find information if Atlantis helps bring an Alteran warship back to the Genii homeworld. The Genii have been trying to patch it up on the planet it crash-landed on thousands of years ago, but without the ATA gene they can’t get it powered up.

Shepard, without talking to Mr. Woolsey, agrees and they leave for the planet with Ladon Radim’s sister.

Not Shepard’s best move, but he never thinks straight when his people are in danger.

They have a Jumper they were planning on using to get to the ship from the Stargate but there are Wraith Darts when they arrive and though Shepard does his best the Jumper is still put out for the count. Then, cause this is usually how it goes for them, Teyla and Carson are injured pretty badly not long after when they start walking to the warship.

Tension between Teyla and Shepard persists because Teyla had suggested they wait for Radek to join them before going to the planet. Shepard said there was no need and now he’s beating himself up because Radek definitely would have been able to fix the Jumper.

They do get the warship up and running but there is no way it’s going to make the Genii world without stopping at Atlantis first which Dr. Radim interprets as she’s being held hostage until her brother hands over information.

Despite everyone assuring them of the truth and Dr. Radim herself knowing the state of the ship.

Things get tense for a bit.

On the Guide front! (Okay so its actually the Ronon and Dr. Keller front)

Ronon and Keller are sent to talk to Guide about trading information. It doesn’t go too badly…

Okay, Ronon doesn’t shoot anyone but that’s about as good as the mission goes.

Jennifer wants Rodney back and makes certain calls that Ronon REALLY doesn’t agree with.

I liked how Keller dealt with the situation here. Ronon, for all his growth as a character to this point, still hates the Wraith far too much. He was never going to talk to Guide and was sent along to keep Keller safe.

Dr. Keller has worked pretty well with Guide before and the Wraith naturally respond to females better anyways. She isn’t about to leave without getting something out of it.

The two of them talk about that days events (they’re stuck in a tomb hiding at the time) and their relationship. They’re actually both under the impression that the other doesn’t trust them in certain areas. When Rodney had the alien in his head that was killing him, Keller refused to let them go to the site that Ronon’s grandfather had spent one of his last days actually remembering his family.

Keller feels like she has to always have the answer or she won’t have anyone’s respect and that was one of the reasons she said no. No one could give her evidence for how it worked and so she thought it wasn’t worth the risk. (don’t forger the planet belonged to the Wraith at the time and it was far more dangerous than when Ronon was a little boy).

They talk about several other things while entombed and agree to work with each other better, before almost being taken captive by a Wraith worshiper that serves Queen Death.

Dr. Keller saves the day though with an ingenious plan that involves a stun grenade!

(our lovely Guide was busy dealing with other Wraith that had shown up unexpectedly or the worshiper wouldn’t have made a move)

They get back to Atlantis with Guide having agreed to see what he could find.

So now, there are two well connected people looking for information for them and, surprisingly for them but I personally think Ladon was sitting on information because he was ticked off about the warships detour, Guide calls with information that leads directly to Rodney.

With Colonel Carter and the George Hammond at their disposal, they set out.

True to Guide’s word, Rodney is on Queen Death’s Hive, but he has no idea who they are and when they kill Dust in front of his eyes, he shoots back.

Shepard gets the brunt of the attack and goes down with several Wraith stunner blasts pretty much scrambling him for a good bit. Teyla is pinned behind a workstation and Ronon is stuck in the hall fending off more Wraith.

With Shepard out for the count, it’s his call to have Carter bring them back to the Hammond or leave them to find a way out on their own.

He tells her to bring them back. Without Rodney, because he doesn’t know them and won’t come easily.

Things have just taken a turn for the worse. (and oh yes, they are about to get much worse!)

Until next week when we get to book 3, ya’ll stay safe!

Stargate Atlantis Legacy: The Lost

SGA #17

ISBN: 9781905586547

On a different note! (because we haven’t talked about this in a while)

One of the reasons I adore the books is because they give us such a greater look into the universe and characters that couldn’t be explored as the TV series stood. Though I firmly believe that the creators would have given us more in later seasons if that had been a reality.

Now, I’ve gone on about the Wraith and how cool it is to read more about them as people and not just enemies to be hated and fought, and I’ve also talked about secondary characters and how cool the between-the-episodes books went into a little more depth about some of them.

Two of the most notable are Dr. Radek Zelenka and Major Evan Lorne.

At this point, however, we have a new character to look forward to and that’s Dr. Eva Robinson, the new psychologist.

I’m going to start with her cause she’s so new, but also because I like her better than Dr. Heitmeyer.

Having said that, ya’ll need to understand that Dr. Heitmeyer did the best she could and helped Atlantis’ people for many years. I know that and appreciate it, but she didn’t come from the SGC which made her narrowminded on many occasions.

Dr. Robinson, on the other hand, has been with the SGC for a bit and has heard all kinds of things from the teams. Further, she has experience with PTSD in the various forms it takes with the SG Teams and knows that she needs to think outside the training to help them.

No insult to Dr. Heitmeyer is intended, I just like that Dr. Robinson has such an open mind for what can happen and what challenges the people she’s going to be responsible for go through.

She likes Rodney!

With all of his issues that he brought to her, (and he was one of the first people to voluntarily see her) she genuinely liked him and saw that he sometimes just needed help with personal relationship problems or other, simpler, issues. We all know he isn’t the most socially adept person.

She also likes Shepard, if only because he took her up in the Jumper back on Earth and showed her things she never thought would happen for her. Shepard, from what she’s figured out so far, really enjoys teaching people about how to use the ATA gene to make their lives easier and how to help the city as a whole. She is a little concerned about he handles stress, but seeing him with his team mates, Colonel Carter and Dr. Radek makes her not too worried.

Dr. Robinson gets several little moments through the Legacy series to give us more of an idea on how people are thinking or how things work. Because obviously we wouldn’t be too happy with having characters monologue when that’s not their usual thing.

If Rodney were around it would be in complete character for him to go off on the very minuteness of how something worked, but he isn’t here and so explaining things to Dr. Robinson gives the authors a chance to fill readers in without it being awkward dialogue.

On to Major Lorne!

We all know Major Lorne as Shepard’s second in command and painter of fabulous pictures. There isn’t really too much in this book character development wise for him, but he is featured a little bit more than usual.

What I love is that the scenes we get to see of him, Dr. Robinson and Radek are little day-to-day things that Atlantis has to deal with but that the show wouldn’t have time to show.

In ‘The Lost’, Atlantis is now on a planet that’s mostly covered in ice. Since it hasn’t had to deal with that in a long time and they’ve been in several battles, some of the systems aren’t working to keep the city safe from the ice doing more damage.

Lorne and Radek are more often in these scenes together and are trying to figure out what’s wrong and how to fix it.

Lorne takes a Jumper and some newer peeps with him below the city to see what they can find out and sure enough there’s damage from icebergs that’s keeping spikes from descending to break them up before they hit.

Radek can get the system working again but the physical side needs to be reaplced or it won’t be any good.

So back down Lorne and his peeps go where they encounter a cephalopod that lights up.

Why do I mention this?

It becomes relevant later on and since this post is about secondary characters and ‘normal’ days, it went here too.

In addition to the action parts here we get to see Lorne and Radek working together like how Shepard and Rodney work together (though certainly without the arguing and such). As the seconds of respective leaders’ it stands to reason they’d end up working together a lot and I like that the books let us see how well they work together.

Onto Radek now because this post is getting long again.

Radek has, in the first two books of the Legacu series (and throughout honestly) been a good friend for everyone. He’s been an ear when people need to talk, but he’s also given his opinion that’s helped people see things differently if only because of his complete sincerity.

An interesting tidbit I wanted to bring up was that Radek sees Rodney as a hero, but not himself. And though Rodney has certainly saved the day countless times, so has Radek and it’s funny because despite bringing it up all the time, Rodney doesn’t see himself as a hero.

A genius, yes.

A hero, no.

Two completely different things despite him making comparisons between himself and Batman a few times.

Before I end this one I want to bring the baby into things. Torren is adorable and will show up again in a few really cool ways later on, but for now the little dude is just being the best thing ever by continually referring to Shepard as ‘Da’.

There’s one scene where Dr. Kusinagi brings Torren to the infirmary where Teyla is (after they return to Atlantis with the Alteran warship and Dr. Radim) to hand him over to someone else because she’s needed to help with the repairs.

Torren acts like Shepard is his dad and there’s reason for that since he’s been around Shepard far more than Kanaan. However, considering who his parents are I like to think it’s a little more than that. I like to think that Torren, even as a baby, can intuit about people and knows that his mom and Shepard love each other and that’s why he calls Shepard ‘Da’.

It’s good for everyone on Atlantis, to be sure.

Once more we are over 1,000 words so I’ll see ya’ll laters!

Quick interlude before we get to Stargate Atlantis Legacy: The Lost.

Why?

Because the Wraith naming situation deserves its own post that’s why.

Okay, so we know that the Wraith name people based on how they feel in the mind-sense. An all-encompassing idea of who and what that person is and it translates (a little awkwardly) into a name.

We know that Todd is actually called Guide by other Wraith and that it’s a fraction of who he is, but none-the-less a somewhat accurate name to call him by (definitely what he prefers to the name ‘Todd’).

In book #17 we get to hear what the Wraith call certain people from Atlantis and it’s fabulous ya’ll!

First and foremost I have to say that the first name I’m bringing up isn’t a spoiler because we all know that Rodney was abducted in the last book and this one opens up with a particular scene that gives it away completely, so without further ado-

The Wraith call Rodney Quicksilver!

Apparently, it’s what they get from his mind and it’s shown to him by his Wraith brother Dust (and boy is that whole situation messy for poor Rodney), but we’ll get to that in next weeks’ post.

For now, onto more Wraith names!!

Quicksilver = Dr. Meredith Rodney McKay (considered to be one of the best Clevermen)

Steelflower = Teyla Emmagan (considered to be a Young Queen, though powerful and inspiring in her own right)

She Who Is A Strong Place = Dr. Elizabeth Weir (thought to have left our galaxy to rest control from the Pegasus Galaxy Queens)

She Who Carries Many Things = Colonel Samantha Carter (considered to be one of Earth’s mightiest Queens and a warrior Queen)

Trickster = General Jack O’Neill (considered to be She Who Carries Many Things’ Consort)

Guide = Colonel John Shepard

Guide = called Todd by the humans

That’s all I’ve got for now, but I’ll add on if there are more later (I honestly can’t remember right now).

Now, onto my thoughts!

I LOVE the names!! (who doesn’t?)

Rodney’s is explained in the book and it gives more of an idea of how it works so using that I’m going to tell ya’ll my thoughts on the others’ names.

If you’ve seen the show and read the books you can see where Steelflower comes from. It fits Teyla quite well so there really isn’t much to add here.

Dr. Weir is a little different I think. It’s possible the name is due to how she handled Shepard being fed on by Todd/Guide so long ago (Dust mentions it with awe) or it could be because she was so steadfast in her time as leader of Atlantis. Then again, it could also be (and most likely is) based on her experience up to that point that made her who she is and the Wraith can see that. Dr. Weir is definitely the more interestingly named ones that I wouldn’t have minded having more of an explanation behind.

Now Carter is fun! I feel like her name is based on everything she does. She started as just an astrophysicist on SG1 than slowly became a little more until she was what they met. It makes sense if you think about it but I probably haven’t explained it well.

Carter is such a fascinating character and her Wraith name could be related to her carrying so many identities and responsibilities. The warrior part is easy to understand and needs no explanation.

As for O’Neill. Trickster is a great name for him and I absolutely adore how they call him Carter’s Consort because you know it’s based on how she thinks of him that they would consider him such. So! It’s practically canon that Carter and O’Neill are a thing! (never confirmed of course but I can dream!)

And last, but certainly not least, we have Shepard.

Guide is a name that fits him. You don’t even have to think about it. Further, the fact that he and Todd share a name is pretty funny and is no doubt a source of amusement for the other Wraith since the two Guide’s are so much alike.

Wraith Guide also probably finds it funny because he just has that sense of humor.

Alright my peeps, that’s all for this week. Next week I’ll try to keep the review to one or two posts and not almost ten like last time, but I make no promises.

See ya!

Stargate Atlantis Legacy: Homecoming Part 9

SGA #16

ISBN: 9781905586509

So, we are at the end of the book now but there is still a lot that’s about to happen.

Guide sends word that he wants to meet and trade for information about where Queen Death is going to attack next. Atlantis can’t ignore the possibility that he’s telling the truth with no hidden agenda and so meet and make a deal.

Name of the next planet to be attacked for their latest information and research on the Hoffen drug/plague.

Not a bad deal per se, but Guide won’t get his information if the attack doesn’t happen or if the Lanteans die in the attack so he is, once again, trusting Shepard far more than he probably should.

It’s not Shepard who’s the problem, because he’ll keep his word every time, it’s that there’s no guarantee he’ll live long enough to keep his word and I’m not sure Atlantis would keep it for him.

The next planet that Queen Death intends to attack is named Levanna and there are a few more surprises there than just her impending attack.

When the team arrives to warn the people, Ronon gets a happy surprise when one of the guards at the Gate ends up being a fellow Satedan he had thought dead. More than that, she isn’t the only Satedan on the planet or even left alive.

We all know there are others because of the TV series, but it’s always been insinuated that Sateda was wiped out and its people scattered forever. Here that isn’t so and it’s a fabulous foreshadowing by the authors of things to come.

The Levanna people are more than happy to accept Atlantis’ help and even the Genii. They were trading for weapons with the Genii and wanted a speed up of the next delivery and possibly help.

I think the fact that Atlantis was already helping kind of pushed Ladon to send soldiers and weapons because it wouldn’t have looked good at all if Atlantis was willing to die alongside another galaxy’s people, but the Genii couldn’t be bothered to help their own.

Because if Atlantis hadn’t stepped up, they wouldn’t have at all.

In a conversation with Mr. Woolsey and Shepard, we find out that Ladon has enough credible information to send a team through to help. Which meant that he knew there could be an attack and didn’t warn the Levannan people.

I really don’t like the Genii.

The death toll was mercifully low for this attack compared to the devastation it would have been. Not that people didn’t die, I believe the Genii may have had the highest death toll but I could be wrong because it doesn’t say how many of the Levannan’s died. We know five Atlantis soldiers died and at least twelve Genii, but the Genii deaths were actually the fault of their commanding officer who refused to fall back when ordered too.

They tried blaming it on the Lanteans, because they had called for backup, but the Levannan General was having none of it (he was the one to tell Shepard to stay put) and put the Genii commander in his place. I like the dude and would not be surprised if he gave Ladon a talking to about his soldiers.

Our weary peeps take themselves home but aren’t allowed time to sleep because New Athos is under attack and they rush to save their longtime friends!

…except they aren’t under attack.

New Athos is fine and never sent the message begging for help.

But Kanaan takes the opportunity to talk to Teyla and it’s the conversation they needed to have but boy does it hurt.

Teyla doesn’t want to be like her mother who walked away time and again before never coming back. She thinks she’s failed her people and Kanaan by wanting to stay in Atlantis.

Kanaan, proving he’s a good peep, is very understanding of who she really is and doesn’t take it personally. He’s always known she wasn’t meant for the traditional Athosian life, even before Atlantis, but did carry a hoe she would change. They have a child together but are not suited to be together and he wouldn’t want to force anyone to live without the love he had with his wife.

So he asks her to release him so they can both go their own way while still being Torren’s parents.

Before they can finish the conversation though, Darts arrive.

But they aren’t acting right.

Instead of going for easier targets, they are focused on the team. In fact, they aren’t breaking off even though they’re sustaining severe damage.

Too late it clicks in their minds, but Rodney is already swept up by a Culling beam and gone.

Dr. Zelenka gets the last fifty Gate addresses from the DHD and both Halling and Teyle narrow it down until they only have nine addresses to work with.

And that’s the end of book 1!

If you haven’t read the books yet but plan too, I would suggest getting all of them because there are cliffhangers and you do NOT want to have to wait.

Ta for now, next week we get into book 2!

Stargate Atlantis Legacy: Homecoming Part 8

SGA #16

ISBN: 9781905586509

On to the Wraith!

Because you can never have enough Guide in your life!

Last weeks review was definitely human centered which was fun, but now we get to the really good stuff! (this ones longer but well worth it I promise).

We know Guide returned to his Hive and is trying to gather his fleet again. After getting a damage report they intend to Cull to fill their stores when two other Hiveships arrive and ‘offer’ to introduce Guide to the new Queen.

Obviously, he can’t say no, but he isn’t about to bow down either.

What’s really cool about this is that we get to see more about the Wraith and their society. It really goes into the hierarchy of the Wraith and about how the structure worked on a healthy Hive way back when.

(Guide gets a little nostalgic as that’s what his Hive was like with his Queen Snow before her death.)

Another thing we get to see is about their appearance in the grooming sense.

Those chosen to go with him to meet this new Queen have their hair done nicely and are wearing their best clothes, with claws perfectly polished and leathers shining.

Guide himself is wearing an older style coat that speaks to his age (and also looks good on him as we hear in his thoughts) and his hair is actually combed instead of just doing its own thing.

What I enjoyed the most about this group of scenes is that he thinks about what they look like. A band of refugees, proud despite everything.

He tells them he is pleased, which is high praise and definitely speaks to how he commands and to why Wraith join him. I doubt there are many Hive’s that would readily welcome so many and actually nurture their talents when they are from different lineage’s.

As to the meeting… well, the meeting goes about as well as you’d expect.

The Wraith that accompanied Guide over are affected to varying degrees by the Queen. She is beautiful and powerful, and they haven’t had a Queen in their midst since Steelflower (which we all know is Teyla and not actually a Wraith Queen but fun stuff about that later!)

He is too but not to the same degree, as Queen Snow is his Queen and we now get an idea that he plans to never have another Queen again. As affected as he is, he still makes the comparison between this new Queen’s beauty and Queen Snow’s and finds the new one lacking for reasons.

This isn’t explicitly stated, more my personal opinion, but it does lead the reader to believe that Guide is still mourning his Queen and not interested in taking up with another.

No matter how beautiful she may be.

I like this idea a lot because it once again shows that the Wraith are a lot more like the humans than either side wants to admit. Even if Guide isn’t still mourning Queen Snow, he is still not interested in having another Queen.

We can chalk it up to his arrogance and say that he just wants to be in charge and not under someone else’s control again, but I think it still has something to do with Queen Snow because he’s thought about her in certain situations that lead the reader to go that route in their minds.

Or I’m just a romantic and like that idea.

Either way, he may find this new Queen beautiful, but he is SO not interested based solely on her actions, previously and now in this meeting, which make him not like her even more.

(She really shouldn’t have crossed him, I’m just saying.)

Anyways!

After backing him into a corner in regards to speaking on behalf of his absent Queen Steelflower (who he claimed he is also Consort too (please feel free to roll your eyes like I did because dude is gonna get his butt kicked when Teyla finds out)), about joining her alliance, she feeds heavily on one of his new Clevermen, Ember.

As in, too heavily.

Ember is still alive and standing, with help, but that she would go that far kind of says something about her control.

Right after that she invites them to partake in their bounty and, once again, Guide is not impressed.

Apparently feeding in public isn’t a thing, but since Ember needs to feed after what she took, he doesn’t even try to protest. However, the human woman he feeds on tastes ‘like ash’.

Ya’ll can understand how bad the situation is when a hungry Wraith doesn’t enjoy a free meal.

As for these rituals and traditions we have gotten to see so far (I LOVE THESE BOOKS!!!).

The feeding on his Cleverman, Guide notes, went out of fashion even before Queen Snow’s death. This new Queen is obviously trying to bring those traditions and rituals back and though some, like the zenana (which is a group of Wraith who are the Queen’s council and a Consort), Guide isn’t opposed to, some were left behind for a reason.

This new Queen has a councilor who is older than Guide that she calls ‘Old One’ and who has been telling her all about the old ways.

Having read the entire series already I know who he is, but refuse to spoil it cause YOU GUYS IT’S SO COOL! (and heartbreaking but we’ll get to that later).

The point I’m trying to make is that I really don’t believe this new Queen is actually the one in charge. The Old One is, certainly, wily enough to stay alive so long and it wouldn’t take much to control a young Queen.

They aren’t that difficult to understand or to manipulate.

And using the old ways as a means to unite their people is a good one especially when you add in the promised new feeding grounds. A return to what they were before the war with the Alterans decimated so many of them.

Who wouldn’t want that?

A good chunk of the Wraith actually as we shall see in the coming books.

But back to this one.

Guide isn’t about to let anyone ruin his plans and so sends a message to Atlantis about wanting to meet.

He knows where Queen Death is going to attack next and he wants to trade.

A deal is made and he goes off to do his thing while we go back to the human side of things and the last review for Book 1!

See ya’ll later!

Stargate Atlantis Legacy: Homecoming Part 7

SGA #16

ISBN: 9781905586509

So, remember the Genii from last time?

Little boogers are back.

Sora has had a bone to pick with Teyla for some time now and at first Kolya didn’t allow it and now Ladon isn’t too happy with her either. She can’t see straight when it comes to Teyla and will go out of her way to antagonize Atlantis too if she can.

Despite being ordered NOT to engage with anyone from Atlantis, that is just what she does.

Dr. Beckett and Dr. Keller are on a planet, recently attacked by the new Wraith Queen, giving medical aid to the people. Despite the inhabitants not having much in way of trade, Atlantis has always tried to help when they could which is why they’re more welcome than the Genii most times.

When they’re alerted to a Genii patrol heading their way, Carson tells Jennifer to leave and warn Atlantis because he suspects the female Captain is Sora.

He isn’t happy to be proven right either.

Sora has her men search for other Atlantis personnel in the village, shoving people out of their homes and breaking things, before having one go through the medical supplies Carson and Jennifer had with them.

After destroying a few items, Carson tells them to stop and gets a gun in his face.

Sora, being the brain damaged idiot she so clearly is, then decides it would be a great idea to take the medical supplies AND Dr. Beckett back to the Genii homeworld.

Thankfully, Jennifer got back to Atlantis and Shepard got a team together in time to return before the Genii left.

The standoff ends with Dr. Beckett safe, but the supplies left with the Genii.

Ladon is pissed to an extreme level, but since Sora is with this other high-ranking officer that currently supports Ladon, Ladon can’t really do anything without causing himself more trouble.

He has her arrested and stripped of all rank instead of simply killing her.

Which is something Teyla notes to Shepard (and let Mr. Woolsey know about) when they contacted the Genii and told them what had happened.

The meeting between Ladon and Atlantis takes some time, but Mr. Woolsey is at his best and gets things done.

Atlantis and the Genii are still ‘friends’ at the end, but everyone know the Genii have no intention of stepping down. If they ever get a chance, they’ll betray Atlantis again.

On a less dour note!

Some time later Kanaan arrives to visit, but Teyla isn’t there. She’s off world helping with negotiations so Rodney steps in.

The conversation between the two is pretty funny in its awkwardness.

Kanaan thinks Rodney is the man that Teyla loves on Atlantis and when he disputes it, Kanaan goes through his head of everyone Teyla has mentioned in what fashion to try and figure it out. The funny part is that he finally decided that it must be Rodney even if Rodney doesn’t know it and doesn’t see her like that.

As we all know, Shepard is the one and it’s kind of interesting that she apparently hasn’t mentioned him enough for Kanaan to think of him.

We also get a glimpse of Kanaan and what he’s going through. Whereas he certainly isn’t a main character by any means, his involvement with Teyla can’t be overlooked and I really appreciate that the authors decided to give him a larger part in the story.

We get to see his thoughts on things like how Torren is going to be raised with him on New Athos and Teyla on Atlantis and how he sees Atlantis and its people. He doesn’t not like them, but he doesn’t understand who would want that life. He is very much a man of nature and not technology.

This also gives us an idea of what kind of drama is going to be coming because Teyla hasn’t actually said what her plan is and Kanaan isn’t going to accept not seeing Torren regularly. Though she would never intentionally hurt Kanaan she is having trouble facing the fact that these choices have to be made and by dragging it out she is in fact hurting him.

A cute thing that happens in the Kanaan and Rodney discussion though is that Kanaan tells Rodney that if anything happened to him and Teyla, that he was glad that Torren would have someone else to be his father.

Rodney is, understandably, flustered but agrees he wouldn’t let Torren be without a family.

Not long after this more drama and adrenaline ensue, but that’s for next week.

I had actually started this post intending it to be one but realized pretty quickly that it was going to have to be split up because of how much happens still, so there are two more reviews after this one before the end of book 1.

Yes, I know I rant, but ya’ll are the crazy ones still reading so…

Happy week ahead and I’ll see you next Monday bright and early!

Stargate Atlantis Legacy: Homecoming Part 6

SGA #16

ISBN: 9781905586509

I admit, I got a little ahead of myself in regards to the book last week.

I skipped some pretty cool stuff, so I am here to correct my mistake and earn yall’s forgiveness.

(in my defense, Guide is a pretty good reason to skip…just sayin.)

There wasn’t too much really, but it is important.

First!

Teyla goes back to New Athos with her team and Torren for the first time since arriving back in Pegasus and wow is it awkward for everyone. Except maybe Ronon. I don’t know if he was aware of the undertones, but he isn’t stupid so probably he just didn’t say anything.

If I haven’t mentioned before, Kanaan lost both his wife and son awhile back and when Atlantis went to save Earth, he was left thinking it had happened again. Even though he and Teyla aren’t a couple, they have a child together and it was still way too close to home for the poor dude.

I feel for him, I really do.

When they arrive, Teyla and Torren join Kanaan to get acquainted again while Rodney and Shepard join Halling (Ronon excuses himself pretty quick).

The conversation with Halling is…cringey. He tries to help them understand how things are for Teyla. Her mother had a wanderer’s spirit too and it caused Teyla a lot of pain when she was little because people compared her to her mother and her mother left one day and never returned. It’s not insinuated either way whether her mother was killed or just kept going through the Stargate so I don’t know how to feel about the woman.

What we do know is that Teyla doesn’t want to be alienated from the Athosians, yet her very being won’t allow her to be happy anywhere but with Atlantis and her team.  

Halling tries to explain how conflicted she is, but it comes out a little judgey (against Atlantis) and Shepard makes an excuse to leave.

The one-on-one conversation between Rodney and Halling goes a little better. Possibly because of the conversations between Teyle and Rodney, Rodney has more of an idea of where she is head space wise and Halling really cares for his friend and keeps talking to get his point across (Shepard should have stayed cause it would have helped him, but what can ya do?).

Presumably they stay for several hours, maybe even the night, but we cut to the Genii homeworld and find ourselves in the office of one Ladon Radim (aka-butthead)

I admit, I liked Ladon at first because he seemed to want what was best for his people. Which is what prompted him to help Atlantis all those times after the botched take-over with Kolya and the fact that they saved his sister from radiation poisoning got them a ton of brownie points too.

Now however…well.

The position of Genii leader is not one easily gotten, nor kept. Apparently, no one can be civil and voting is not in the cards for these peeps. They’re too paranoid. Which brings us to Ladon having a meeting and his thoughts are what keyed me into his coming up behavior.

Letting Atlantis handle the Wraith is all fine well and good (seriously, Atlantis is far better equipped than anyone else) however, the Genii have taken the last few months Atlantis has been away, and they’ve begun to assert themselves as THE power in the Pegasus Galaxy (which wouldn’t have been laughable except Atlantis did return, otherwise it would have ended very badly for Pegasus).

Essentially (and I tell ya’ll this knowing it’s a little spoilery, apologies) they’ve been going out and trying to find Alteran tech hoping to reverse engineer it, and working on their own version of the ATA gene therapy to make the tech work.

This isn’t what I have a problem with because it’s pretty much exactly what Earth did (only we did it better).

My problem is how they’ve been treating people. Instead of pretending to be at the same level technologically as those they treat with (they left that trick awhile ago and I like to think it’s cause Shepard and Teyla told everyone) they’ve simply been going out and bullying people into giving them what they want or simply stealing it while lying about what they were doing.

As you’ll find out, their actions have made a lot of people REALLY unhappy and now that Atlantis is back things are not going to keep going so well for the Genii.

Leaving Atlantis to deal with the new Wraith Queen was a smart move on Ladon’s part, but it only delayed the inevitable and sooner, rather than later, they’ll meet again and the Genii won’t be on top anymore.

Before I let you wonderful peeps go this week, another funny thing!

SO!

The planet Manaria is where the Wraith Queen (calling herself Death) left the message and booby-traps. Which means we have come full circle.

When they go through, they see the destruction and Shepard asks Rodney if he can find out if anyone Gated to safety.

Rodney goes to the DHD and it explodes.

Which, he notes, happens a lot more than he’d like.

The control crystal and associated parts are completely kapoot (this means they can’t dial out), but Shepard asks if Rodney can fix it anyways all while looking for a place to spend the night.

Rodney is fabulous and surprises his entire team by immediately saying he can fix it (instead of complaining like he usually does first) because he has backups with him for just such instances (and it really tells you how often this has happened that he now plans for it).

Everyone’s reactions are hilarious and if you haven’t read it yet, you’ll laugh out loud!

And with that I end this weeks review.

Thank you again for joining me and I warn that I have been tempted to re-watch episodes lately so there may be more interruptions to the Legacy posts. I’ll do my best to at least finish book 1 first though.

Later!