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Colonel Jack O'Neill lives in retirement, one year after his interplanetary expedition to Abydos. But when a hostile force of aliens resembling the late Ra and his Chulakins invades Earth through the Stargate and kidnaps a female officer, O'Neill is called back to duty to lead a platoon back through the Stargate and eliminate this new threat. Back in Abydos, O'Neill is reunited with Egyptologist Daniel Jackson to help the team determine from which world through the Stargate this new danger originated from.

208 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

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Ashley McConnell

34 books19 followers

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5 stars
134 (33%)
4 stars
114 (28%)
3 stars
123 (30%)
2 stars
26 (6%)
1 star
7 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
Profile Image for Brittany.
51 reviews
February 27, 2025
“My wife is out there, General. I need to go.”

“She’s out there somewhere Jack…”

Daniel crying over Sha’re. That’s pretty much the whole reason why I read these over and over again.
Profile Image for Helen .
860 reviews38 followers
August 7, 2018
A reasonably accurate novelisation of the pilot double episode, 'Children of the Gods'. I feel a rewatch coming on.
Profile Image for Jacqueline.
12 reviews
January 7, 2020
This book is based on the pilot episode of Stargate SG-1 and for the most part, it’s a good read. For those who’ve watched the episode (Children of the Gods), Ashley’s book sticks closely to the script – there’s just a few slight differences to be found.

Most of the dialogue is the same and there’s still a few potential Sam/Jack moments, although O’Neill comes across as more derisive and untrusting towards Carter in the book. The author has done a good job to keep O’Neill’s sense of humor intact throughout, whether it’s via his sarcastic one-liners, a roll of the eyes or his inner thoughts; but there are times when it feels like Ashley has rushed certain parts of the book, and the characters interactions with each other, in order to get to the end of the story.

Overall, it’s a decent novelisation of the pilot and even though I’ve read it a few times now, I would read it again.
Profile Image for Kaitlyn Wooley.
16 reviews
February 8, 2008
This is a post-airing novelezation of the SG-1 2-hour pilot episode. It's all right, if you like reading things you've watched to get the different perspective. From that standpoint, it's actually pretty good. Those who are major fans and are a stickler for details, however, might find themselves annoyed in a few spots, but it's otherwise a light, short, enjoyable read of a story well-known to those who watch the show.
Profile Image for Jenna.
55 reviews24 followers
March 14, 2015
Basically a text version of the first episode. Still great to read.
111 reviews1 follower
September 5, 2023
I enjoyed this. I've already watched all of Stargate, but I saw this in the store, and I was intrigued. It was basically the first episode (or few? I can't quite recall), but it was pretty true to the beginning of the show. A good alternative for one that doesn't want to watch the show.
As far as writing goes, it was mostly great, but sometimes there were speaking passages that didn't have proper attribution to who was saying it, and it could take me a second to parse who said what, especially when there was action by other people surrounding the speaking parts. Apart from that, though, it was an enjoyable read.
Profile Image for David Baird.
587 reviews22 followers
January 20, 2020
Now this book I loved! It follows the same plot as the pilot episode for the tv series but actually read better to me than the episode was portrayed on tv.

I'm going on a major stargate fix at the moment and this ticks the box.

I know 99% of people reading this will know the story but just in case you dont.. the stargate is a piece of ancient technology that can transport you to other planets... we thought it only went one place... we were wrong.

This book is the starting point for the best tv series you could ever watch and the book complements the series perfectly.
Profile Image for Amanda.
45 reviews
February 15, 2019
A decent novelisation of the pilot. It's resulted in giving me the urge to rewatch Stargate!
Profile Image for K.
645 reviews3 followers
November 25, 2020
TVドラマ「STAR GATE SG1」のノベライズ。
第1話の「神の子」前・後編がそのままノベライズとなったものです。
大きな字、平易な文面でとても読みやすかったです。
SFを英語で果たして読めるのかという不安を見事に吹き飛ばしてくれました。
Profile Image for Chance.
1,107 reviews21 followers
October 1, 2022
A nessary requirement for the die hard Stargate fans look to see into the minds of the chacthers of SG-1 episodes one and two.
Profile Image for Dea.
642 reviews1 follower
February 23, 2015
Meh. I think the only reason I kept reading was because of my love for the series and I had an itch that needed to be scratched. I think this is the only book in the series I will read because, honestly, the writing is terrible, I felt like I was reading a poorly written fan fiction. And there is no way the plot could redeem the terrible writing, since I know the plot like the back of my hand. There were a couple of “we cannot show that on TV” moments, but in all it was just the script with extra padding.

Really a pity. I was hoping to enjoy some new Stargate content since no more episodes will ever be produced.
Profile Image for Andrew.
2,545 reviews
November 8, 2012
This was a fun read but to be honest its the novelisation of the show - TV series that is - and as such there is nothing new or different - that said I loved the nostalgia of it - I forgot how long ago it all started and how I used to be glued to the TV to see what new adventures they would get up to - ok this is about books and i am talking TV but this book brought all that back so for that along I love it - but if your looking for something new an addition to the canon then I am sorry to say look elsewhere.
Profile Image for Wesley.
98 reviews9 followers
July 6, 2013
I pretty much read this whole book in a day. It's an easy read with a bearable flow, and only a few spelling/grammatical mistakes. While I knew it was a novelization of the pilot episode, "Children of the Gods", I was hoping that perhaps there would be a spark of creativity, an extra scene here or there - however, what I received was essentially the pilot, verbatim.

Quite frankly, I found watching the actual pilot infinitely more enjoyable. I'd really only see the point of reading this if you're a huge Stargate fan, otherwise it's a lot more fun to simply watch the show.
Profile Image for Brian Turner.
707 reviews12 followers
May 8, 2019
The novel of the pilot episode from the TV series.
I'd forgotten that I had this book until I was digging a bit deeper through the shelf, bought at the time when I was really into the series.

If you're a fan, then you will know all the characters, how they look and act, and get a good feel of it from this novel. It would work well as a standalone sci-fi novel as well, as they are fleshed out enough to be able to read it without knowing the TV show.
Profile Image for Matthew Kresal.
Author 36 books49 followers
June 24, 2014
A minimalist adaptation of Children Of The Gods, the movie length first episode of SG-1. Though it does fill in the occasional detail, for the most part it feels like the stereotypical novelization of taking a script and turning it into prose. As a result, it's perhaps only for the die-hard Stargate fan.
Profile Image for Denise.
7,524 reviews137 followers
June 24, 2014
Having recently started rewatching SG-1, I decided to get started on the books as well while I was at it. This first one is a nicely executed novelization of th pilot episode - it may not offer much in the way of new material compared to what was seen on TV, but I found it an entertaining read nonetheless.
Profile Image for curiouskat_books.
758 reviews5 followers
January 9, 2015
This book was pretty good, but I think that may only be due to the fact that it has Stargate in the title. It had some inconsistencies that were not present in the show (and I do not just mean the added scenes but rather feelings between characters that just are not quite correct).
Profile Image for Dolphe.
238 reviews1 follower
July 19, 2012
Again, it would be nice if authors who provide the novelization of screenplays would attempt to -- at least -- offer something more than what was on the screen. McConnell missed that opportunity.
Profile Image for Jason.
8 reviews
March 7, 2013
Basically just the straight novelization of the show's pilot. Very little was added, except for some unspoken thoughts of the characters. A fun read for fans of the show.
Profile Image for Amy.
71 reviews31 followers
April 1, 2013
It was a great book! Although, if you already saw the episode you know exactly what you're getting. It's essentially word for word with the first episode of SG-1 "Children of The Gods"
Profile Image for Lee Singleton.
6 reviews
July 23, 2013
Children of the Gods retold in novel form, nothing spectacular, nothing bad either.
Profile Image for Slón.
40 reviews3 followers
September 22, 2016
Meh. This is just a novelized form of the movie, but it's not great. There is little insight into the characters, and the writing is dull.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews

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