Reconnaissance

Stargate #4

by Bill McCay

In the fourth novel based on the movie, StarGate, earthlings Jack O'Neil and Daniel Jackson try to stop a race of feral warriors from taking control of the interstellar portal, at the risk of destroying it. Original.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Media Tie In, Military Fiction

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 1, 1998

About the author

Under a variety of pseudonyms as well as his own name, Bill McCay is the author of more than seventy books, including such series as the Race Against Time, The Three Investigators, Young Indiana Jones, and Tom Clancy's Net Force. He has also worked with Stan Lee on Riftworld, a science fiction comedy-adventure set in the comics business. McCay has also written five novels based on the film Stargate. His fantasy short fiction has appeared in several anthologies and his Star Trek novel Chains of Command (cowritten with E. L. Flood) spent several weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.

See also William McCay

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

The 4th book in the Sargate series started out with a lot of promise. It built an intriguing story line that made you think of an up and coming civil war. Political maneuvering and lofty aspirations from a new character really enhanced the story. And then it dissolved into a story about a new enemy that is stronger than the original. And a typical gun battle ensued. Disappointing final third of the book!

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you thought the previous book was bad, wait till you get a load of this.

This pretty much has stopped being Stargate and it's just s sci-fi book that tries to create and force a bunch of sci-fi shit in your face with all the stereotypes of the genre in it.

Oh, and to make it a Stargate book we throw in Daniel Jackson and Jack. Bingo!

Nope.

[Aitor Morgado · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been enjoying the original book of the movie and its sequels very much until I read Reconnaissance. The previous one, Retribution, was a really big and meaningful one in terms of action, plot and character development, but this one seems like a completely different story, very far from Stargate and what you can expect from it.

It's difficult to feel interested about this new colony and the new enemy. After the previous books, it feels somehow forced and with a lot of extra details about the daily lives of the settlers and the political battles on Earth, that they don't really add proper meaning to the story.

For me, it felt like another average sci-fi book, very disconnected from the origins of Stargate.

[Samantha Rooney · Rating 1 out of 5]

The writing is decent, its just that the story is let down by being based on the movie and released three years after the tv show started. The TV show made the characters 3 dimensional people rather than almost 2 dimensional sterotypes. The movie was great as a movie, but this book, while trying to expand upon the concepts of the movie, is let down by thin characterizations of stereotypes and weak motivations

[Daniel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had originally considered book three the weakest book, now I consider this one to be. It's very slow and drags on. I did finish it pretty quickly though. I feel like very little happened in this book. The Setim were mentioned and then promptly discarded. They're a new species, they're trying to take ownership of Ushabti's Gift, and they're brought in to look for the hoodats. But then they're just forgotten.

[Lexxi Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

For most of the book I was annoyed with Daniel Jackson. That didn't leave, but other factors intruded to remove the irritation. Annoyed because he was putting the weight of the world on himself without any seeming cause to do so. He was/is a trained archaeologist. Not a world-builder. Not a diplomat. Not a bureaucrat. So his pushing himself into n early grave against the tide of hatred from all quarters - his wife, from random Urt-men (Earthmen), from the tribes of people he is trying to help . . .. Sorry, but no sympathy for you Daniel Jackson.

Right, so the book is basically about setting up a colony/new homeworld for those um . . the name gets used a lot in the book but I can't seem to find it on wikipedia so . . . those natives from the planet the Earth men went to in the film. The refugees from that planet.

It was interesting in and off itself. Somewhat dragging. Somewhat boring. Then some cats were found and the action redoubled for the final 33% or so of the book. Discoveries made. War broken out.

One of the annoying things that occurred is that the dog-faced aliens had wandered over to look over the colony. Then war broke out involving cat-faced aliens and . . . there was no mention at all of the dog-faced aliens. They had advanced tech. They probably could have helped in the fight. But . . . did I overlook them leaving? I don't recall them leaving.

One last note: Unlike other books I've read and made comments one way or another about 1/2 stars and the like, this book is a solid 4 stars. Not 3.5, not 4.5, and nothing in between.

[Levi · Rating 3 out of 5]

i never really finished it. i had to return it, so that i recommened it you people that like the sic-fi world