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Stargate SG-1 #20
Heart's Desire
All that glitters...
Colonel Jack O'Neill wants a relaxing mission for SG-1 as they recover from Sha're’s death at the hands of Teal'c and the horrors of Sokar's prison world of Ne'tu. The trade negotiations on Saday look like just the ticket — until the pirates show up.
Captured by rival bands of treasure hunters in search of the mythical Heart's Desire, the team must fight to stay alive and to find each other among the vast mountains and ravines of a world where pirates captain airships and down is a very long way indeed.
But SG-1 have deeper battles to fight. In the wake of his wife’s death, Daniel Jackson strives to rebuild his friendship with Teal'c while Major Carter struggles to accept the legacy of Jolinar's memories...
Colonel Jack O'Neill wants a relaxing mission for SG-1 as they recover from Sha're’s death at the hands of Teal'c and the horrors of Sokar's prison world of Ne'tu. The trade negotiations on Saday look like just the ticket — until the pirates show up.
Captured by rival bands of treasure hunters in search of the mythical Heart's Desire, the team must fight to stay alive and to find each other among the vast mountains and ravines of a world where pirates captain airships and down is a very long way indeed.
But SG-1 have deeper battles to fight. In the wake of his wife’s death, Daniel Jackson strives to rebuild his friendship with Teal'c while Major Carter struggles to accept the legacy of Jolinar's memories...
258 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 20, 2012
17 people are currently reading
248 people want to read
About the author
Amy Griswold
30 books36 followersAmy Griswold is the co-author of Death by Silver, Stargate Atlantis: The Lost, Stargate Atlantis: Allegiance, and Stargate Atlantis: Inheritors, as well as the author of Stargate SG-1: Heart's Desire and “Caden’s Death,” in Sword and Sorceress 25. She lives in Chapel Hill with her partner Jo, daughter Beth, and two opinionated cats.
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For entertaining Victoriana and updates on the Mathey and Lynes mystery series: Mathey and Lynes
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For entertaining Victoriana and updates on the Mathey and Lynes mystery series: Mathey and Lynes
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
April 24, 2019
Few of these books are any good and fewer still are so good they feel like an episode. This is one of the latter books. The characterisation was spot on and I particularly enjoyed the thought of Sam and Jack piloting an airship.
October 2, 2022
pretty good, actually well paced so 👌
March 9, 2021
Not one of my favourites. Too bad because I love Amy Griswold.
April 6, 2016
A good solid SG1 story, would have made a good episode.
February 19, 2016
Great book
If you are a Stargate fan you will enjoy this book very much. Interesting right from the first page. Well done
If you are a Stargate fan you will enjoy this book very much. Interesting right from the first page. Well done
June 6, 2020
Maybe I read too much fanfiction, but I was hoping for more angst and reflection.
August 5, 2020
I didn't know exactly what to make of this when I first picked it up. This book takes place in the aftermath of Teal'c having been forced to kill Sha're before Amaunet killed Daniel with the ribbon.
Hammond sends SG-1 on what was supposed to be an easy diplomatic mission telling O'Neill it's to let his team get some badly need rest. The gate is high on a mountain top and they're picked up by a dirigible that Sam determines defies the laws of physics.
After a couple of days of discovering the people of this world don't possess anything worthy of a trading relationship, Daniel discovers some ancient stones and want's to see more. The king makes this “trade agreement” into a big deal and requires the ceremony take place in a special courtyard where they praise their Goa'uld goddess who pays no attention to the planet but once a year when she comes for her tribute.
Pirates arrive, separating SG-1 and stealing them away on their own dirigibles after zatting thedm. Sam and Jack on one and Daniel and Teal'c on the other.
The pirate that captured Daniel and Teal'c has taken the ancient tablets believing they lead to treasure and that she intends to ransom them to the goddess as she's arriving for her tribute and tours her houses of worship. Daniel convinces her that he can figure out the writing and she relents when he figures out coordinates.
Jack and Sam manage to escape and zat the crew. Sam discovers that the dirigibles fly using Goa'uld anti-gravity tech. They land and haul the crew onto the ground, keeping the captain to help fly the thing.
Having earlier established radio contact with Daniel and Teal'c, Sam creates a homing beacon they use to rescue their fellow team members.
Along the way both Jack and Sam and Daniel and Teal'c learn from their would be captors that the King takes a lot for himself and often leaving the farmers and other citizens to starve.
I'm not going to give away any more, but I really enjoyed this book. It's well written and well paced, and I ended up having quite a bit of empathy for the pirate that took Daniel and Teal'c hostage.
Hammond sends SG-1 on what was supposed to be an easy diplomatic mission telling O'Neill it's to let his team get some badly need rest. The gate is high on a mountain top and they're picked up by a dirigible that Sam determines defies the laws of physics.
After a couple of days of discovering the people of this world don't possess anything worthy of a trading relationship, Daniel discovers some ancient stones and want's to see more. The king makes this “trade agreement” into a big deal and requires the ceremony take place in a special courtyard where they praise their Goa'uld goddess who pays no attention to the planet but once a year when she comes for her tribute.
Pirates arrive, separating SG-1 and stealing them away on their own dirigibles after zatting thedm. Sam and Jack on one and Daniel and Teal'c on the other.
The pirate that captured Daniel and Teal'c has taken the ancient tablets believing they lead to treasure and that she intends to ransom them to the goddess as she's arriving for her tribute and tours her houses of worship. Daniel convinces her that he can figure out the writing and she relents when he figures out coordinates.
Jack and Sam manage to escape and zat the crew. Sam discovers that the dirigibles fly using Goa'uld anti-gravity tech. They land and haul the crew onto the ground, keeping the captain to help fly the thing.
Having earlier established radio contact with Daniel and Teal'c, Sam creates a homing beacon they use to rescue their fellow team members.
Along the way both Jack and Sam and Daniel and Teal'c learn from their would be captors that the King takes a lot for himself and often leaving the farmers and other citizens to starve.
I'm not going to give away any more, but I really enjoyed this book. It's well written and well paced, and I ended up having quite a bit of empathy for the pirate that took Daniel and Teal'c hostage.
July 5, 2021
Quite an enjoyable read. It didn't so much feel like an episode of Stargate SG-1 as an SG-1 movie set in season 3 (which isn't a bad thing, just what how it came across to me). That's probably due to how broad and slightly epic the story felt. A bit more humour would have made it even better as I thought Jack's humour was just a tiny bit off.
The first half/two thirds dragged on a bit at some points, though perhaps that's because aren't my thing, sea, air, or otherwise. Reba also irritated me quite a bit, though I'm still unsure whether I was meant not to like her or whether it's just me. But I really loved the end and the part! I thought it was quite well done and I very much enjoyed reading it. It wasn't particularly original as it's something we've seen in the show several times but I liked the execution.
Since I was so very critical of how badly Sam was written in the last Stargate book I read and how useless she was made out to be (still not over that, no one puts baby in the corner!), it would be a bit hypocritical of me not to point out that I thought Teal'c was a bit left out in this one, compared to our three other stooges. Otherwise, it was fairly balanced between their different capabilities and talents and everyone contributed to driving the story and their own rescue forward.
All in all, good little story and I had fun reading it.
The first half/two thirds dragged on a bit at some points, though perhaps that's because aren't my thing, sea, air, or otherwise. Reba also irritated me quite a bit, though I'm still unsure whether I was meant not to like her or whether it's just me. But I really loved the end and the part! I thought it was quite well done and I very much enjoyed reading it. It wasn't particularly original as it's something we've seen in the show several times but I liked the execution.
Since I was so very critical of how badly Sam was written in the last Stargate book I read and how useless she was made out to be (still not over that, no one puts baby in the corner!), it would be a bit hypocritical of me not to point out that I thought Teal'c was a bit left out in this one, compared to our three other stooges. Otherwise, it was fairly balanced between their different capabilities and talents and everyone contributed to driving the story and their own rescue forward.
All in all, good little story and I had fun reading it.
February 16, 2025
Usually one of the things I like most about Stargate books is how they'll expand on something that's only touched on in the show, something that would normally cause a lasting impact on the characters individually or as a team. Unfortunately, it never seemed to go anywhere. Sam deals with memories of Jolinar - or more accurately tries to avoid them, but Daniel and Teal'c never really talk about their issues.
All of the characters failed to come to life. It was often hard to keep imagining them saying and doing the things they were doing. Similarly, the plot felt incredibly slow and dull - even when things actually happened.
The very end was the only part I actively liked. Seeing what each team member's "heart's desire," was was pretty fascinating, even if the plot itself isn't that original.
All of the characters failed to come to life. It was often hard to keep imagining them saying and doing the things they were doing. Similarly, the plot felt incredibly slow and dull - even when things actually happened.
The very end was the only part I actively liked. Seeing what each team member's "heart's desire," was was pretty fascinating, even if the plot itself isn't that original.
May 24, 2021
Not the best-ever SG-1 adventure, but with lots of action and some great introspection - including a look at some "what-if" scenarios akin to something what we'd see later on with the Atlantis team. Some of the diplomatic talks (early on) were a bit slow, but the pirates definitely added an interesting touch (especially given their mode of "sailing." Overall, a worthy read for any Stargate fan :-)
July 9, 2018
A fun jaunt
A fun, action-packed read. My favorite of all the SG books I've read so far. The characterization was spot on, it tied in nicely to the series episodes it referenced, and it was just plain entertaining.
A fun, action-packed read. My favorite of all the SG books I've read so far. The characterization was spot on, it tied in nicely to the series episodes it referenced, and it was just plain entertaining.
April 20, 2019
3.5 stars. I had a little trouble getting into it as I thought the second third or so of the story was just a little to slow and the new characters just weren't that interesting. However, I loved the last third a lot!
September 23, 2020
The writing was not great compared to other stories in the series (sorry) but it did feel like it could have been an episode on the show. We even got tons of Sam/jack content which I’m never not happy about ;)
January 21, 2023
mostly okay
Other than sleeping Jaffa, this wasn’t a bad book. The characters were true to the tv series. Except the writer doesn’t seem to know that Jaffa with symbiotes don’t sleep but instead meditate through Kel’no’rem.
Other than sleeping Jaffa, this wasn’t a bad book. The characters were true to the tv series. Except the writer doesn’t seem to know that Jaffa with symbiotes don’t sleep but instead meditate through Kel’no’rem.
February 20, 2025
Well, done
One of the more entertaining exciting and diverse reads in the Stargate universe the writers in top form recommended highly
One of the more entertaining exciting and diverse reads in the Stargate universe the writers in top form recommended highly
April 19, 2021
This was a particularly fun idea. Not at all the most exciting adventure, but a fun story nonetheless. Heaps of puzzle solving in true SG1 form and even Hammond gets in a delightful pickle.
October 7, 2014
I found this story a little slow going but still interesting.
January 11, 2014
Felt slightly off-character at times, but it was enjoyable for the most part.
September 27, 2015
great story
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews