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Stargate SG-1 #4

City of the Gods

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When a Crystal Skull is discovered beneath the Pyramid of the Sun in Mexico, it ignites a cataclysmic chain of events that maroons SG-1 on the dying world of Xalotcan, a brutal society, steeped in death and sacrifice, where the bloody gods of the Aztecs demand tribute from a fearful and superstitious population.

274 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 28, 2005

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Sonny Whitelaw

14 books8 followers

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5 stars
103 (26%)
4 stars
136 (34%)
3 stars
122 (31%)
2 stars
29 (7%)
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3 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
Profile Image for Jennifer (bunnyreads).
525 reviews84 followers
March 6, 2020

I’m not really quite sure where this falls season-wise except, of course, obviously it’s after the Crystal Skull and after the season with Jonas. There are the clues that we get from various things the characters think about that have happened to give you an idea of the timeframe but It’s just been too long for me since I saw the show to know for sure.

For two hundred pages, this felt like a dense read and was a little on the darker side in content and in feeling- it is the Aztecs, so there is lots of talk of sacrificing adults and children, and the team has that world-weary feel to them.

This story was well thought out and researched. If you have any interest in the Aztec you’ll enjoy it. The highlight of the story was that there some really cool history about their beliefs and way of life and it was presented in a nice Stargatey way. As the Crystal Skull was one of my favourite episodes, I enjoyed the possibilities here.


Other notes-

C’mon Fandemonium people, you couldn’t have spent a few extra dollars on another ten pages or so to make the font bigger? I know this die-hard fan would have paid the extra fifty-cents.

bingo read/tie-in square
Profile Image for Heather.
211 reviews40 followers
January 17, 2021
I wasn't a big fan of the crystal skull episode, but City of the Gods is an interesting extension of that mythology/technology. I liked how much research the author put into the Aztec culture (and the culture that came before them) and worked it into the Stargate universe in a meaningful way. I think the plot is too grim to have ever been an SG-1 episode, but now I wish we'd had another episode on Orban and learned more about the Tollans' history.

This book references Sacrifice Moon, a book earlier in the tie-in novel series. I would recommend reading that book before this one.
Profile Image for Brittany.
50 reviews
October 25, 2024
4.5 stars

“Let’s go kids…”

My soul aches for this to be cannon.

This book is just Sam and Jack playing a romantic Tulio and Miguel from Road to El Dorado with Do I Wanna Know Hozier’s version playing as the soundtrack. No I will not elaborate. But, every Jack and Sam shipper needs a copy of this book. Terribly. Clutch onto it while watching S1 Ep 17, S4 Ep 5/6 and have a good cry. Didn’t realize I’d get a one bed/sleeping bag trope either but was gifted it on a silver platter and I ate it up.

This Christmas episode had all the SGC B team favorites mentioned: Fraiser, Siler, Harriman, Hammond, Jacob Carter, and only missing my favorite sad boy Paul Davis.

The characters felt so true to the show, and all the little Easter eggs and call backs had me kicking my feet and giggling. From Daniel’s allergies, to Jack’s mannerisms, it was great.

Now, the plot does feel very thick to have to wade through. Could have been stretched into a 2 parter episode for sure. The amount of research I had to do for this book was more than expected, BUT I didn’t mind that. I appreciate Daniel’s field report at the end. It was a nice little treat.

Over all, if you don’t want the emotional draw to the books, this isn’t one for you. I do though. I want it from all these books, and so far, this one delivered that heart ache the best.
39 reviews3 followers
September 13, 2014
Good book except, there's explaining, and then there's explaining. The book gets weighed down by the author's giving of far too much information regarding ancient Aztecs. Yes, we need tounderstand some aspects of the culture in order to understand what our heroes are facing but...ad nauseum. It is a good adventure going on around the history lesson though. Teach me, but don't give me a class that I wouldn't take if it were free.
Profile Image for Lexxi Kitty.
2,060 reviews478 followers
May 4, 2017
This is a neat interesting book that corresponded well with the television series. The characters seemed to match up with what I remember (though it has been a while since I last watch an episode).

This one has a neat little twist - includes a different area of the world with a different set of aliens. Good use of Aztec, Mayans and Mesoamerican culture.

The only real thing that 'dragged' on me was the part where every one of the main characters were constantly thinking about some depressing situation that had occurred sometime before this book, and how each negative thing that occurred to them in this book kept reminding them of that 'thing'. The constant repetition of that theme might have annoyed me anyway, but my main problem with it is that I had no clue what they were whimpering about. Apparently there was some occasion when both Jack and Sam were taken over by . . . well, it gets confusing, I think both good and bad Go’ould (however that is spelled), and the bad tortured them with the memories of the good; while at the same time eating human meat . . . or something? Like that? The other two main characters were also depressed with deep bitter thoughts, but I forget now what they had been obsessed with.

Right, so, good book.

but but, what’s the book about? Well, to remind myself later: book opens with Sam giving a report in the Pentagon about a mission that went wrong – which ended with all of SG-1 (but her, obviously) dying. Then book moved out of the prologue and back to that mission.
1) Some professor guy who Daniel never really liked has contacted Daniel about some ‘symbols’ that the archaeologist had found on a dig in Mexico City region. And he wants to compare the symbols with a book that Daniel’s uncle and written (was Daniel’s uncle a character on the show? I don’t remember him). Daniel agrees to visit the professor on site with a copy of the book. Teal’c goes along because he doesn’t want to go fishing with O’Neil (a reoccurring theme on the show – O’Neil wanting people to go fishing with him and how no one wanted to do so – I feel sad, poor O’Neil, no one wanted to be his friend (what, fishing mostly involves sitting around drinking beer and bullshitting in an interesting often picturesque setting)).
a) Turns out that the professor had found a crystal skull, the same type the uncle had found. It is stated in a way that makes it appear not to be a spoiler, but I’ll put behind spoiler tags anyway -
b) Teal’c and Daniel go on an off-world adventure by themselves.

2) Jack and Sam go with another SG team to help remove two injured members on a particular moon and also to retrieve their equipment. A volcano explodes. The uninhabited moon might not be uninhabited.
3) Eventually the entire SG-1 team ends up on the same moon. Stuff happens. People feared dead. Etc.


Rating: 4.38

May 4 2017
13 reviews
October 20, 2020
As a fairly avid reader of stargate books, I'd say this one falls somewhere in the middle. It's sad to say, but I found the book too well researched which detracted from the overall story for me. As others have said, it was dense and I found it took me far longer to get through it then most stories of this length. The setting of this book was perfect for a stargate story, with ancient cities and gods-a-plenty to draw from, and it fits in really well with the wider stargate universe. I also felt that the characters were done pretty well, and I could definitely imagine them saying their dialogue, (particularly O'Neill). However, the depth of the history, practices and information around the temples and culture were just too deep for a first timer to that part of history, for me to get a good grasp on, and the exposition was too in depth. I applaud the author for doing such thorough research and really knowing their stuff, but it really bogged down the story and lost my interest on several occassions. I think with some further editing and streamlining, this could have been much better and a faster paced and easier to follow read.
Profile Image for Cécile.
78 reviews
July 19, 2021
I enjoyed this story being focused on Mayan mythology. I'm also thoroughly admirative of how much the author built off of the Crystal Skull episode and the entire world that was created from me. However, I will join up author reviewers in saying this was maybe a little bit too intricate at times, making it difficult to follow. Perhaps there were a few too many players or too much mythology for such a condensed and fast-paced story.

I found the characterisation very accurate and enjoyed the participation of all members of SG-1 and even the more in-depth involvement of Hammond and Dr Fraiser than I've seen in most of the SG-1 books I've read so far. I also really liked that Sam and Daniel actually got to go full technobabble as we would typically see on the show, to a much higher degree than most of the books.

One small gripe I do have about the writing is that Whitelaw really could cut out a few metaphors and allegories. There are just too many everywhere all the time. I don't need constant comparisons to understand what's going on. But otherwise, I found the writing very solid.
Profile Image for Amanda.
45 reviews
September 4, 2023
I've liked most of the other SG-1 books that I've read from Fandemonium, but sadly this one didn't do it for me. It went so deeply into the Aztec cultural side of things that I actually found it hard to follow what was happening and which God was what.

They also had Sam remembering something frequently in the book that I ended up having to Google thinking I was forgetting an episode, but it was actually book 2. Which it turns out I have read but don't remember the specifics of, so I also found that bit distracted from the plot.

Not one I would read again, and probably one to skip unless you're into your archeology and Aztec history.
Profile Image for K.
645 reviews3 followers
November 25, 2020
ダニエルの元にニコラス・バラードと話がしたいという電話が突然かかってきます。ニコラス・バラードとはシーズン3で登場したダニエルの祖父。電話の相手はウォデルスキーという名の教授で彼が発見したクリスタルスカルと似たようなものを発見したので彼からもっと話をききたいという。おりしもSG1チームには休暇命令が下ったところで、オニールから釣りに誘われていたダニエルはこれ幸いとウォデルスキーのいるメキシコに向うことにします。同じくオニールに釣りに誘われていたティルクもダニエルに同行することに。しかし二人が出立する前に、SG10が予定よりも早く異星M4D-36から帰還してきます。SG10は地質調査チームと共にM4D-36に赴いていましたが、突然噴火が起こり緊急退避せざるを得なかったと。まだ取り残されている面々がいるときき、SG1は救出に赴くと志願します。が、彼らに休暇をとらせたいハモンド将軍はオニールとカーターに救出作業の手伝いをさせることにし、ダニエルとティルクは予定通りメキシコに旅立つよう命じるのですが…。

※冒頭、いきなりオニールとダニエルとティルクを任務中に失い、失意の中にいるカーターとハモンドというような衝撃的シーンから始まるので、一体何が起こったのかとドキドキしながら読み進めました。SG1らしい冒険譚です。
Profile Image for Kent Archie.
624 reviews6 followers
March 5, 2019
This felt a lot longer than the page count would indicate. There were a lot of details about Aztec/Mayan religions and the relationships among the gods and between the gods and the people.
There was even a appendix that would have made a good script for several episodes of 'Ancient Aliens'.
I got a little confused about which of the gods were G'oauld and which were otgher aliens.
Not my favorote, but it was an OK read.
Profile Image for S.
539 reviews12 followers
May 29, 2021
Liked this, but it also wasn't great. I had some trouble with this book with how much backstory and telling of the origins of this new civilization there was, which to me was very confusing (I am not even sure I got everything completely now that I've finished the book). Other than that, I really enjoyed how dark this was and there were some really nice parts about the relationships on the team, too.
Profile Image for Nabil Hussain.
334 reviews3 followers
January 19, 2020
Interesting and entertaining story!!

This book is well written and is original in its storyline. It was fascinating to read about a story of the Aztecs. The terminology was a bit hard to pronounce but the concept was wonderful.
21 reviews
January 20, 2021
Was ok...

This book while good, to me wasn't as good as others in the series. Normally, I would finish these in two days tops. This one was a bit of a struggle to get through. It kinda felt like a lesson...
539 reviews3 followers
February 21, 2025
SG-1 travels via the mysterious crystal skull to the brutal society of Xalotcan. They believe in the bloody gods of the Aztecs. The world is threatened by a volcano,

Good at parts. Skip mission journal at the end.
26 reviews
July 15, 2017
Great way to feed my Stargate addiction. Well written, true to character, good story.
Profile Image for Alex Holmgren.
6 reviews
July 8, 2019
Indiana Jones goes further into SciFi and I really enjoyed this read. Very good character writing.
Profile Image for Rebecca.
581 reviews3 followers
May 29, 2020
Wasn't a huge fan of this, found the plot difficult to get in to and not terribly engaging, probably one of the weaker fan fiction books.
Profile Image for Kellyanne Higgins.
345 reviews1 follower
March 1, 2014
** WARNING FOR SPOILERS **

Stargate SG-1: City Of The Gods is probably the worst Fandemonium book I've read so far, although it's MUCH better than any of the books in Ashley O'Connell's series. So far, Stargate SG-1: Siren Song is my favourite, with Stargate Atlantis: Reliquary a close second. City Of The Gods was okay, but I didn't find myself savouring it like I did the other books. For one, it's hard to get into a story when you're having a hard time pronouncing the names. The book draws heavily upon Aztec and Mayan culture, and names for places and gods had a lot of consonants in a row. Abbreviating Chalchiuhtlicue to "Chalchi" helped, as did some of Jack's mispronunciations... although Jack got irritating at times. I liked that he called Two-Water's dog Xipe "Spiffy", but he only did that a couple of times. Hearing him frequently refer to one of the gods "Cat Lips" got really old.

Some of the names of the kids grated on my nerves. Did they really need a character named Heart-eater? I just thought it sounded stupid.

I did like when Daniel forgot that he was supposed to be "Wind Feather" and told one of the kids he was Daniel Jackson. I loved how they all got excited and said he was Jack Quetzalcoatl's son. Interestingly enough, I didn't trip over that name; there's a character named Quetzal in the Nintendo Gamecube game Animal Crossing.

Daniel seemed a little off at times. I get very picky about how I like to see that character portrayed though. Hell, at least it wasn't like in McConnell's Morpheus Factor, where he had a full fledged tantrum. He just didn't seem like himself at times but in very minor ways.

Jack was annoying at times... then again, I've realised that I'm finding Jack more annoying than I used to - and I'm not talking just in recent episodes but when I go back and watch old ones. Sometimes, he gets on these comedy kicks where he seems to be the only one amused by his corny jokes. That's just Jack though, so I won't fault the author for my sense of humour differing from Jack's.

Teal'c and Hammond were both portrayed and used well - and I like how Teal'c humour was handled. The author wrote Teal'c better than I've probably ever seen him written.

I thought Carter got pegged into an overly feminine role at times, especially in relation to Chalchi and Quetzalcoatl being married, the team again ribbing her for getting all gussied up (we already saw that in "Emancipation", and it wasn't any more amusing now than it was then), and her maternal instincts discussion with Janet. Correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't we seen more parental instincts coming from Jack than from any other character? He's the one who lost his son. He's the one who took to Skaa're on Abydos. He refers to Daniel and Carter as "kids". In general, he's way more fatherly than Sam is motherly. So can we quit it with gender stereotypes? Sam wouldn't be pleased.

The story felt like a wooden roller coaster. Close to page 200, things were rolling along so well, and then it came screeching to a halt, and the ride was over before I thought it should. The first chapter has Carter recounting what happened and why she thinks the rest of SG-1 is dead. You'd think the author would have played with us a bit longer on that, but we knew instantly that the rest of SG-1 is fine... and for some reason, they don't check in with Earth for a full week. I didn't understand the rationale behind that.

Everything before page 200 was pretty rickety. Daniel and Teal'c return from Mexico was so abrupt, I had to go back and make sure I hadn't missed anything. There were other times - like when Carter nearly drowned and then seemed to suddenly recover - when I felt like the author was rushing things.

The plot also seemed too contrived at the start, which is why I was already in the mindset of reading through this one and hoping the next one was better. As it turned out, the book was entertaining after all. I just found the fact that SG-10 was exploring Xalotcan at the same time Wodeski contacted Daniel upon his discovering of another crystal skull to be a little too convenient.

The book did have strokes of genius though. I did enjoy the exploration into Aztec and Mayan culture when it was all said and done, and I thought the Goa'uld were brilliantly incorporated into the culture. The author had obviously done her homework. Everything from Daniel's history lessons to Carter's techno babble were authentic. I also liked this deeper look at the concept of the crystal skull. I liked that the author had more of them exist and people using them as another form of transportation. After all, you know that ships and the stargate system can't be the only mode of transpo in the universe. Making the Furlings the creators of the skull network was a nice touch too.

It was a good read, just not up there with Relinquary and Siren Song.
100 reviews33 followers
October 9, 2015
This book combined SG-1 and crystal skulls and Aztec and Mayan histories. So I loved it. The only part I didn't like was the way they started it. It started with Carter at the Pentagon after the mission. After reading two books that dealt with time travel, I started to get nervous. Then it appeared like it was going to be one of those stories with alternate universes. But no. Once you read completely through to the end, you discover what happened after Carter came back from the Pentagon to the SGC. Cue the happy ending, life is good. This story had lots of action and it used real culture and history as a starting point. I always loved that part in the TV series.
Profile Image for Jonathan Martin.
45 reviews5 followers
June 13, 2011
The first SG-1 novel I read, the great big shining Mesoamerican pyramid on the coverart having attracted me! I enjoyed this story, as it was fun to see the team embark on an adventure relating to Mesoamerican culture and mythology. Also loved the connection with the crystal skulls. I thought it was very clever of the author to detail the history of the ancient city of Teotihuacan and the Mayan calendar, etc. at the beginning, which he then ties in nicely with the Stargate Universe cannon to create a believable background story.
Profile Image for Miss Clark.
2,888 reviews223 followers
November 25, 2008
Well, I would not recomend this one, but I do have to say that I appreciated the fact that Whitelaw brought Nick back into the story and the some of the storyline from the episode "Crystal Skull." Just wish that she could have actually done something with the material. As it is, this one fell really flat.
Profile Image for Wanda Seet.
7 reviews
August 9, 2011
Only halfway through the book and I'm already pulling out my hair! My brain and eyes hurt, my neurons and synapses are crying out for mercy!

Unless you are Daniel Jackson or are very familiar with ancient/Aztec history, you'll probably find it difficult to remember/pronounce the names. The plot on itself is not that bad. It's just that the names are driving me insane!
Profile Image for Mark.
336 reviews21 followers
May 27, 2012
SG-1 discovers a brutal society with Aztec roots and learn much more about the origins of the Crystal Skull encountered in a previous mission. Sonny Whitelaw captures the essence of the SG-1 team and presents some entertaining science in the process.

Published in mass-market paperback by Fandemonium Books.
Profile Image for C.A. Craven.
Author 2 books27 followers
July 18, 2012
I love books in a series where the author has clearly read previous books and/or watched the show they're based on. This has both, with a fantastic story based in Aztec/Mayan mythology. The Aztec names are a little difficult at first, but Jack proves a handy "how-to-pronounce" guide along the way :)
Profile Image for Richard Todd.
28 reviews
May 31, 2011
Ever since the conception of Star Gate I have been a loyal fan. I've read most of the books and when I finally read this it was too good to be true.
It actually felt real and it read as if it was a feature film. I really enjoyed it. Good work Sonny
Profile Image for Adam.
204 reviews
July 27, 2011
I quite enjoyed this book; it finishes off the storyline first seen in the Season 3 episode 'Crystal Skull'. It delves into the mythology of the Crystal Skulls and the alien race that created them a lot more in a way that doesn't disappoint.
Profile Image for Pat Hauldren.
Author 3 books6 followers
February 3, 2015
Fun meso american offworld adventure

I really enjoyed the Meso-American tie-ins and the appendix by Jackson at the end was a nice touch. Would love to see more like that. And without giving it away, I did tear up in spots. Nicely done
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews

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