Unauthorized Offworld Activation: Exploring the Stargate Franchise

by Rich Handley

In 1928, an archeological dig in Giza, Egypt, unearthed a giant ring and cover stone that had been buried for nearly 10,000 years. Decades later, disgraced Egyptologist Daniel Jackson discovers that this ring is a gateway to another planet, Abydos. However, the “stargate” is also a doorway to danger, as it was originally buried to stop a powerful alien being from enslaving ancient Egyptians in the guise of the god Ra. Thus, the Stargate franchise was born. That first step into the cosmos reveals a vast network of stargates throughout the galaxy and beyond, while introducing Ra’s species, the parasitical Goa’uld, who seek to subjugate all inhabited worlds. Earth establishes a program with the mandate to explore the vast array of planets on the other side of the stargate, while seeking allies and technical assistance in fighting the Goa’uld and freeing those already enslaved. What began as an exciting adventure film in 1994 has endured as a multimedia franchise spanning multiple Stargate television shows ( SG-1 , Infinity , Atlantis , Universe , and Origins ) and an expanded universe of licensed literature. The mythos has explored not only alien civilizations and customs, but also the human condition, politics, and morality. This anthology gathers essays from subject-matter experts examining these and other themes through an insightful and scholarly lens. Chevron seven is locked, and the wormhole is open and ready for you to step through…

251 pages, Paperback

First published May 14, 2022

About the author

Rich Handley has written or co-written five books (Timeline of the Planet of the Apes, Lexicon of the Planet of the Apes, The Back to the Future Lexicon, The Back to the Future Chronology and the novel Conspiracy of the Planet of the Apes), helped to update the reference book Planet of the Apes Revisited, and penned articles for POTA magazine Simian Scrolls. Rich has written fiction and other works for Lucasfilm's licensed Star Wars franchise, and has contributed essays to IDW's Star Trek newspaper strip reprint books, Fantom Press's upcoming Tales from the Forbidden Zone: The Unseen Scripts of Doug Moench, Sequart's New Life and New Civilizations: Exploring Star Trek Comics, and ATB Publishing's impending Star Trek anthology, Outside In: TOS 109. In addition, he has written for or edited numerous other publications, including Star Trek Communicator, Star Trek Magazine, Cinefantastique, Dungeon/Polyhedron, RFID Journal (for which he currently serves as managing editor), and Realm Press's Battlestar Galactica comic book line.