I'm going to do something that might go against the reviewer's handbook. I'm going to recommend a book I didn't particularly like.

I was conflicted by this book. While I didn't like it, I also couldn't put my finger on anything in particular to cause that dislike. The barebones of the plot is that the team discovers evidence of a shield that could protect Earth from the Goa'uld, and they travel to a planet where the technology originated. They discover there's been a great cover-up and the technology they want isn't to be spoken of. Big secrets, two warring societies, a search for Important Technology... textbook Stargate novel.

Then there's the multitude of things the author gets right. The characters are familiar, and the aliens are suitably alien. Like the show, the author managed to make an alien society with touches of the familiar: a devoutly religious leadership and a society that worships a television program (because that would never happen to humans, cough cough). The villains were villainous, but not in a cartoon-ish mustache-twirling way.

The story takes place three weeks after the events of “Beneath the Surface” (04.10) and the author handily deals with the repercussions of that episode. The story addressed Jack being a little gun shy about trusting alien governments, about going into situations where they don't have the facts, and did it in a suitably impressive way. And I know some people might consider this a minus, but I appreciated that the book didn't focus on the Sam/Jack and Jonah/Thera situation. The show wouldn't have gone there, and the book didn't take liberties trying to force it on us.

There was action and banter, there were great team moments. It was obviously written by a fan, which is a relief after some of the Stargate novels I've read where I wasn't entirely sure (I'm looking at you, Power Behind the Throne and Nightfall).

That said, I still found myself pretty indifferent to the book. The story had a suitable pace, but the plot was just the tiniest bit too predictable. It was like watching a repeat of an episode you'd seen years before and thought was only okay back then. It's not the worst thing in the world, but you can let your attention wander. You can do a load of dishes before you come back to check on the story's progress.

I'm not going to dwell on this very much. In the end, I decided that I didn't like the book and I set it aside. There were no moments when I wanted to hurl it at the wall, nothing that made me sigh and close the book to watch television for a little while before I ventured back into the mud and the muck. It was an okay book. Maybe it just wasn't for me.

Regardless, you could certainly do worse in terms of Stargate novels than picking up a copy of Sunrise.

(And, just in case anyone is interested, my all-time favorite Stargate novel is #13, Hydra).

   -- Geonn Cannon