A lot of times, when it comes to reviews, it can be more fun writing the bad ones than the good ones. It can be pretty dull to write (or read!): "This was really good and well-written." No, it's more enjoyable to write a long rambling diatribe about idiocy and throwing the book at the wall and how it would have made you tear your hair out if you weren't already bald. Bad reviews are easy, and they're fun, and they're entertaining. But good reviews are helpful. They let you know it's okay to spend your money on something.

It’s okay to spend your money on this book. If you want a good Stargate adventure (and why wouldn’t you?) you could do worse than Four Dragons. A lot worse.

This novel could have gone off the rails any number of ways, but I'm willing to overlook a lot of its flaws for the sole reason that... she pulls it off. Author Diana Dru Botsford tries some ambitious things and she manages to make them work. For instance, normally I would bristle at the opening scene where Teal'c is granted the honorary rank of Chief Master Sergeant. That's a huge rank, and it seems like something that should have been brought up in the series, were it true... and yet. I feel it was giving us something that should have happened. It would make sense that after six and a half years with SG-1 and having been instrumental in saving the world so many times (he’s counting) that the military would award him SOME kind of honorary rank. Just in case of an emergency and Teal'c has to start giving orders. Botsford also hints at the possibility that the military only did it to make sure he didn't run off and join the Rebel Jaffa. Very possible, and definitely something I could see happening in the series.

Jack seemed a bit out of character in places, sometimes becoming more Greg House than Jack O'Neill, but given the situation that can be explained away, too. He was under a lot of stress, Daniel had just come back from Ascension, etc. A bit of jackassery can be forgiven. He does have one moment that might just be a failure of imagination... Jack has to run his hand along a wall of thorns. He does this without gloves, and ends up with a lot of cuts and scrapes and tears and thorns embedded in the flesh. The entire scene, I was wondering why he didn't at least pull down his sleeve to cover his hand. Let the jacket get torn. You may still get pricked and stuck, but at least it would cut down on the damage a little bit. But, people have acted that dumb on the show. That can be forgiven, too.

Four Dragons gives every main character their moment to shine. I could very easily see everyone from the show in the situations the author put them into.

One of the best parts is when Botsford -- in an amazing feat of juggling -- uses her story to drop in little explanations for things from the show. For instance, remember when Teal'c inexplicably stopped wearing his SG team jacket? The reason the show gave, I think, was basically: "Have you seen his muscles? He has big muscles." This book revealed that the Goa'uld symbiote prefers warm temperatures, but since giving up the symbiote and taking tretonin, Teal'c has discovered he likes it colder. So he stopped wearing the jacket. She also explains away a small plot hole from the episode "Fair Game" (03.03). It's something I'd never even thought of, but the explanation really worked.

This is what happens when a fan writes a Stargate novel. You get an interesting story, effectively woven into the series timeline, chock full of nuts character moments that ring true. You get tidbits of information that reach back into your brain and remind you of episodes you haven't seen in years and makes them fresh in your mind again. The only time I wanted to throw the book down was when I had the urge to run and get my DVDs to rewatch an episode she referenced. And when I did, I happened across a Yu episode that had the Royal Guard from the book present in a scene! I was stunned!

My only real complaints are these: fan- (and me-) favorite Dr. Janet Fraiser played a pretty vital role in one subplot, but she was practically a non-entity. Botsford told us what she did rather than showing it. "Janet asked if he wanted a glass of water, Janet did this..." So she was mostly a shadow drifting through the scene she was involved in. Maybe the author didn't trust her Janet voice, maybe it was any number of things. But it’s really a very minor failing, and so gets a pass.

Second complaint: Botsford uses the same description for two different people. It's almost a copy-paste. There's a reason for it, but it seemed like an obvious signpost letting the reader figure something out hundreds of pages before the main characters do. And yet... as bad as that might sound... had this been an episode, and had you SEEN the two characters, you still would have figured it out at the same time. So technically this error is just something that made the novel seem more episode-like. Kudos to the author for that!

Also getting a pass... Sam can be in danger without Jack pining for her. Jack can get injured and let Sam give him first aid without worrying about kissing her. REALLY. It's POSSIBLE. The Sam/Jack scenes are minor and easily ignored; there aren't long passages about how he longs for her, how much his heart aches when she's close, blah blah blah, but the Sam/Jack IS present. But then, I've yet to see a Stargate novel where it wasn't at least hinted at (except maybe The Power Behind the Throne… oh God, did I just say something positive about that book?), so that's no reason to punish this one.

If you’re a Stargate fan looking for a fix, I think you'll be happy with this novel. Yes, it may seem focused on Jack and Daniel, and it may make you hesitate when you see that it has a heavy focus on Lord Yu, but don’t let that stop you. While it does explore the System Lord and give us a lot of information that seems like an overload of fanon, we never got to see the end of Yu's story on the show. I highly doubt we'll ever get another look into his world. So enjoy it while you can.

And for fun times... we get to see the bathroom of a Goa’uld cargo ship! It sounds awesome and appropriately gaudy. (Snake-head faucet? I want that!)

  -- Geonn Cannon
             www.geonncannon.com