Review by Nathan P. Butler
Much better than Rebellion, Retaliation focuses far more on the struggle between the Abydan/Earth forces and Hathor's forces. The human interaction was a bit more down-to-earth, particularly in dealing with the issues of poverty, economic depression, and perceived infidelity. The political squabbling of the "godlets" was sorely missed in this one, as it was so interesting in the previous novel, but it is made up for by the revelation of the Eye of Ra as being more than a trinket, but in fact being the key to an immense planet-killing super-ship, made by Ra's alien race.
What sets this one apart, really, though, is the cliffhanger ending. Oh, sure, Hathor was still out there at the end of Rebellion, but Retaliation leaves us with that same sense of an impending enemy starship attack against Earth that we had at the end of Stargate SG-1's season 1 episodes "There But For the Grace of God" and "Politics," mixed with the superweapon fears that emerged amid the two-part "Lost City" finale.
And who in their right mind would ever have expected that Abydos would be wiped out in the novel series? Granted, Anubis did so in Stargate SG-1 continuity, but it's quite something to realize that someone else -- Bill McCay -- decimated the world for another StarGate continuity first, years earlier. I'm now on the edge of my seat to begin reading Retribution, the third spin-off book by McCay.
Rating: unrated
|
