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From my last poll, it seems that there's a bunch of people who don't know about the "Stargate Atlantis: Legacy" book series that's due to be out later this year.
The short version: Fandemonium books has contracted three authors - Jo Graham, Amy Griswold, and Melissa Scott - to co-write six books that pick up the story of Stargate: Atlantis where it left off at the end of the Season Five finale Enemy At The Gate.
The "Stargate: Atlantis - Legacy" series will be six books long - Homecoming, The Lost, Allegiance, The Avengers, Secrets, and The Inheritors - through which a major plotarc will be developed and resolved.
How do I know this?
I'm one of a handful of people presently reading the drafts of the book series.
At the end of the series, Atlantis has been brought down to Earth, and is sitting, shielded, out in San Francisco Bay. So far as anyone knows, Atlantis is on Earth to stay.
And so the first book in the series - Homecoming - begins.
MGM has already tastefully (!!!) spoiled the first book. And the title kind of gives it away. They do get to go back to Pegasus. How they get back - and what happens on the way - is a very difficult, intricate, and involved matter!
I've been following the drafts of the series for the last eight months, chapter by chapter, and enjoying all of it. The characters, their friendships, the conflicts; the way individual characters have been developed, the way Pegasus has been developed collectively and at an individual cultural level. There are original characters who bring new facets into the story, touching on the lives of the regulars (and irregulars), and the familiar dynamics between regulars - little things, like John and Rodney holding a conversation that's nearly an argument but not quite, Teyla not saying precisely what she'd like to say to a character but her annoyance coming across sharp and clear all the same, Ronon acting as John's second-in-command out on a mission, and Radek intervening with new information before two other characters do something they regret...
So far? It's an amazing story and I am enjoying it to the hilt.
Do I have an advantage in liking these books? Why, yes. Yes, I do.
After all, I like all the characters, even if they're not all my favourites. I like the idea of Earth on a learning curve, fighting a retreating battle against an enemy, making deals with the devil, having to deal with their limitations without god-modding when the 40 minutes of TV slot time is up. I like a good action-packed, character-driven story where relationships - friendship and romantic - are part of the story but not the story.
And the Stargate Atlantis: Legacy series does this.
Characters are developed and stretched to their limits. Pegasus society and culture is elaborated upon, defined, described, and untangled from each other to become distinct groups of people with their own distinct habits and ways. Earth politics with its international (and internal) divisions are teased out from beneath the overarching banner of the IOA and the 'governments of Earth'. And the Wraith are given a culture - interactions, relationships, dynamics, and even myths, legends, and a backstory.
Our familiar and favourite characters all appear and have roles to play and the dead are neither dismissed nor forgotten by the living.
My favourite character scenes from what I've read so far are: John waking up in a desert and thinking himself back in Afghanistan, Carson talking down a hostage situation, Teyla making an unexpected alliance, Ronon bringing an injured child to Keller, Rodney's first scene in The Lost, Keller having a discussion with Todd about names and family, Sam on her new ship - the George Hammond - and contemplating which of her team-mates she's going to write back to, Radek telling John that Teyla is a tank disguised as a beautiful woman, Woolsey looking around at Atlantis and thinking that this is what he wanted to do - make a difference not argue politics, and Teyla and Todd standing back to back in a fight against enemy Wraith.
And I have to stop there or else I'll spill the whole damn plot!
But you get the drift.
Frankly, there are things I would have liked to see that I'm not going to get. I can live with that. I know the writers have gotten flak from the Elizabeth fans for not including Elizabeth (apparently the authors were told that Elizabeth's story is over and they weren't to include her in the series which they've cunningly subverted...shh! Don't tell!), and I know there are people already complaining that the story isn't going to be about John cooing over an injured Rodney and comforting him with healing buttsex. I've heard that someone is going about stirring up the Sam/Jack fans with the "news" that John/Sam is a major pairing in the story. (WTF? Everyone knows it's Sam/The George Hammond! Get with it, people!)
Whatever its shortcomings - real or perceived - the Legacy book series is a good story and the arc is looking DAMN EPIC. *flails*
Will you enjoy the books?
I'd say fans who loved the show and its character and storyarc possibilities will be up for this. Fans with a willingness to embrace concepts and ideas which showed promise but weren't executed so well in the show. Action-adventure fans, drama fans, team fans. Fans who will read a good action-filled story about great characters in tough situations, who sometimes fall and sometimes fail, but sometimes succeed beyond all expectation. Fans who enjoy the idea that there'll be some kind of resolution to Pegasus' fate, instead of hanging the locals out to dry.
I've already seen people who say they aren't reading the Legacy series because it's not "canon" (ie. written and authorised by the Stargate PTB). There are groups who say they aren't reading the Legacy series because it's not going to be about the character they like, or it's not going to justify the pairing they like. There are people who say they aren't reading the Legacy series because it won't hit their kinks. (Although how they know that not having actually read the books, IDEK.)
To read or not to read is the choice that all fans who know about this series are going to make. I'm not here to say that it's wrong or right. I'm fairly sure the series won't work for everyone.
I just personally think that by saying 'ka' before you've tried it (Daniel, in SG1: The First Ones), you'd miss out on a really good Stargate story.
Incidentally, if you want to know more about the ongoing process of writing the series,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jo_graham has a LiveJournal with which she keeps fans updated on her work. (Not just SGA; she has another world of her own there.)
--
I wrote this a couple of weeks ago, but then discovered just now that a number of people who read my journal and are SGA fans don't know about the Legacy series. Probably because they don't hang out on any of the SGA comms. So. Now they do. :D
The short version: Fandemonium books has contracted three authors - Jo Graham, Amy Griswold, and Melissa Scott - to co-write six books that pick up the story of Stargate: Atlantis where it left off at the end of the Season Five finale Enemy At The Gate.
The "Stargate: Atlantis - Legacy" series will be six books long - Homecoming, The Lost, Allegiance, The Avengers, Secrets, and The Inheritors - through which a major plotarc will be developed and resolved.
How do I know this?
I'm one of a handful of people presently reading the drafts of the book series.
At the end of the series, Atlantis has been brought down to Earth, and is sitting, shielded, out in San Francisco Bay. So far as anyone knows, Atlantis is on Earth to stay.
And so the first book in the series - Homecoming - begins.
MGM has already tastefully (!!!) spoiled the first book. And the title kind of gives it away. They do get to go back to Pegasus. How they get back - and what happens on the way - is a very difficult, intricate, and involved matter!
I've been following the drafts of the series for the last eight months, chapter by chapter, and enjoying all of it. The characters, their friendships, the conflicts; the way individual characters have been developed, the way Pegasus has been developed collectively and at an individual cultural level. There are original characters who bring new facets into the story, touching on the lives of the regulars (and irregulars), and the familiar dynamics between regulars - little things, like John and Rodney holding a conversation that's nearly an argument but not quite, Teyla not saying precisely what she'd like to say to a character but her annoyance coming across sharp and clear all the same, Ronon acting as John's second-in-command out on a mission, and Radek intervening with new information before two other characters do something they regret...
So far? It's an amazing story and I am enjoying it to the hilt.
Do I have an advantage in liking these books? Why, yes. Yes, I do.
After all, I like all the characters, even if they're not all my favourites. I like the idea of Earth on a learning curve, fighting a retreating battle against an enemy, making deals with the devil, having to deal with their limitations without god-modding when the 40 minutes of TV slot time is up. I like a good action-packed, character-driven story where relationships - friendship and romantic - are part of the story but not the story.
And the Stargate Atlantis: Legacy series does this.
Characters are developed and stretched to their limits. Pegasus society and culture is elaborated upon, defined, described, and untangled from each other to become distinct groups of people with their own distinct habits and ways. Earth politics with its international (and internal) divisions are teased out from beneath the overarching banner of the IOA and the 'governments of Earth'. And the Wraith are given a culture - interactions, relationships, dynamics, and even myths, legends, and a backstory.
Our familiar and favourite characters all appear and have roles to play and the dead are neither dismissed nor forgotten by the living.
My favourite character scenes from what I've read so far are: John waking up in a desert and thinking himself back in Afghanistan, Carson talking down a hostage situation, Teyla making an unexpected alliance, Ronon bringing an injured child to Keller, Rodney's first scene in The Lost, Keller having a discussion with Todd about names and family, Sam on her new ship - the George Hammond - and contemplating which of her team-mates she's going to write back to, Radek telling John that Teyla is a tank disguised as a beautiful woman, Woolsey looking around at Atlantis and thinking that this is what he wanted to do - make a difference not argue politics, and Teyla and Todd standing back to back in a fight against enemy Wraith.
And I have to stop there or else I'll spill the whole damn plot!
But you get the drift.
Frankly, there are things I would have liked to see that I'm not going to get. I can live with that. I know the writers have gotten flak from the Elizabeth fans for not including Elizabeth (apparently the authors were told that Elizabeth's story is over and they weren't to include her in the series which they've cunningly subverted...shh! Don't tell!), and I know there are people already complaining that the story isn't going to be about John cooing over an injured Rodney and comforting him with healing buttsex. I've heard that someone is going about stirring up the Sam/Jack fans with the "news" that John/Sam is a major pairing in the story. (WTF? Everyone knows it's Sam/The George Hammond! Get with it, people!)
Whatever its shortcomings - real or perceived - the Legacy book series is a good story and the arc is looking DAMN EPIC. *flails*
Will you enjoy the books?
I'd say fans who loved the show and its character and storyarc possibilities will be up for this. Fans with a willingness to embrace concepts and ideas which showed promise but weren't executed so well in the show. Action-adventure fans, drama fans, team fans. Fans who will read a good action-filled story about great characters in tough situations, who sometimes fall and sometimes fail, but sometimes succeed beyond all expectation. Fans who enjoy the idea that there'll be some kind of resolution to Pegasus' fate, instead of hanging the locals out to dry.
I've already seen people who say they aren't reading the Legacy series because it's not "canon" (ie. written and authorised by the Stargate PTB). There are groups who say they aren't reading the Legacy series because it's not going to be about the character they like, or it's not going to justify the pairing they like. There are people who say they aren't reading the Legacy series because it won't hit their kinks. (Although how they know that not having actually read the books, IDEK.)
To read or not to read is the choice that all fans who know about this series are going to make. I'm not here to say that it's wrong or right. I'm fairly sure the series won't work for everyone.
I just personally think that by saying 'ka' before you've tried it (Daniel, in SG1: The First Ones), you'd miss out on a really good Stargate story.
Incidentally, if you want to know more about the ongoing process of writing the series,
jo_graham has a LiveJournal with which she keeps fans updated on her work. (Not just SGA; she has another world of her own there.) --
I wrote this a couple of weeks ago, but then discovered just now that a number of people who read my journal and are SGA fans don't know about the Legacy series. Probably because they don't hang out on any of the SGA comms. So. Now they do. :D
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And they're very good with Rodney/Keller, which I think you like as well?
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Very much so. :)
And I can imagine that some people are disappointed that it's not going to be the John and Rodney show considering how popular that version is in LJ fandom, but as far as I'm concerned that's another plus. There are so many interesting characters in this ensemble, and after years of getting the John and Rodney show I've got such a hankering for stories that explore all of them, not just the two main characters. I'm thrilled to hear that Ronon and Teyla won't be short-changed. And that Sam and Todd will be there too, and Radek! I actually haven't felt this excited about the fandom in a while. Huh.
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(And a part of me has been watching the SPN J2 Haiti outrage unfold and thinks, "the epic love of two white men in a foreign place where the foreigners are considered nothing more than useful background...now why should that make me think of Stargate fandom?")
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As I said before, these remind me of the Star Trek DS9 novels that came out *long after* (and I believe it was 10 years) the show was over. They were canon but released from the constraints of the show, which made them a lot of fun to read and reminded me why I liked the show in the first place.
I'm willing to be on board if only for the fact that we get to know more about Pegasus and her peoples. The meat so to speak.
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