Review by Nathan P. Butler
I'm not quite sure what to say about Resistance. It is, for lack of a better term, the second half of one story, the one that began in Reconaissance. However, as Reconnaissance can be seen as one novel that ends in a cliffhanger (but which stands alone as that "one novel with a cliffhanger") Resistance does not, by any means, have the ability to stand on its own as a novel.
There is very little time in the tale when things aren't in chaotic battle or retreat stages. The character development is minimal for all but the new Successor characters, and it is filled with a handful of rather dull and un-involving subplots, such as the birth of the first Abydan child on Ballas to a retreating refugee woman.
Together, Reconnaissance and Resistance make a decent little story that ties up some of the loose ends left after the Rebellion/Retaliation/Retribution story arc. However, that's all that it is. It's loose ends, a little bit of new backstory for Ra's species, and a ton of running around, shooting at enemies that just don't get too involving (partially thanks to never giving them names, dialogue, or anything of their own in Reconnaissance. This made the leap into narratives on the "hoodat" side of things in Resistance a little jarring).
So, would it have been better if the StarGate novels had ended with Retribution? No, not really. Did we really get much out of the last two books, though? No, not really. Overall, though, the five-book (six-book with the novelization) tale spun by McCay (and Devlin and Emmerich for the novelization) makes for an interesting look at a continuity that might have been, had Devlin and Emmerich not sold off the rights to the franchise, allowing Glassner and Wright to start the Stargate SG-1 continuity.
In a way, it's far more true to the spirit and characterizations of the original film than SG-1 has ever been. When you read about McCay's Jack and McCay's Daniel, you can't help but picture Kurt Russell and James Spader, rather than Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks. Most fans of the SG-1 series, though, will likely tell you that the film was a good start, but it often can't hold a candle to Stargate SG-1.
Thus, I'd recommend this series to anyone interested in alternate continuities and the vagaries of the Stargate feature film. But if you're a diehard fan of SG-1 that can't stand the continuity problems between the film and the television series -- and you just plain wish the film could be twisted to fit the series rather than the other way around -- this novel series is not for you.
Rating: * *
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