Review by Nathan P. Butler
Wrought with far more Earth drama than I ever would've expected from this series, Retribution takes in the plight of Abydan refugees, the greed of the military industrial complex, strange phenomena on Earth (outside of just the Egyptian myths) and, of course, the revelation of the StarGate to the people of Earth. Complete with all of the political bickering, profiteering, and armchair quarterbacking that comes with a worldwide 24-hour news media.
This is a realistic interpretation of how our world would react to the StarGate and a Hathor-esque threat. It's at once realistic and satirical without those two concepts negating each other.
The threads laid down in Rebellion and Retaliation about the Ombos rebellion and the mysterious race that built Ra's technology for him finally bear fruit here in grand fashion. What we figured were throwaway references to past times that were meant to give some depth to the Hathor character become crucial plot points and part of a much larger tapestry than we were led to believe.
Until now, the StarGate novels seemed to be taking a far less epic, if not entirely non-epic approach to Stargate film spin-offs, a far cry from the galaxy-spanning adventures of Stargate SG-1. The discovery of the new StarGate coordinates aboard the Boat also expand the chances for epic drama.
And so, with a fairly cinematic and well-done third installment, McCay's first StarGate crisis, the threat of Hathor, comes to a close. But two more books remain. What might they hold in store for us?
Rating: * * * *
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