Categories: Products

Book Review: ‘The Barque of Heaven’

Book #11 in Fandemonium’s line of Stargate novels is certainly my favourite book so far.

Set midway through Season Three of Stargate SG-1, “The Barque of Heaven” begins with the team stepping foot on an old, abandoned Goa’uld planet. After the usual checking out of the immediate area, the team find they are unable to dial out, and have accidentally triggered an ancient trial made by Ra in order to test Goa’uld that wish to serve him. They find that they have to gate from planet to planet, completing tasks within a given time. Their only way out is to complete the trial.

I found “The Barque of Heaven” to be very well written, and the familiar SG-1 group dynamic is plain to see. The book is extremely well paced, too. A criticism I have found of other novels is that it takes so long to get into the meat of the story or there are stretches of story which just plod along, but I did not find any of that here. As soon as you start reading you are in the thick of the action.

The fact that each planet they gate to they have a time limit helps keep up the pace, and as they cannot rest, restock or resupply, they become wearier and more exhausted, which makes for great tension too.

If you have never read a Stargate novel before, then I would recommend that you start here!

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Hetshepsu

Hetshepsu is a GateWorld contributor.

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  • This is by far the best of the Fandemonium books. Excellent team interaction and characterization, suspenseful, and an all round good read. In my opionion, many of the novels have some fairly dubious characterization, which this one doesn't suffer from at all. I recommend it highly.

  • amconway, I totally agree with you! i have all of them and IT IS the best one by far. It was great to see some things in this book that have been lacking in other books. Team Work.
    This one gets a 10 out of 10 from me.

  • Another one who agrees that out of ALL the Fandemonium SG-1 novels, this far outshines the rest....perfect team and individual characterisations and a great story!... concentrates on the job in hand, without getting sidetracked on superfluous nonsense and shows SG-1 working together at their finest...I hope this author gets the chance to write many more like this for the franchise...

    Deeds xx

  • I read this one myself and thought it was the best as well. I loved the team dynamics as well as the story as a whole fit in with the main stories but at the same time, stood alone. You could easily pick up the book and know what was going on as well. Very well paced and a fabulous story! i agree some start to lack that pace as you go a long but this one was just too hard to put down.

  • I bought the book last April and although I have not yet read the book, I can say that the author is a lovely lovely lady...I'm not surprised it's as good as you all say!! Now I can't wait to find that special time to read it.

  • Chelle! From one Aussie to another definetly find that special time to read it! you will not regret it!

  • Absolutely, hands down, the best out of all the Fandemonium books I have read thus far. Very much in character, very much in the action, and completely brilliant.

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Hetshepsu
Tags: SG-1

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