amynbell's review
5.0
I was absolutely glued to the pages of this Stargate Atlantis fanfic novel written by the author of [b:Fluency|22566044|Fluency (Confluence, #1)|Jennifer Foehner Wells|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1403451883s/22566044.jpg|42028608]. I had just been looking at my Stargate Atlantis laptop screensaver and missing the series (yes, I'm that kind of nerd) when I cruised over to the author's GoodReads page and saw she had written this 500ish page novel. I loved her writing so much that I was sure she'd do justice to the world of Stargate Atlantis, and I was right. She wrote the characters in such a way that they were all real again. The storyline picks up and intertwines its way mainly through season 3 in such a way that this is an entirely new story in the foreground with a familiar story going on in the background. The author creates a new character, Emily, and I had to look several times to make sure she wasn't real. It seems as if she should have been in the series all along.
In this story, Emily, an archeologist for SG1, picks up an alien device that shows her future to her: her unhappy marriage to Daniel Jackson, her sadness over his untimely death, and her late life whirlwind romance with Rodney Mckay. She'd only gone on a couple of dates with Daniel, so she breaks that relationship off and finally acquiesces to go to Atlantis in order to meet Rodney in her 20s (or 30s?) rather than in her late 50s. This is written as an alternate history enacted the moment that Emily decided to go to Atlantis rather than merely hear about it from afar. As a result, she saves the lives of 3 main characters and entire worlds and jumpstarts her relationship with Rodney.
I couldn't stand Rodney when I first started watching Stargate. He's pompous, arrogant, and sometimes rude. But the longer I watched, the more I liked him. There really was a kind and tender side behind all of that braggart veneer. This author did her best to make me develop a character crush on him. I have to admit that I started following the actor's nerdy tweets (he didn't get to do D&D today because of an unexpected kid birthday party).
This largely feels like a wish fulfillment character romance indulgence on the part of the author, but she does it so well. And she allows Emily to save beloved characters and solve some of the problems that Atlantis was faced with the first time around. I'd love to see this done as a movie with the old crew of the series. It would make a nice nostalgic and fulfilling but better series ending for fans to enjoy. But, really, I feel like I watched it already because the book was so well written.
In this story, Emily, an archeologist for SG1, picks up an alien device that shows her future to her: her unhappy marriage to Daniel Jackson, her sadness over his untimely death, and her late life whirlwind romance with Rodney Mckay. She'd only gone on a couple of dates with Daniel, so she breaks that relationship off and finally acquiesces to go to Atlantis in order to meet Rodney in her 20s (or 30s?) rather than in her late 50s. This is written as an alternate history enacted the moment that Emily decided to go to Atlantis rather than merely hear about it from afar. As a result, she saves the lives of 3 main characters and entire worlds and jumpstarts her relationship with Rodney.
I couldn't stand Rodney when I first started watching Stargate. He's pompous, arrogant, and sometimes rude. But the longer I watched, the more I liked him. There really was a kind and tender side behind all of that braggart veneer. This author did her best to make me develop a character crush on him. I have to admit that I started following the actor's nerdy tweets (he didn't get to do D&D today because of an unexpected kid birthday party).
This largely feels like a wish fulfillment character romance indulgence on the part of the author, but she does it so well. And she allows Emily to save beloved characters and solve some of the problems that Atlantis was faced with the first time around. I'd love to see this done as a movie with the old crew of the series. It would make a nice nostalgic and fulfilling but better series ending for fans to enjoy. But, really, I feel like I watched it already because the book was so well written.
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