I'm learning that the novelizations of Stargate Altantis do not generally ring true to the characters or pace of the series. This novel is one of the few exceptions. It's not great literature, but then SGA isn't highbrow either. I love it because it makes me happy like Star Trek does. There are real heroes, great characters, and a lot of sci-fi fun. The witty banter is hilarious, the characters have true arcs, the acting was excellent, and the action was great.

Martha Wells knows how to translate that winning formula into a novel. This is one of the few novels that is true to the characters as they were portrayed on the series, particularly when it comes to Rodney McKay and John Sheppard. The show focused a lot on the friendship and friendly rivalry between McKay and Sheppard and this novel does the same. I actually think it is really hard for an author to get a handle on how these two characters interacted and to recreate the magic from the show. But Wells has a very good understanding of, not only McKay and Sheppard, but of the rest of the Atlantis expedition as well. Though the story is more McKay/Sheppard centric, the others are not short-changed by the very brevity of their scenes.

This novel would have made an excellent episode of the show, and that is the highest compliment I can give to a novel based on a television show.

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