This month, I recommend you buy Brimstone, the 15th book in the Stargate Atlantis books series.

Brimstone, Stargate Atlantis Book #15

Buy Stargate Atlantis: Brimstone (SGA-15)

I finally read Brimstone by David Niall Wilson and Patricia Lee Macomber! Brimstone is book #15 in the Stargate Atlantis book series and it was an interesting addition to the series. Although the book wasn’t perfect–there were a few pretty big plot holes that weren’t filled–but it was still a book well worth a read.

For fans of the SGA series, Brimstone gives us a strong dose of each of our favorite team members. John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Teyla, and Ronon all appear in the book, and all have full roles. Sheppard seemed to be the main character of the book, but Brimstone was definitely a team story.

Saul made a good villain for our team to struggle against, and the world he inhabited came across vividly as I read.

Brimstone was a quick read, full of excitement and tension. If you enjoy reading tie-in novels, and you enjoy Stargate Atlantis, you’ll probably enjoy this book.

Description for Brimstone SGA-15

Atlantis discovers a moon that’s about to plunge into its own sun. John Sheppard’s team makes a trip through the stargate to discover if there are survivors who need to be saved from the moon’s surface.

Although the city seems abandoned at first, the team quickly finds an inhabited underworld full of descendants of the Ancients. Decadence and debauchery have taken over their lives and they seem not to care about their impending fate.

Faced with a society of people interested only in the next entertainment, Sheppard, McKay, Teyla, and Ronon must fight their way free of the city before succumbing to a fiery death.

Buy Stargate Atlantis: Brimstone (SGA-15)

The Stargate Atlantis Complete Series Blu-ray is going on sale July 26!

You can preorder now, and frankly if you know you want it, I don’t see why you wouldn’t. There’s a big fat discount on the SGA Blu-ray box set at Amazon right now that you won’t want to miss.

Buy Stargate Atlantis: Complete Series Gift Set [Blu-ray]

If you want a list of the featurettes and the commentary included on the discs, check out this post. I meant to post it later, after the Blu-ray set went on sale, but I pushed a button and posted it anyway. Ah, well. ;)

Once I get the set and watch some of it myself, I’ll do a review highlighting the Blu-ray specific items that aren’t part of my collection of DVD box sets. As it is, that post is really just a list of the goodies you get in the Stargate Atlantis Blu-ray set.

The long wait for SGA on Blu-ray is finally over! This gorgeous cover art is the box cover for the Stargate Atlantis Blu-ray set for the complete series–all five exciting seasons of Stargate Atlantis in one box set totaling 20 Blu-ray discs.

Buy Stargate Atlantis Blu-ray Complete Series Box Set

This is the first time Stargate Atlantis has been released on Blu-ray. If you haven’t caved to the need to own this series, now that the Blu-ray discs are here, you might want to reconsider.

On July 26, 2011, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment released a sensational, stunning, high-definition “Stargate: Atlantis” The Complete Series Blu-ray gift set that includes all 5 seasons of Stargate Atlantis, commentary, and special featurettes with all of the goodies listed below.

The Stargate Atlantis Blu-ray box set is a collection worth owning. Priced below the cost of the entire series on DVD if you purchase the seasons separately, this Blu-ray set is a great deal at the current discount. Check the price here.

Complete Series Specs: … "Stargate Atlantis Complete Series Blu-Ray" continues >

The Lost is available to purchase now, if you’re a fan of the new Legacy series from Fandemonium. This book is written by Jo Graham and Amy Griswold. Published April 16, 2011, The Lost continues the Stargate Atlantis adventure now that they’ve returned to the Pegasus galaxy!

The Lost, SGA #17

Legacy Series, Book #2

Paperback or Kindle ebook

Note that when you go to the paperback edition of The Lost, it appears that the book isn’t available for Kindle. There is a Kindle edition of the book, though for some strange reason the two aren’t linked. Here’s a direct link to The Lost Kindle ebook.

Set after the end of the television series, The Lost continues where Homecoming left off. The Lost isn’t a book you’re going to want to read without having read Homecoming first, so I’m not going to bother with a book description. If you’ve read Homecoming, you’re going to want to read The Lost unless you just didn’t like the book, because this is a continuing series.

Spoiler Alert

Don’t read any further unless you don’t mind a few spoilers.

I love Atlantis like few other shows on TV. Too bad it’s all over but the books and the fan fiction. The thing is, and I’m being totally honest here, I’m not buying this book until I read it from the library first and as I’m still on the waiting list for Homecoming, it could be a while before that happens.

My hesitation stems from the reviews and comments I’ve seen from other fans who have read The Lost.

The biggest issue that keeps getting mentioned is that the series started off strong with Homecoming but ended on a cliffhanger. Then The Lost came and moved the plot of the Legacy series along not a bit except for an event that happens at the end of the book. The refrain: The Lost is boring.

Now, I don’t know if it is or not. I haven’t read it, but it’s not just this that has me tiptoeing around the notion of buying this book without knowing if I’ll like it.

Jo Graham wrote a previous book in the Stargate Atlantis book series, Death Game. I started the book back in December sometime (I think), and after having zoomed right through Reliquary, Dead End, and Mirror Mirror, I expected to get through Death Game pretty quickly too. It hasn’t happened. I stopped on about page 70ish and I’m still there. It’s not that the book was bad, just that it didn’t hold my interest and I’m notorious for putting books aside and coming back to them later when I get a little bored. My goal is to finish it up soon, but until I do, I am going to have to withhold judgment about whether or not I like Jo Graham’s work. Seventy-ish pages just aren’t enough in this case for me to decide if this author handles the characters in a way that I enjoy reading!

Finally, I’m a huge Rodney McKay fan. According to everything I’ve read about this book, McKay’s role is miniscule. Apparently he’s, well, lost, and he has to be found. He isn’t in most of the book.

There’s also developing/changing relationships, meaning the characters aren’t staying static now that the series is over and the authors don’t have to worry about the show canon negating the books before they’re even published. Since I’m quite happy with the Stargate Atlantis characters as they stood at the unfortunate end of the series, I’m not sure how open I am to that kind of thing!

Fan fiction is one thing; printed books are something else. Even when I tell myself it’s no different than reading fan fiction and that anything I don’t like I can throw out when I go back to the series to watch, I can never seem to do that as easily when I read a book. TV show runners can say all they like that the books aren’t canon, but that doesn’t mean I find it easy to agree!

So there you go. Buy The Lost if you want more SGA adventures and none of the things I have mentioned are likely to interfere with your enjoyment of the story. If you do buy it, once you read it, let me know what you thought of the book.

This month, I highly recommend you pick up Mirror Mirror, the 9th book in the Stargate Atlantis books series.

Mirror Mirror, SGA #9

Mirror Mirror by Sabine C. Bauer is SGA book #9. Events mentioned in the book put the setting of the story sometime during or after season two but definitely before the end of season three of the Stargate Atlantis series. At 353 pages, Mirror Mirror is a fully fleshed out adventure that would have made a great two or three episode arc.

There’s no lag in the beginning of this story, no time wasted on a complex set up. We’re dropped right into the action, and discover quickly that things aren’t the way they’re supposed to be for our Atlantis team members. Mirror Mirror focuses on Sheppard, McKay, Teyla, Ronon, Weir, and Zelenka. It’s an interesting mix of my favorites from the series and I enjoyed the reveal of what was going on and how it had happened.

After using a device that was supposed to eliminate the Wraith, the team is scattered into a variety of alternate realities, where they have to try to figure out what’s happened and how to fix it, if it can even be fixed.

I felt like Sabine C. Bauer understood these characters and I thought her characterizations of each of them rang clear and true to the characters I see onscreen whenever I watch an episode of SGA.

The only thing I can come up with to complain about is the idea that in the end the characters might have retained their memories of what occurred. Since I don’t want to give away any plot points, I can’t really say more, except that several characters might have considerably more (and disturbing) memories than others as a result of Charybdis, and that I couldn’t see this being something that wouldn’t have fit right back into the SGA TV universe. There is reference to “lingering memories” though, so it’s possible the memories are fading… However, it’s a small quibble, and the story is certainly good enough that that small quibble couldn’t steal away my enjoyment of the book as a whole.

Mirror Mirror is a book full of adventure, action, tension, and drama, with moments of humor, reminiscent of the great episodes of the series. If you read no other book in the series, give Mirror Mirror a try. After reading, Mirror Mirror quickly became my favorite Stargate Atlantis novel. Maybe you’ll like it too!

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You can buy Mirror Mirror from Amazon in paperback or ebook or from Barnes & Noble.

I seriously wish there was a nook version!

Need to know what gift to give to a fan of Stargate Atlantis? Here’s an idea. Try gifting the Stargate Atlantis complete series DVD box set. Get the complete series on DVD.

The box set includes all five seasons of Stargate Atlantis, in a 26 disc set, and both the broadcast and extended versions of the episodes “Vegas” and “Enemy at the Gate” and a bonus disc that has two featurettes, comes in a beautiful box with all new artwork (different from the individual season DVD sets). You also get all the bonus features that are on the original season DVD sets so you really will have everything!

The featurettes included are: Mission 100: Atlantis Reaches a Milestone and Stargate Atlantis: A Retrospective.

Any fan of Stargate Atlantis would love to receive the Stargate Atlantis Complete Series box set as a gift. I say that because I know I would love to receive it. :) I hope my significant other is reading this about right now, even if he doesn’t quite understand why I would want a box set when I already own the individual seasons on DVD. I keep hoping SGA’s complete series will be released on Blu-Ray, but I haven’t seen the box set available in that format yet.

Get the complete series on DVD!

My pick for this month’s Stargate Atlantis book is Dead End, SGA #12. I have to admit, it’s the second book I’ve read in the Stargate Atlantis books series, and while it wasn’t my intention to link the monthly selections for this site to the order in which I’m reading them, that’s what it appears I’m doing.

Dead End, SGA #12

Dead End by Chris Wraight is SGA book #12. Wraight’s story sends the Atlantis team to Dead End, a planet at the very edge of the Stargate network in the Pegasus galaxy. Set sometime in early season three of the Stargate Atlantis series, Dead End follows the team as they find themselves trapped on a frozen planet with no way home. There they meet The Forgotten, a tribe of people once looked after by the Ancients but who now wait for their return.

Although Dead End had its share of flaws, overall the story was fast-paced and exciting, with the action-adventure I’m used to seeing on the show itself.

I enjoyed the characterization of both Sheppard and McKay, and thought Teyla was pretty close to the mark, if not quite as sharply drawn as I would have liked. Ronon’s characterization, on the other hand, is one of the big flaws of the book. I felt like passages in his viewpoint often drew him as someone else entirely. After all the experiences he’s had to have had after seven years as a Runner, and his usual aggressive behavior on the show, I found some of his actions in Dead End to be out of character.

The other big flaw of the book was in referring to the Atlantis expedition members as the Tau’ri by Ronon and Teyla. This is a purely Stargate SG-1 term, and to my knowledge as an avid fan of SGA, no one from the Pegasus galaxy has ever called the Stargate Atlantis expedition members the Tau’ri. (Tau’ri being a Goa’uld term.)

Those flaws aside, I enjoyed Dead End and thought it made a fine addition to the Stargate Atlantis books. The story is a team adventure, much the way all the best episodes of the show are, and although the team is split up for much of the book, all the regulars–John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Teyla, Ronon, Radek Zelenka, and Elizabeth Weir–have their part to play in the adventure.

I found Dead End to be an entertaining and quick read, with action, adventure, excitement, and drama. I also believe it’s well-worth the cost of the book to enjoy one more adventure with the team!

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You can buy Dead End from Amazon in paperback or from Barnes & Noble.

There’s no nook version at this time (but I continue to click the link to tell them I want it every time I visit the site :) because, you know, there should be).

Fandemonium, publisher of the Stargate Atlantis tie in novels has made the announcement that you can finally buy Homecoming, the new SGA book that starts the Legacy series, set after the final season of Stargate Atlantis. Homecoming, Book one of the Legacy Series, is book #16 in the Stargate Atlantis series. Amazon is still showing a preorder link, but it’s certain the be available there soon!

From the Fandemonium email announcement:

We are thrilled to announce that STARGATE ATLANTIS Homecoming, the first book in the brand new STARGATE ATLANTIS Legacy series, is now available to order from stargatenovels.com!  Set after STARGATE ATLANTIS’ final season, the six book Legacy series takes our favorite characters into brand new territory – which means that anything can happen, to anybody! The stakes have never been so high.

STARGATE ATLANTIS Homecoming (Legacy Book One) – Jo Graham and Melissa Scott

Atlantis has returned to Earth, its team has disbursed and are beginning new lives far from the dangers of the Pegasus galaxy.  They think the adventure is over.

They’re wrong.

With the help of General Jack O’Neill, Atlantis rises once more – and the former members of the expedition must decide whether to return with her to Pegasus, or to remain safely on Earth in the new lives they enjoy…

Picking up where the show’s final season ended, STARGATE ATLANTIS Homecoming is the first in the exciting new Stargate Atlantis Legacy series.  These all new adventures take the Atlantis team back to the Pegasus galaxy where a terrible new enemy has emerged, an enemy that threatens their lives, their friendships – and the future of Earth itself.

Melissa Scott won the Campbell Award in 1986 for her first novel.  Since then she’s written more than twenty books, including Dreamships, A Choice of Destinies, Five Twelfths of Heaven, and the Lambda Literary Award winning Shadowman.  She’s also written two Star Trek novels and, with her partner Lisa A. Barnett, the acclaimed Points series.

Jo Graham is the author of three historical fantasy novels, including the Locus Award nominated Black Ships, as well as the upcoming novel STARGATE ATLANTIS Death Game.

For an in depth Q&A with the authors, check out the Writer’s Room at StargateNovels.com, where Jo and Melissa discuss their love of STARGATE ATLANTIS and how they’ve set about creating the wonderful Legacy series.

Soon, I’m going to post reviews for more SGA books.

For December, I picked Dead End. I finished it a week or so ago, and it was the second SGA novel I read. While not as strong a book as Reliquary, Dead End was intriguing and had plenty of action to keep the story moving.

January’s book, meanwhile, will be Mirror Mirror, SGA #9, and that particular book is an excellent way to start off the new year. I finished this one just this past Monday, and I loved this book especially well for its alternate reality story lines, which I’ve always felt Stargate Atlantis didn’t do justice in its too short run on TV. The episode McKay and Mrs. Miller comes to mind, but without the constraints of time and budget, the book (Mirror Mirror) is able to explore its alternate reality story much more deeply than that episode was able, or frankly, any episode of SGA could have. Mirror Mirror is an excellent read for fans of the possibilities of ARs. Namely, me.

By the time February rolls around, I hope to have received and read the first book in the new Legacy series, Homecoming, but we’ll have to see. I’ve seen a couple of different release dates for that book, so I’m not 100% certain when it will be available. I’ll post what I know when I know it.

So, I thought I would highlight the Stargate Atlantis books over the next few months, after it came to my attention that a new series is coming out starting in December! I’m really looking forward to those books, now that I’ve read my first SGA novel.

Reliquary, SGA #2

Reliquary by Martha Wells is SGA book #2. Well’s story brings the Atlantis characters to life in a way that stays true to the characters I’m used to seeing onscreen.  I love this story, the action and adventure, dialogue, character use–all combine to create a sense of show perfectly fitted to the world of Stargate Atlantis.

In Reliquary, Dr. Rodney McKay, Major John Sheppard, and Dr. Zelenka discover a chamber containing a broken projector that leads them to a new Stargate address and planet where they believe they might find a repository similar to Heliopolis (such as that found in Stargate SG-1′s episode The Torment of Tantalus).

They gather a team of scientists to explore the found city and discover an unusual level of destruction. The city’s dark tunnels and alien technology causes disquiet among some of the team members, but they push on into the heart of the city where they make a startling discovery that brings untold dangers straight to Atlantis.

I’m not going to spoil the story by giving too much of the plot away, but I found Reliquary to be a real page-turner, interesting, exciting, and full of the great relationships that make the show so fun to watch (and rewatch).

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You can buy Reliquary from Amazon in paperback or as a Kindle ebook or from Barnes & Noble.

There’s no nook version at this time (more’s the pity, since I really enjoy reading on my nook).

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(FYI — I bought Reliquary through an Amazon.com third-party, bargainbookcellarllc, and had a great experience after having the first copy arrive with some printing problems on a few of the pages. They immediately sent out a new copy. I was very pleased.)