From delighted to irked

[katikat]

Jo Graham, the author of the yet-to-be-published SGA novel "Death Game" posted this in her LJ yesterday:

Stargate Atlantis: Legacy is an exciting new book series from Fandemonium Books coming in 2010. As the fantastically successful New Jedi Order series did for Star Wars, Legacy takes Stargate Atlantis fans on to uncharted new ground, exploring what happens next after the end of season five. With no reset to zero, the jeopardy for our favorite characters has never been greater as they face entirely new challenges and dangers, as well as old foes revitalized. Sheppard, McKay, Teyla, Ronon and the rest must face Wraith, Genii, and their most dangerous foes yet in a galaxy-spanning adventure to uncover the true legacy of the Ancients -- a battle from which all may not return.

Book One, The Return, by Melissa Scott and Jo Graham, will be out in September, 2010. Melissa Scott is the author of more than twenty science fiction and fantasy books, including Trouble and Her Friends, Five Twelfths of Heaven, and, with Lisa A. Barnett, Point of Hopes and Point of Dreams. She has won numerous awards, including the Campbell Award in 1986. Jo Graham is the author of three historical fantasy novels, as well as the Stargate Atlantis novel Death Game. Book Two, The Missing, by Jo Graham and Amy Griswold, will follow in January, 2011. Source

Awesome, isn't it? A new SGA book series from Fandemonium! So why am I irked?

Because Fandemonium canceled the SGA book "Dead End" by Chris Wraight that should have come out today. Yes, just a couple of days before the book - already postponed several times before that - should've been published, they canceled it completely. Someone asked about it Mark over at Fandemonium and you know what? He responded with "Sorry, it was canceled" - and the rest of his email was an advertisement for SGU's pilot novelization "Air" by James Swallow. It's SGA's cancellation all over again - "Hey, SGA was canceled, but here you have SGU and be content with that!" Yes, it made me... cranky. Fandemonium is becoming more and more unreliable in their publishing schedule.

Comments

[gaffsie.livejournal.com]

At least we have still have Jo's book to look forward to.

But what a strange reply from Mark. Sounds like he's been brainwashed by the SGU PR machinery. :/ Was this supposed to be Chris' first Stargate novel or has he been published before? I don't think any of the ones I own are his.

[katikat.livejournal.com]

I hope that they'll keep Jo's books on schedule. I mean, look at "Brimstone" and how many times that one was postponed already. I just don't trust Fandemonium anymore, even the weather forecast gets their predictions more often right than their publishing plan. I mean, I work in the publishing industry and in the fantasy/scifi branch to that, but I've never seen such a mess as is their schedule.

This should've been Chris' first SG novel. From what I understand, he got huge parts of the Stargate technology wrong - he made the gate tunnel a real tunnel you can fly through *head/desk* - so I guess after all the complaints about James Swallow's awful mistakes in "Nightfall", they chickened out. Didn't Fandemonium brag about being "from fans for fans" or something like that? How can a fan of the show come up with such an utter nonsense?

I was really irked by the advertisement for "Air" because that was the only book this year that was published on schedule. Right, the one book in the new, untried series gets more attention than their long-standing series. If that's not a promo stunt to push SGU's ratings than I don't know what is.

[gaffsie.livejournal.com]

What is it about the male writers and their utter inability to get SGA canon right? It's so weird.

he made the gate tunnel a real tunnel you can fly through

Oh dear god. There is no way that man is a real fan. He's just a hack writer looking to make a quick buck. I feel all disgusted now. One thing I loved about Martha's books was that it was so obvious that she loved the characters. They wouldn't be half as awesome if she hadn't loved the show to begin with.

[katikat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I remember that after reading "Nightfall", I wrote to Fandemonium and asked them about the mistakes James Swallow made. I also asked when the female authors will be back. The guys just don't seem to get the characters right, not to mention the technology behind the gate. Is it just laziness on their part? Though I still want to get my hands on Swallow's "Halcyon" no matter its quality, just to have my collection complete! "Halcyon" is the only SG book that I'm missing.

[gaffsie.livejournal.com]

Personally, I'd guess it's because of lack of dedication to the show. Martha was a fan even before she wrote her books, as was Jo, and that's pretty significant. Someone who doesn't even know how a gate works can't possibly be a Stargate fan, which makes me think he's just doing it for the money. I mean, sure, everyone makes mistakes and no fan knows *everything*, but the gate is basic stuff.

And if that's the case, Fandemonium has really gone to the wolves. The whole point is that their books are supposed to be written by fans. :/

I'm missing several of the later books, but they didn't sound all that appealing to me anyway. If I find them at a used book store, of course I'll buy them, but I won't spend any time seeking them out.

[katikat.livejournal.com]

I managed to get my hands on all the SG-1 books for a reasonable price - the only one I'm missing is the latest one, "Valhalla" - but I still need to get SGA's "Halcyon". Some of the books aren't all that good - "Nightfall" in particular - but they are SGA and I'm a collector, once I start a series, I want all the books, the good ones and the bad ones too, just because :P