STARGATE SG-1 - DO NO HARM

Written by Karen Miller

STARGATE SG-1 © 1997-2008 MGM Television Entertainment Inc. and MGM Global Holding Inc. STARGATE: SG-1 is a trademark of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.

METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER TM and © 2008 Metra-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Photography and cover art: Copyright © 2008 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.



In Stargate SG-1 - Do No Harm, a Pentagon strike team joins Stargate Command to supplement the losses that Stargate Command has recently suffered. The leader of the team, Colonel Dave Dixon has connections to a past that Colonel Jack O'Neill would rather forget. These two are forced to work together on a planet - that suddenly is exposed to a plague.

In a follow up to the TV epsiode of A Matter of Time, I was frustrated with both Dixon and O'Neill refusing to talk to each other about what had happened to their mutual comrade. Actually I wanted a bigger dustoff between the two of them because of their antagonism towards each other than what they had shown in the book. The cover of the book is misleading as it makes it appear that Dr. Frasier has a much larger role in the book than she really does because of the illness that happens on the planet. Frasier is a major influence on the book - but that influence is at the very end of the book, and she is still not that big of a driving force even at the end of the book.


Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

THE LOST FLEET - FEARLESS

ACE

Written by Jack Campbell

Copyright © 2007 by John G. Hemry
Cover art by Pat Turner
Cover design by Annette Fiore
Interior text design by Kristin del Rosario



In Fearless, the second book of The Lost Fleet series written by Jack Campbell, the Allied Fleet - trying to make their way back home to Alliance Earth space - discover a prison colony which contains Alliance prisoners of war. After freeing the prisoners, a former prisoner and Alliance hero, Captain Falco, believes that he - and not Commander Jack Geary should be in command of the fleet.

With the arrival of Captain Falco, loyalty amongst the fleet has split dramatically - especially between the factions who were not happy with Geary and his outdated methods of honor and strategy in the first place. This is especially dangerous as the enemy Syndics continue to search for them. While very dramatic, I was not comfortable with all the jealousy and in-fighting among the fleet. The consequences of siding with Falco is damning. Meanwhile, reunion and news of prisoners and the relationships they have with the members of the fleet have uncomfortable results.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.
 

THE FLAXEN FEMME FATALE

DAW

Written by John Zakour

Copyright © 2008 by John Zakour

All Rights Reserved.

Cover Art by Michael Koelsch




In The Flaxen Femme Fatale, written by John Zakour, Private Eye Zachary Nixon Johnson is approached by a flaxen haired femme fatale in his office who warns him not to find her - then disappears in front of his eyes.

Part of the Zachary Nixon Johnson series where Johnson is the last freelance P.I. on Earth, Johnson knows he is in trouble when the military wants him to find this femme fatale - who mysteriously looks like his secretary/niece, who is considered the most powerful PSI in the world.

Johnson needs all the help he can get on this woman hunt, including HARV his annoying holographic computer hardwired directly into Johnson's brain and GUS his powerful cheerful weapon, whether wanted or unwanted in dealing with this flaxen femme fatale - who is very powerful, and deadly. I like the fact that he needed all that help, even from space. Aside from the fact that P.I's tend to be loners, the help - along with his doctor fiance - also tends to keep Johnson's ego in check.

Johnson's adventures makes the series very funny and is a quick read.

Pancho 
All people smile in the same language.
 

COWBOYS & ALIENS

TOR

Novelization by Joan D. Vinge

Based on the Screenplay by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman & Damon Lindelof and Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby

Screen Story by Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby and Steve Oedekerk

Based on Platinum Studios' Cowboys & Aliens by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg

Copyright © 2011 Universal and Dreamworks II Dist. Cowboys & Aliens TM & © Universal Studios and Dreamworks II Dist. Licensed by Universal Studios Licensing LLC.



In Cowboys & Aliens, novelization by Joan D. Vinge, is a novelization of the movie Cowboys & Aliens. A stranger wakes up alone in the middle of a desert in the Old West with no memory of who he is. This lone cowboy also has an alien device strapped to his wrist.

Based on the graphic novel created by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, the stranger is a cowboy who is a wanted man. After getting involved in the small town of Absolution, New Mexico's politics between the sheriff and the son of the local rich cattle rancher - the town gets invaded by alien ships. After the invasion, the stranger, sheriff, the rancher and a small posse goes after the aliens who kidnapped the townspeople - including the rancher's son.

I liked the fact that all the characters eventually had to work together to battle the aliens in order to bring their people home. The mystery of why the stranger has the alien device is still a little confusing to me, even after reading the book and watching the movie. Although I did like the fact that the stranger wound up with the device, I was hoping it would be for a different reason. This is a wonderful blend of the Old West and aliens from outer space which does not skimp on either genre.

Click here to read the movie review of Cowboys & Aliens.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

ANGEL - redemption

POCKET PULSE

Written by Mel Odom

Copyright © 2000 by Twentieth Century Fox Film



In redemption, written by Mel Odom, Angel Investigations gets a walk-in client with actress Whitney Tyler - who plays a vampire on a TV series. Her problem is that some people think she is a real vampire.

While Cordelia is glad to finally have access to a star with money, Angel has a strong feeling that she has seen Whitney before - 200 hundred years ago.

Considering that they are in Los Angeles, I was wondering when they would spend more time in the movie/television industry - especially with Cordelia wanting to be a Hollywood star. With Angel Investigations acting as security as Whitney is being targeted as a vampire seemed quite ironic. The flashbacks to when Angel was the evil Angelus 200 years ago almost makes up the subject of an entire book by itself.

Pancho 
All people smile in the same language. 

MARRIED WITH ZOMBIES

orbit

Written by Jesse Petersen

Copyright © 2010 by Jesse Petersen



In Married With Zombies, written by Jesse Petersen, - the first book in a zombie marriage encounter series, Living With the Dead - dysfunctional couple Sarah and David finds out their marriage counselor has turned into a zombie - and now they are on the run as everyone around them are turning into zombies.

What I liked about the book was that Sarah and David are forced to work out their marriage and become a couple again as they try to survive the sudden zombie outbreak. What happened made it logical at how fast the zombie infection spreads. It never occurred to me how much a car is necessary for a zombie apocalypse. The chapter descriptions are self-help sayings zombie style that are really quite appropriate for the book. I thought this was a fun book and am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

Pancho 
All people smile in the same language.
 

THE REPOSSESSION MAMBO

HARPER

Written by Eric Garcia

Copyright 2009 by Eric Garcia




In The Repossession Mambo - written by Eric Garcia, which is the basis for the movie Repo Men - a bio-repo man, who works for a credit union and repossesses artificial mechanical organ transplants in people when they stop paying for them, is on the run from his own repossession people when his own credit goes bad.

I admit, I got this book because I work for a credit union and the repo man works for a credit union. As I am familiar with our Collections Department, it was interesting for me to see the workings and philosophy of the book's credit union. Having the repo men targeting their members for repossessing of the credit union's property, almost like a hit man, is a little disturbing as it is all legal. Not even celebrities are safe. The idea of marketing artificial transplants for anything in the body taken to the ultimate extreme was an interesting comment on society, as it is all about money and not in preserving the quality of life for people. Everything was geared toward artiforgs and not any type of medicine. The society of the book seemed like what is depicted in the movie Blade Runner. I was surprised at how many ex-wives the protagonist had. I think my favorite scene is when a member did a surrender, and the manager was livid because members do not do that sort of thing.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.