Stargate SG1-15: The Power Behind the Throne

Stargate SG-1 #15

by Steven Savile

SG-1 are asked by the Tok'ra to rescue a creature known as Mujina. The last of its species, Mujina is devoid of face or form and draws its substance from the needs of those around it. The creature is an archetype - a hero for all, a villain for all, depending upon whose influence it falls under. And the Goa'uld Apophis, understanding the potential for havoc Mujina offers, has set his heart on possessing the creature.


TEASER:


TEAL’C roared.


Fifty feet from the gate the blue water of the event horizon ripped out of the aperture. The way home was open. O’Neill had done it. Teal’c saw the colonel go down again. The sucking silence that followed was hideous. Then both Carter and Daniel Jackson were yelling — this time the sound was primal and filled with fear for the fallen O’Neill.


Teal’c ducked beneath a wild burst of fire from a Jaffa weapon, and ran, hard, fast, keeping low, his arms and legs pumping. A burning man staggered across his path. The flames consumed him, turning his flesh to blistered sores. Teal’c fired once, putting the Jaffa out of his misery, and was past him. He ran to O’Neill’s side and gathered him into his arms. The colonel shuddered once, violently, and opened his eyes. “Go!” he rasped.


“Indeed,” Teal’c said, rising. He watched Daniel Jackson’s back disappear through the gate and followed him. “We do not leave men behind, O’Neill. That is the law.”


But O’Neill had lapsed into unconsciousness.

Genres: Science Fiction, Ebooks, Media Tie In, Fiction

ebook

First published September 16, 2010

About the author

Steven Savile (born October 12, 1969, in Newcastle, England) is a British fantasy, horror and thriller writer, and editor living in Sala, Sweden.

Under the Ronan Frost penname (inspired by the hero of his bestselling novel, Silver) he has also written the action thriller White Peak, and as Matt Langley was a finalist for the People's Book Prize.

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was not a good Stargate book. The concept of the Mujina was interesting, but rather than bring it to Earth and explore what the SGC would do with a creature that can mimic someone’s greatest desire, the author sends it and SG-1 to a planet where there’s a Nazi Raven King. There is a lot wrong with the way the author writes this allegory too. In the end, SG-1 only escapes because the villain just changes his mind about killing them in the very last paragraph. This book feels like three different stories, but none of them are Stargate.

[Arrietty · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really disappointed with this book. It barely related to the Stargate characters that we love and know. I don't think the author captured the characters correctly, although he wrote a good Teal'c and did well with him there.

I felt this was a book written about alien characters with a little bit of SG-1 thrown in at the end to make it valid to put under the Stargate name.

The book within itself was written well, although tended to ramble a bit, to pad out a short storyline.

I can not in all honesty recommend this book to read for Stargate fans.

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 1 out of 5]

This wasn't a Stargate book. It didn't have the right atmosphere or even the right characters (they had the same names as the characters from the show, but that was it). Much of this book was overwritten to the point of being boring and I had to force myself to finish it. The author also seemed to think we readers couldn't grasp that the bad guys were essentially Nazis and so beat us over the head with multiple "Look! They're doing this very Nazi thing!" moments.

[Gene · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. Okay, I'll start with he good - Good concept, and was definitely interesting to see SG1 brought so low. The world the traveled to had a great deal of potential for an interesting story.

The Bad. I thought that the Author's writing style was horrible. He was constantly comparing one thing to something else, and in great detail;


"The emergency lighting painted a chiaroscuro of grays the length of the corridor with darkness waiting down at the bottom of the door into the gate room. The metal stanchions bracing the tunnel stood out stark and black like the ribs of some great beast. A natural extension of that analogy would make the gate room the beating heart and the wailing siren the first seizures of a heart attack.


Or my favorite:

"He hit the edge of the door frame and sprawled whorishly in the center of the doorway as the blazing light sizzled it's way up over the muscles of his chest before fastening on his face"

That last line used to describe how Teal'c was knocked to the ground. 'whorishly'? Really?? Now I went and looked the word up to see if there is another definition that would fit the situation, and there was not.

And the book didn't really end. The final battle against the evil overlord was brief and lacked any sort of climax. And in the end, the bad guy(s) got away.

I gave it two stars because it did have some interesting concepts, but the author just didn't pull it all together well.


I really didn't like the fact that the book didn't really end. The bad guy gets away, and pretty much spits in Jacks face as he does so. Not a satisfying ending to the story.

[Al · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hardly started the book and realized I kept thinking "he wouldn't do that" or "he wouldn't react that way" or other things like that. Had the author seen more than a few shows of the series?

Finally finished the book. The author has an impressive resume, solidly British, and obviously has a lot to say about the holocaust, but shouldn't be writing Stargate books because he either doesn't know the series and characters well or doesn't care enough about them. Long passages describing the horrors going on this new world but little interaction between the characters. Daniel, near the beginning, musing about how teamwork was a hallmark of SG-1 but there was almost no teamwork demonstrated during the book (they didn't fight each other, just never were written as a team). And why a well educated group such as SG-1 never commented on the parallels between what they were seeing on this world with WWII's holocaust?!

The book series has had it ups and downs but I believe this is it's low, so far.

[Ida Leter · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's not a bad book, it really wasn't, I expected much worse. It's just not a stargate book. The quartet is barely in it, always relegated on the second plan. When they are there, they are barely recognizable. And attempts to integrate the stargate lore are rather questionable. For example, for the first time since the original movie they suddenly gotten stumped with figuring out the point of origin.

Removing that, though, it's a pretty banal story. There are atrocities of holocaust, there are war horrors that are attempted to be presented with the gravitas they deserve, except the scope of the story does not leave much room for a truly moving narrative. Everything comes to the end quickly and painlessly, with few consequences. Very busy - too many characters, too many things they are trying to do all at once, without giving a single narrative enough gravitas to be significant or impactful. It's not bad, per se, just for the type of a story it is trying to tell, there are definitely better ones out ther.

[Miss Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing was decent, even the team parts were not as cheesy or off-kilter as they have been in some books, but the whole story seemed bogged down in the mujina and not focused on the team and how they were really impacted. It was basically a culture that was recreating the Holocaust and while I understand the possibilities and even inevitability of similar situations wherever humans may go, I found it odd that the Kelani/ Corvani genocide would mirror so identically that of Nazi Germany. Also, how their culture was created on this planet was never well addressed. The characters of SG-1 had no significant development to justify this adventure and overall, I would not recommend this volume to Stargate fans. There are other more engaging SG novels. Also, dark and negative view of humanity and unresolved ending.

Writing = B-
Plot and characters = C

[Mike Seiber · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is hands down the worst of the Stargate books. It was very dark in tone and didn't focus on the team as much as the bad guys. I believe the author had stated it was originally a trilogy but they changed their minds so he had to wrap it up in one book but should never have been published. I would avoid if possible.

[Kasey Minnis · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'd give it zero stars if I could

I tried, I really did, but I could not finish this dreadful book. The writing somehow manages to be florid and self-indulgent, while being insipid and plodding. It's a weird combination of over-the-top high falutin' and amateur hour. On top of that, it's riddled with misused words and canon errors. Honestly, I want my money back.

[Meesh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty bloody awful!! Especially as there were some dumb mistakes (the colour of weapons fire between zats & staff weapons being mixed up) & a 'deaf' Carter being able to hear things... The plot wasn't much better either, SG1 seemed quite OOC at times!

[Dustin · Rating 1 out of 5]

So if you ever wanted to know what Stargate SG-1 would look like if it was written by someone who didn't have a good sense of pacing and also had never actually watched an episode of SG1 then I'd recommend this.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot was confusing and difficult to keep straight. Not enough action.

[Eva Mostraum · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like this one much. The characters weren't true to themselves. I seemed like the author hadn't ever seen the show. Too bad.

[S]

Yeah I don't need to finish this. I've read around a quarter of it, and already have a lot of issues with it: the writing is pretty bad at times and hard to focus on (also I am not a native speaker, but surely there are quite a lot of sentences with missing commas in this??), the team has been hardly in it and very poorly characterized to the point that it is just annoying, some of the canon is just wrong in here, and the other planet they are describing is just boring. This just doesn't read like a Stargate novel. According to the other reviews it doesn't get any better, so, not for me.

[Candyce Sweet · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled with whether to give this book one star or two. I think one star would mean the book has no redeemable qualities and should perhaps be scrapped completely and the author start over and try again. In the absence of being able to give the book no stars, this seems to be the best approach. I can’t say it had absolutely nothing that was valuable, but, my god, this book was terrible! Other than the general concept, I can’t find anything that made this book worth reading. I’ll never get this time back. The author had no sense of who these characters were. Utterly disappointing.

[Chance · Rating 2 out of 5]

I could give a whole list of problems I had with this novel, but I’ll just say this din’t end on a cliffhanger if you don’t extend to write a sequel. Written in 2010 with no continuation in sight just pisses-off the fandom I hope you see this Steven Savile and you write a book 2 to finish this story.

[Graisi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one had too much heavy-handed Nazism, and not enough SG-1 action. Also, that's not much of an ending. We don't even know if they got back, plus why did Iblis let them go?. This is not one of the Stargate novels that's worth a read.

[Greg · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh god let it be over

This was not good, 50% of the book could be summed up in one page. The author missed the tone and character of SG1. The pace of the book is dismal. I have read about 1/2 of the SG1 books so far only one other has been as bad as this.

[Idamus]

I give up, first of all, this doesn’t feel like Stargate to me, second, it just goes on and on and on, but not much happen. DNF.

[Marisa Young · Rating 2 out of 5]

Asked by the Tokra to capture a creature, the SG-1 team finds themselves in a world whose leader believes in cruelty.

Thought story was convoluted, especially the ending.

[Rosie Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Power Behind The Throne is a companion book to the popular SciFi TV series Stargate SG-1. This story is about the team getting a mission to rescue a creature called a Mujina before it falls into the hands of the Goa'uld. Called for assistance by a member of the Tok'ra, SG-1 set off to the planet Vasavada. The rescue goes relatively well, but when they try to return home a gate malfunction sends them to an unknown planet.

They find themselves and the Mujina on an inhospitable planet, with no point or origin they can't dial back home. The Mujina is a dangerous creature it messes with the teams minds. They are captured by local people and later taken to the planet's dictator Corvus Keen.

A scientist called Kelkus has been collecting ancient relics on the planet and uses them to release an ancient God. Readers recognise the slithering snake as a Goa'uld, this one is a system Lord called Iblis who prepares to become the planet's God and then increase his powers and move on to more worlds.

This book didn't work for me, there were too many long descriptions of the scenes and pondering of the characters which don't happen in the TV series. It slowed the pace of the storyline. On TV the characters are well defined by their speech, mannerisms and characteristics, fans know how the team work together in a quick paced storyline. The author wrote Teal'c's character the best, but missed essential traits of the others and failed to make the teamwork a big enough part. A shame because Stargate is about the SG "Teams".

[Emily G · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first few chapters don't feature the SG-1 team heavily and so I found it hard to get into. Once the SG-1 team were introduced, it moved along nicely, and I liked the character portrayals, with them looking out for each other much like the TV series. So why only 3 stars? Well, because:

1) The events on Kushmara were a mirror image of the holocaust, which, while I get the author is trying to demonstrate human nature is generally intolerant of people it perceives as 'different', I found it unoriginal.

2) The ending was very disappointing, as all through the story the reader wonders how the creature is going to be dealt with. It is perceived as a dangerous weapon by both the Ancients, who imprisoned it on a specially created hell-like planet for all eternity, and the Tok'ra, who ask SG-1 to rescue it before it falls into the hands of the Goa'uld. However, in the end, it escapes Kushmara as the host to the Goa'uld SG-1 encounter on that planet, with SG-1 returning back to earth.

So yes, great premise but the execution, no pun intended, left me cold.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another interesting adventure for the team, with the introduction of a new species, albeit the only one of its kind, and one which is all things to all people. SG-1 is trapped on a world with no way of getting home unless they can learn the gate address of their captors. With a society very much like that of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, Jack and the others almost wind up in the furnaces themselves. Surprisingly, an old enemy is the one to help them get home. The story ended rather abruptly though; I was expecting to turn the page for another short chapter.

[Pat Hauldren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evilly good

Nice to read a well-written SG1 story for a change. Not that most others are bad, but most aren't the best writers. Instead of relying on SG1 cliches and quips, this author tells a full story, and leaves us wanting more. A nice change of pace as well as one to give me nightmares lol. Well done.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sg1 go in search of a creature that is considered to be the ultimate weapon. Meanwhile a Gaould is advising a nazi like ruler. This is a vry harrowing read because of the nazi similarities. The characters are depicted well, and the plot does keep moving. A good read.

[Foggygirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay read.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the few books that have made me actually say "Oh my God" while reading. You'll know it when you come to it.

[Annette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have liked this better if it hadn't ended on a cliff hanger that doesn't look like it'll be resolved in the next (or a future) book.