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BOOK
Stargate Atlantis
The Official Companion
Season 1

Author: Sharon Gosling
Titan Books
RRP £12.99, US $14.95
ISBN 1 84576 116 2
Available 26 August 2005


First there was the blockbuster
Stargate movie, then the smash hit TV series Stargate: SG-1, and now there's the equally successful spin-off show: Stargate: Atlantis. A new Stargate team embarks on a dangerous mission to a distant galaxy, where they discover a mythical lost city and a deadly new enemy - the Wraith. New characters, new planets, new alien encounters: but the same irresistible brand of Stargate adventures...

Stargate: Atlantis: The Official Companion - Season 1 is, and I'm really sorry for stating the obvious here, only going to appeal to Atlantis fans who have seen the first season of the show.

Guide books are an odd beast, and have to be properly researched, because the fans will drag you over the coals if you slip up. Author, Sharon Gosling, does an admiral job of laying down the bare bones. But, sadly, this is just a little too dry.

Because of the wide variety of chatrooms and fansites (not to mention official sites) dedicated to the show and its main cast, most, if not all, of the information in this book is already floating around the world wide web. This kind of makes it difficult to justify spending £13 - especially if you consider that if the show runs for six years you'll have to spend nearly £80 to own all of these books.

There are plenty of black and photos scattered throughout this release, as well as 16 pages of glossy, colour pages in the centre pages. It would have been great if images were included of the people responsible behind the scenes. For example, in the Music section, a picture of Joel Goldsmith should have been included. Or how about an image of Bridget McGuire looking over one of her sets to accompany the Production Design segment.

A little more thought and this could have been an essential purchase for fans. As it is, it's pretty average stuff I'm afraid. I didn't learn anything of real interest that I didn't already know. One for absolute fanatics only.

Pete Boomer

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