Infiltration Review
Infiltration
by Susannah Parker Sinard
Review
The latest Stargate licensed novel is "Infiltration" written by Susannah Parker Sinard. The story is built upon the SG1 episode "Entity" in which an intelligent lifeform breaches the SGC via a MALP transmission and hides within the bases computer system. As time goes by the Entity learns more about its new surroundings and when under threat reacts and buys the time it needs to complete its mission. The concept of building a new story or movie on a previous episode is not new but Susannah has bridged the gap by having the Entity accessing mission reports with the goal to fully understand and then counter the threat it faces by none other than the members of SG1.
The mission in question is a visit to P5C-777 and through the "eyes" of the Entity we see SG1 conducting their usual investigations, a routine sweep to confirm the lack of native humanoid life (to aid in mining a trinium deposit) and Daniel mildly obsessed with some writings which indicate long ago the Goa'uld came and took the young and healthy leaving the society to whither and die. Jack is eager to return but given the issues with the Salish and their "spirits" a full sector sweep will be required so that is for Jack and Teal'c to undertake but they never return. Sam and Daniel are left to discover what happened to their friends but as you would expect it does not go well but opportunities open up for SG1 to not only acquire technology that has proven to tip the balance of power but also to topple a Goa'uld and rise his Jaffa to freedom. You may wonder why SG1 would not cut and run at the first opportunity (and that question is asked) but getting their hands on "clean" tech, stomp on a Goa'uld and maybe free some Jaffa, well there is only one response regardless of the risks for this team.
“P5C-777 MISSION REPORT, DR. DANIEL JACKSON:
Personally, I had no idea what the hell was going on.”
Susannah writes an entertaining SG1 story, characterisation fits within the timeline of the tv series but it wouldn't hurt to familiarise yourself with the events on the show, that said I haven't seen S4 for a while but she provided enough background to allow me to easily immerse myself in the narrative. I have to say I really liked the presentation of the Ateronu, expanding upon the Goa'uld and the interaction with their human hosts could have been a disaster or even seen as a gimmick but it felt right for this novel and their existence was well reasoned and perfectly acceptable. Overall "Infiltration" was an enjoyable read, it was well paced, presented a world to imagine that was sat well within the franchise and added a few gems to make it stand out a little.
A welcome addition to the growing library of Stargate novels.
The novel is currently for sale as an ebook and will arrive in paperback shortly.