Stargate Literature - Film Novelizations

Film Novelizations

Written by the movie creators, Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, the novelization of the original film, Stargate was published by Signet Books, an imprint of Penguin Books, in December 1994. Bill McCay had written a series of five novels continuing the story the original creators had envisioned, despite the success of the Stargate television series. McCay used the official notes by Emmerich to write his books.

A series of five novels written by Bill McCay were published from 1996 to 1999, based on the story of the 1994 film, Stargate. Each book was also produced as a book on tape read by David Fox. These were produced by consulting the original notes made by film director Roland Emmerich, in an attempt to envision where the film "would have gone". Neither party has commented on whether McCay's interpretation was correct. The film's producer, Dean Devlin, had his own ideas, but he did not bring them to light until interviewed much later, after the publication of all the novels. The subsequent television series Stargate SG-1 was an entirely independent development, making no attempt to reconcile with the plot line of the books. This marked the first major branching of the franchise.

The story continues immediately after the events of the film, with the United States armed forces interested in the mineral that is mined for Ra by the Abydans. As conflict arises in many forms on the planet of Abydos, a new threat comes when other gods from Ra's pantheon (namely Hathor) come looking. Bits of the Ancient Egyptian myth, The Destruction of Mankind, is acknowledged in the novel's construction.

The first three books form one complete storyline:

• Stargate: Rebellion (October 1995)
• Stargate: Retaliation (September 1996)
• Stargate: Retribution (October 1997)

The last two continue after the events in the first three books, but move the story forwards by dealing with the Abydans and the events which happen at the climax of the trilogy.

• Stargate: Reconnaissance (May 1998)
• Stargate: Resistance (October 1999)

The book canon of the franchise has many differences with the television series Stargate SG-1. In the books, Ra is the last of his race, and all of his lieutenants (such as Hathor and Ptah) are actually loyal humans who pose as the other Egyptian gods created by Ra to enslave the populace. The movie version of Ra inhabits a human body by possessing the human with his soul, rather than as the parasitic snake as seen in Stargate SG-1.

The books focus more on politics, with budget issues and human rights considerations playing a large role. The book's version of O'Neil is much more of a straight soldier, while Jackson remains the idealistic maverick scientist. The quartz-like mineral (called Naqahdah in Stargate SG-1) remains unnamed. The city that Kasuf and Sha'uri live in is called Nagada and more cities on Abydos are shown. While the first three books focus on the plight of the Abydan (called Abydonian in Stargate SG-1) people and the war between Ra's humans and the humans from Earth, the last two books introduce other worlds and other races.