Audiobooks Thoughts

[Ripple in Space]

I saw another post on here talking about the Stargate Audiobooks series, which I didn't give much thought to until I saw that the real cast portray themselves!

Don't get too excited, because it's usually just one of the stars as opposed to the full ensemble. I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts though.

I've gotten through the first four, and enjoyed them all. One limitation is that they're set within particular seasons, so you know off the bat that none of the stars will die, and it will not expand on the mythology of the show.

[bailey1ak]

I haven't listened to the audio books in any particular order and haven't finished all of them yet. But I have listened to several and really liked them.

My favorite is Major Lorne's story - STARGATE ATLANTIS: IMPRESSIONS

I also enjoyed both of Radek's stories - STARGATE ATLANTIS: MELTDOWN & STARGATE ATLANTIS: ZERO POINT

Vala's was really good too! - STARGATE SG-1: SHELL GAME

The newer set for Daniel Jackson and Vala together - STARGATE SG-1 SERIES 3: PART ONE was pretty good too.

I have also listened to the one for Elizabeth Weir and the two for Carson Beckett, but didn't find them as interesting.

I'd share more details, but I don't want to spoiler any of the stories. I've also read a fan fiction story that picks up after the Lorne audio story that was really good.

Part of what made these so much fun is because they aren't really books, but actual audio dramas, so there are sound effects and such, not really narrative. Feels like you are listening to an episode.

[BlakkBilli]

Audio drama, maybe that's what Stargate needs...

[Ripple in Space]

I haven't listened to the audio books in any particular order and haven't finished all of them yet. But I have listened to several and really liked them.

My favorite is Major Lorne's story - STARGATE ATLANTIS: IMPRESSIONS

I also enjoyed both of Radek's stories - STARGATE ATLANTIS: MELTDOWN & STARGATE ATLANTIS: ZERO POINT

I'll have to check those out!

I have also listened to the one for Elizabeth Weir and the two for Carson Beckett, but didn't find them as interesting.

I didn't find the Weir one amazing, but of the first four, it's probably the only one that felt like an actual episode, not a great one mind you, but it could've been a C+ episode had it been filmed well. It also benefited from her supporting actor actually portraying an interesting character.

In Daniel's standalone, his supporting character is clearly there as a plot device, just so Shanks isn't talking to himself for an hour. Weir's supporting guy is quite pivotal to the story. Beckett's supporting woman was also integral to the story, but I guessed within the first 30 seconds her entire character arc, and I think 99% of people would too.

I'd share more details, but I don't want to spoiler any of the stories.

I've heard "Shell Games" and "Gift of the gods," and I'd love to hear your thoughts on those in all their spoilery goodness

Part of what made these so much fun is because they aren't really books, but actual audio dramas, so there are sound effects and such, not really narrative. Feels like you are listening to an episode.

I was very pleasantly surprised at that, it was vastly better than I expected in production quality. I really got a kick out of Shanks', Claudia's, and Torri's impressions of their fellow cast members!

Vala's Daniel impression was priceless!--She makes him sound like a stereotypical nerd just to annoy Daniel XD

Daniel's Jack impression was surprisingly good, on his better lines, he could actually pass for RDA I suppose working with a guy for a decade will give you a good idea of their manner of speech.

Weir's impression of Rodney was priceless too!

All of that said, GraphicAudio, a similar audio drama company, does much higher quality productions.

[bailey1ak]

I've heard "Shell Games" and "Gift of the gods," and I'd love to hear your thoughts on those in all their spoilery goodness


I was very pleasantly surprised at that, it was vastly better than I expected in production quality. I really got a kick out of Shanks', Claudia's, and Torri's impressions of their fellow cast members!

Vala's Daniel impression was priceless!--She makes him sound like a stereotypical nerd just to annoy Daniel XD

<snip>

I did love Vala's impressions too... had me grinning a lot.

I haven't listened to "Gift of the gods" yet.

I did love "Shell Games" though with Vala...

Spoiler:

I think I loved it the most because it was a story about her as a thief, so very much a "Vala" story. It really reminded me a lot of the episode (9X4) The Ties That Bind because it fit in with what we knew of her as a thief, her stretching the truth to fit what she wanted and her use of her womanly charms to swindle men out of their treasures.

It also felt a bit like The Powers That Be (9X5) because we have Vala in a prison, and as I heard Jackson talking to her about "telling the truth" it reminded me so much of their conversations while she was behind bars in that episode too.

Having Vala try to help the pregnant woman in this story was perfect Vala too. She wants to be a thief and the only thing that seems to detour that in her early days, was someone else in danger. She wants to pull off the save and the heist, but in the end the save wins out with her even if she is loathe to admit it.

[Starfist]

I enjoyed the first six audio adventures. So much so I bought the next six.
But I can recommend the 3rd season which has been split into 2 box sets. Each adventure leads into the next. Giving the season an arc so to speak.
The 3rd season has both Claudia Black and Michael Shanks reprising their roles as Val Mal Doran and Daniel Jackson. Season 3 parts 1-3 also feature Cliff Simon as Ba'al.

[Ripple in Space]

I did love Vala's impressions too... had me grinning a lot.

I haven't listened to "Gift of the gods" yet.

Gift of the Gods is classic SG-1 style, but admittedly, you'll be disappointed if you compare it to Series 3 because you can't beat having Cliff, Michael, and Claudia!

I did love "Shell Games" though with Vala...

Spoiler:

I think I loved it the most because it was a story about her as a thief, so very much a "Vala" story. It really reminded me a lot of the episode (9X4) The Ties That Bind because it fit in with what we knew of her as a thief, her stretching the truth to fit what she wanted and her use of her womanly charms to swindle men out of their treasures.

It also felt a bit like The Powers That Be (9X5) because we have Vala in a prison, and as I heard Jackson talking to her about "telling the truth" it reminded me so much of their conversations while she was behind bars in that episode too.

Having Vala try to help the pregnant woman in this story was perfect Vala too. She wants to be a thief and the only thing that seems to detour that in her early days, was someone else in danger. She wants to pull off the save and the heist, but in the end the save wins out with her even if she is loathe to admit it.

Agreed!

I enjoyed the first six audio adventures. So much so I bought the next six.
But I can recommend the 3rd season which has been split into 2 box sets. Each adventure leads into the next. Giving the season an arc so to speak.
The 3rd season has both Claudia Black and Michael Shanks reprising their roles as Val Mal Doran and Daniel Jackson. Season 3 parts 1-3 also feature Cliff Simon as Ba'al.

I'm loving it! Though one major criticism is that Colonel Yin of the 304 Sun Tzu makes me cringe. Not a clue why they went the racist stereotype route for his voice--especially since that IOA Chinese delegate on the show spoke perfect English. Bigotry aside, Stargate doesn't tend to do accents in general, so it sticks out even worse--they're known for having "aliens" retain the actors' American, Canadian, British, or Australian accents to maintain the flow of the show--that is except for David Nykl who is ethnically Czech, Paul McGillion who is ethnically Scottish, and Garry Chalk who is a classically trained voice actor--so it's even more damning to give a Tau'ri Chinese military officer such a cringe-worthy voice...

He sounds like that voice Stephen Colbert does to spoof a racist depiction of the Chinese.

EDIT:
I take it back Series 3.1 is great, I'm struggling with 3.2. Col. Yin aside, it completely contradicts the show.

A major plot point is that the Baal clones never had Goa'uld symbiotes, but Baal's consciousness directly imprinted onto the host's brain. That completely disregards SG-1. The SGC held the Baal clones, and said there was no way to tell them apart from the orginal--if there was no Goa'uld, that would've been a dead giveaway!

Then the real Baal killed his clones with symbiote poison in "Dominion," so obviously they had them. Finally, we actually saw the symbiote of the final Baal clone in Continuum, when the Tok'ra executed him!

All of the Daniel/Vala dialogue in 3.2 contradicts Continuum as well, since in Continuum Vala has the most sympathy for Baal's host, yet in 3.2 she's begging them to shoot him in the head...

[Starfist]

The audio adventures of Big Finish's Stargate SG-1 take place during season 10 of the TV show. That is why there are some differences with regard to Continuum.

I agree with what has been said about Colonel Yin. But I believe he was played by a British born Chinese actor.

[Ripple in Space]

The audio adventures of Big Finish's Stargate SG-1 take place during season 10 of the TV show. That is why there are some differences with regard to Continuum.

Do you mean it was written during season 10 of SG1, or it takes place then?

Taking place during S10 makes absolutely no difference, since at that time Baal's clones did have symbiotes. The Baal clones always had Goa'uld snakes in their heads. We see a cloned Baal symbiote in "Dominion" and in "Continuum." And assuming Dr. Lamb isn't unimaginably incompetent, every single captured Baal clone had a snake in their heads--otherwise she should have easily been able to discern the real Baal from his clones.

Also, as previously stated, Baal clones were killed by symbiote poison, proving all of them had them. 3.2 here claims Baal never cloned his symbiote for 'security reasons' and simply imprinted his Goa'uld mind onto the human cloned brain--this is the entire premise of 3.2...

I agree with what has been said about Colonel Yin. But I believe he was played by a British born Chinese actor.

Ah, interesting. That doesn't help their case much though. The reason David & Paul did so well on their accents is that they don't just share the ancestry with their roles, but they actually grew up partly in that culture. I'd imagine Torri Higginson could pull off a pretty convincing Welsh accent since she grew up primarily in Wales to Welsh parents--despite being Canadian born. This guy is distractingly stereotypically Chinese. It's bizarre that they would have an actual Chinese guy use a fake accent at all, since I doubt China would give command of their only intergalactic warship to an officer who couldn't speak flawless English considering America's role as the leader of Earth's Stargate program...

[Starfist]

The audio adventures, 3.1 through to 3.6, take place during season 10. And I have no doubt that MGM had to approve the scripts.

I think they had the actor use a Chinese accent to make it easier for the listeners in other parts of the world.

[Ripple in Space]

The audio adventures, 3.1 through to 3.6, take place during season 10. And I have no doubt that MGM had to approve the scripts.

I think they had the actor use a Chinese accent to make it easier for the listeners in other parts of the world.

In general I loved them all! You're still not going to convince me that 3.2's claim that Baal never cloned his symbiote doesn't outright contradict the series

Any official reason for the absence of the other stars? Richard Dean Anderson & Beau Bridges aside, both of whom may command too high a paycheck for this type of thing, I would be very surprised if any of the other stars would pass up the opportunity to revisit their roles in this format--especially Ben Browder & Joe Flanigan, both of whom stay heavily involved in the fandom, and constantly encourage the fans to work on resurrecting the franchise.

And let's be honest, besides Beau & RDA, Michael Shanks is probably the hardest to schedule for, and he's done hours of these! I would love to hear a Joe F audiobook, and it seems like something he'd be into doing...

[Starsaber]

Any official reason for the absence of the other stars? Richard Dean Anderson & Beau Bridges aside, both of whom may command too high a paycheck for this type of thing, I would be very surprised if any of the other stars would pass up the opportunity to revisit their roles in this format--especially Ben Browder & Joe Flanigan, both of whom stay heavily involved in the fandom, and constantly encourage the fans to work on resurrecting the franchise.

And let's be honest, besides Beau & RDA, Michael Shanks is probably the hardest to schedule for, and he's done hours of these! I would love to hear a Joe F audiobook, and it seems like something he'd be into doing...

Budget probably, even though they did the recording remotely in this case, they apparently didn't make enough to do a Series 4. I really wanted to hear a David Hewlett one, either in the old style or a full cast one also including Zelenka.

[Starfist]

I agree with Starsaber in thinking that budget is a major reason that RDA or Beau haven't done any audio recordings.

I also admit that it has been a while since I've watched season 10. So I'm not going to say if the events that happen in 3.2 contradict what actually happend on screen.

I would have loved to have heard a McKay/Zelenka adventure.

[Starsaber]

My favorite part of Series 3 has to be Ba'al's "answering machine" message at the start of episode 3.3 complete with the traditional answering machine beep.

[Ripple in Space]

I agree with Starsaber in thinking that budget is a major reason that RDA or Beau haven't done any audio recordings.

Actually I said that, but thanks anyway?

I also admit that it has been a while since I've watched season 10. So I'm not going to say if the events that happen in 3.2 contradict what actually happend on screen.

I watched "Insiders," "Dominion," and "Continuum" this month. 3.2 does contradict them all.

Budget probably, even though they did the recording remotely in this case, they apparently didn't make enough to do a Series 4. I really wanted to hear a David Hewlett one, either in the old style or a full cast one also including Zelenka.

Are the definitely not doing a Series 4 then?

I would love a David Hewlett one too! I think Ben B & Joe F would definitely be up for it though, and if they do command a higher budget than Michael S, it can't be by much--personally, I'd guess Michael might command more than them given how busy an actor he's been lately...