One of the most fabulous efforts at Science Fiction ever to hit the airwaves, this show helped breathe life back into the genre after a much too long absence. Everyone has seen the show or at least knows the basic premise, so I won’t rehash it here. Even the opening of the show, with a theme sung in a dead language, suggested how great this one was going to be. And it was.

To me, the book is well written and exciting, Carver doing an excellent job of giving fans of the show a chance to revisit it in a different medium. One of the complaints, of course, is that it is exactly that — a retelling of the show’s fabulous beginning. While it is true that nothing new is proffered here by Carver — no new insights or background to beloved characters is even remotely given — that’s why I liked it. When you look at some of the complaints, you realize they perhaps read the book too close to the ending of the series — or even while it was on the air in some places.

I think enough time has now passed that I really appreciated that aspect of the book when I read this. It was everything I remembered. It was nostalgic in a way, allowing me to once again get lost in Battlestar with all its many and varied story-lines and mythos only just beginning to emerge. I do understand that people were disappointed at what this book wasn’t, but I think at this juncture, it’s much more fun to read than it might have been during the show.

Now War and Peace this ain’t, but it’s not supposed to be. For those who loved the show, however, and just want to spend a little more time with friends, because it hurt to let them go, this is great fun. I thought Carver did a great job on this one. Considering how lackluster the books that followed it were, it makes it all the more special if you can track down a copy. So say we all... ( )

Guilty pleasure. ( )

Guilty pleasure. ( )

I bought this book eleven years ago and have been reading it on and off for the last five or so. For a long time it was the book I took along when walking the dog on a rainy or misty day because I didn't really care if it got wet and warped. When the weather is good, I take a library book, usually a graphic novel. (Yes, I can read a graphic novel in my left hand while holding the dog's leash in my right and navigating all the obstacles found on the sidewalks and streets of my suburb. It does get a little trickier when a warm baggie of doggy doo has to be juggled also.)

This was the perfect book to read in snippets here and there because I had watched the TV show and was just using the book as an excuse to revisit the good times. I'm old enough that I grew up in an age when novelizations and comic book adaptations were a necessity because it could be a long time before you got a chance to actually watch a movie or TV show a second time. It's a habit I have strayed away from but have never given up entirely. Novelizations are rarely as good as the original work, but that's okay, because they're just supposed to invoke the memory of the original, and this one does a fine job of that.

I really should watch BSG again sometime... ( )

A blanket word for word, action for action novelization of the miniseries and first couple of episodes [I think...].

Don't bother reading this. Just go watch the series, it is better on the screen. ( )