Customer Reviews

Warhawk: Battlestar Galactica

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Over the past few months I have begun watching the Battlestar Galactica televison program for the first time. I was never much of a science fiction fan and had limited access to televison while growing up. I didn't see the Battlestar Galactica televison series until my husband purchased the complete series on DVD.

I became an instant fan after Saga of a Star World. I then began reading my husbands collection of Battlestar Galactica books by Richard Hatch. Both the books and the series have flaws (what doesn't?), but they also have wonderful characters, heart, imagination, and warmth. There's a special charm to Battlestar Galactica. Watching the episodes and reading the books has been five star experience for me.

Hatch and Golden have given Galactica fans a book they will truly appreciate. They've captured the best part of the TV series, continued the magic, and even improved upon it in some cases. Warhawk rocks!

N.B. This review is in 2 parts.

Do not be put off by the uninspiring cover art! The sequel to Armageddon, also written by Hatch & Golden, is indeed a triumph. Hatch not only captures the essence of the original TV series but actually improves on it. I found the writing to be better than Armageddon but this could also be down to the fact that Warkhawk does not have the same number of plot strands and devices as Armageddon, and so the writing and story does seems more linear and structured.

"Warhawk" is a Colonial term refering to a military overlord. The term is indeed a reference to Commander Cain who was a character who appeared in the "living Legend" episode of the TV series, and subsequently was believed to be killed in a battle with Cylons at the end of the episode. However in the story of Warhawk, Apollo leads the Galactica to the planet Poseidon, believing it to be one of the outposts of the fabled 13th tribe. Instead, Poseidon is a planetary fortress of Cain who had surived the confrontation with the Cylons, and since then had joined up with a small lost fleet of ships that had fled the Colonies at the time of the massacre before establishing a base with them on Poseidon. Apollo and his followers are overjoyed at finding Cain but the celebration soon becomes sobered once Cain's ambitions, which are contrary to the Galactican mission of finding the Earth, are finally revealed.

Apollo learns that Cain has turned Poseidon into a vast armaments facility which is in production of a war fleet. There is something of a power clash between Cain and Apollo, as Cain wishes to go on the offensive against the Cylons. Apollo opposes the notion and is shocked to find that Poseidon is under martial law. There are other shocking developments, as it is revealed that Cain is trying to make allies with a mysterious warlike race known as the Chitain, who appear to have an agenda of their own. These developments result in Apollo leading Starbuck and Boomer on a diplomatic mission to the Chitain homeworld, leaving the galactica under the command of Athena.

But unknown to the Colonials, the Imperious leader (a villian which unfortunately was never explored in the TV series, thanks to the studio execs favouring a rather camp Baltar as the series main villain!) is hot on their heels due to receiving their coordinates from the mysterious Count Iblis. All this results in a brilliant and superbly written space battle which will have the reader hanging on for dear life on the edge of every page, as the Galactica finally goes on the offensive (which makes a welcome change from the Galactica trying to simply run from every threat it encounters).

Despite what other readers of said, Warhawk is very well written. Although there is not much action in most of the story, there is a brilliant climatic space battle which makes up for it. There are also new additions to the BSG saga such as new weapons like the viper-duet - a type of viper bomber developed by Cain's military. Also there are new aliens such as the Chitain who are a creepy insectoid/reptillian race, that are equipped with a scorpion-like stingers, and who seem to "glide" on a snake-like trunks. The Chitain certainly make a worthy addition to BSG saga since the TV series, I felt, never showed enough alien races during it's brief run.

The characterisation of Cain is also interesting, he appears to be a much more stern and aggressive character than his TV counterpart. I found this interpretation of Cain much better than the Lloyd Bridges portrayal of the character in the TV series. I felt that Bridges was miscast as Cain as he seemed to be at times merely lampooning general Patton with his overuse of "swagger-stick gesturing", rather than portraying a great Colonial warlord. His Cain appeared more shifty and smug rather than a hardened, fascist officer that the character seemed to be conceived as. But in Warhawk, Hatch does do justice to this concept as Cain appears to be a very militaristic and brave anti-hero among the Colonials. In the novel Cain requests advice from Colonial prisoner Baltar about the reptillian Cylons and their genetic make-up. Cain exudes delight upon hearing from Baltar that the Cylons, despite their cybernetic implants, can indeed feel pain and suffering, and he swears to Baltar & present company that he will make the Cylon race suffer for it's crimes against humanity.

(To be continued in part 2 of the review!)

(Continued from part 1)

With regards to Baltar, Hatch uses a touch of revisionism when it is explained how Baltar managed to be in control of Cylon baseship in the Armageddon novel. Hatch rightfully ignores the final TV episode "Hand of God" where Balter was released by Adama in return for providing him the information about a Cylon baseship that was threatening the Galactica. In Warhawk, Hatch cleverly rewrites Galactica history by explaining that Balter merely escaped from the Colonials by bribing a prison warden before stealing a viper and flying back to the Cylons.

I do think Hatch is doing the BSG saga a service by simply omitting any of its faults from his continuation, but there seems to be an instance where he seems to rewrite some of the revisions which he previously included in the Armageddon novel. I refer of course to his explanation of the Cylons and their make-up. In Armageddon, Hatch correctly explains that the Cylons are organic (which corresponds with the original concept of the Cylons before the studio-execs wrongly interfered and had them re-written as fully mechanical robots for the TV series). But in Warhawk Hatch backtracks a little and pays some lip service to this studio-maligned concept of the Cylons by providing some unneeded exposition explaining that the organic Cylons did create some fully mechanical drones to augment their military near the end of their thousand year war with the Colonials. I feel that Hatch should not have become a "revisionist" about his own revisonism which he created regarding the Cylons. He should have left the explanation of Cylons as being reptillians-cyborgs, period!! Even if it was contrary to any scene in the TV series where the Cylons are referred to as being robots. This awful concept of Cylons being mindless mechanical robots was one which was forced upon the BSG TV saga by the studio-execs, much to the regret of Glen Larson. Even Robert Thurston, in his novel adaptions of the Galactica TV episodes, totally ignored the TV series and continued to refer to the Cylons as being organic. I felt that Hatch should have done this as well.

Another aspect that I didn't like about Warhawk was the revelation regarding Count Iblis :

*****SPOILERS******!! In the Warhawk novel it is revealed that Count Iblis is the Cylon Imperious leader. This totally contradicts the previous novel where Iblis himself explains to Apollo that he had only helped the Cylons in their evolution to being reptillian cyborgs but that he did not interfere in their affairs. It also contradicts the TV series where Iblis did not have any control over the Cylons and their empire. Personally I think that Hatch should have kept the characters of the Imperious Leader and Iblis as separate entities and not have them as being the same person. However I will give Hatch the benefit of the doubt as it could be explained in later novels that Iblis had either taken the form of the Cylon Imperious leader (like he did with ambassador Puck in the Armageddon novel) or had simply possessed the Leader, in order to control the Cylon forces and usethem against the Colonials. *********End of Spoilers!!******

Finally I would recommend Warhawk to any BSG fan, whether they be casual or purist. It is very well written and has great action sequences. It also has a cliffhanger ending of sorts (I won't mention any more about it in this review!) which will surprise the readers and make them even more impatient in their wait for the next brilliant novel.

Alas this novel is another startling example of how the BSG TV saga would have fared in the hands of creative people like Richard Hatch.

When I heard that Richard Hatch was writing books about Battlestar Galactica, I was at once excited and worried. Worried, because often when a story is continued after a long absence, the original dream is often lost. But excitement overwhelmed curiosity and I purchased "Armageddon", the first book, a few years ago. After reading it, I had confidence that Richard could carry on the dream of the Galactica and looked forward to the 2nd Book, "Warhawk".

This book blew me out of the water upon first reading it. Not only did it solve a 20 year old question (What happened to Commander Cain and the Pegasus?), it also moved the story forward and injected life into Richard's line of books. The story is full of subplots and new material, while continuing the saga in a rightful way.

Anyone who wants to find out what happened to Battlestar Galactica over the past 25 years should read this book. Don't bother listening to the Sci-Fi Channel's propoganda about a new Galactica series-it's a hoax. This is the TRUE Galactica! Happy reading!

This book is awesome. Hatch and Golden hit the nail on the head and also bring the character of Commander Cain back into the story. Well worth the money.

Richard Hatch has done it again.His first Galactica book,Armaggedon,reminded us all why we liked Galactica on television-Powerful story with continuous action.Warhawk continues that tradition and goes farther by reintroducing more characters from the classic show & not changing but expanding their personas. Any fan of the show will love this book.

One of my favorite quotes from TV's "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (spoken during a 1970s TV-movie): "At least I'll have 'Battlestar Galactica'...that'll *never* be cancelled!" Ulp. Well, at least Galactica lives on in this series of novels by show star Richard Hatch--no, not the fat naked guy from "Survivor," but the one and only Captain Apollo from the cult 1970s TV series.

Hatch drops us into a familiar world several years (or yahren) later: Commander Adama has passed on, Apollo has assumed command of the ragtag human fleet, Starbuck's a Captain, and the son of Apollo (the former Boxey, now called "Troy" in the only nod to the abortive and generally ignored "Galactica 1980" sequel) and the daughter of Starbuck are now top Colonial Warriors. But this isn't "Battlestar Galactica: The Next Generation"--most of the familiar TV cast are back, including popular TV series guest-stars like Commander Cain.

I enjoyed "Warhawk" a good deal more than most "Star Wars" novels because this provided what "Star Wars" books don't seem to give me anymore: the humor and adventure of the original. The dialogue is crisp and authoritative, each character sounding like his/her TV original, and the climatic Viper spacefight is as exciting as a fourth-act special-effects fest from the TV series. It's obvious the book is a sequel to Hatch's earlier book (which I haven't read): Apollo now has telepathic powers and the fate of human traitor Baltar picks up a storyline I was unfamiliar with, but Hatch does a good job of bringing readers up to speed on what has gone before that you don't need to have read "Armageddon"--but you'll want to.

Last I heard, the fate of bringing "Galactica" back to TV or movie screens was held up in a legal battle between series creator Glen A. Larson and Richard Hatch. While I'm the first to admit that surely Larson has the right to handle his creation as he sees fit, everyone would benefit from a truce and partnership between Larson and Hatch--Hatch shows here that his affection and care for the Galactica legacy benefits and entertains everyone--especially the fans.

I've been a fan of BG ever since it first came out, but I'm sorry, Mr. Hatch, I couldn't wade through this novel (and I tried, believe me). This whole psi-power thing, with its elitist overtones, is not a good selling point for long-term fans of the series. Your treatment of Starbuck (the character that still sells BG) rings a little hollow and is not calculated to endear him to anyone. Please stop here.

I found this novel and the one before it to be very interesting. I read earlier on this page that someone did not like the usage of telepathy between Apollo and Athena. Personally, I found it to add considerably to my understanding of the plot. The only bones I have about this is this: Regarding the the Quorum, just how dumb can they get sometimes? Especially in accordance with Balter. I know everyone has their opinions, but if ya'll have seen the videos of Galactica, then you will remember how the Quorum once thought that they made a hasty retreat from the Cylons, AFTER the Cylons destroyed their colonies! But enough on some people's lack of common sense. This is a good novel to read, and it is a pleasant diversion from the usual plots of Star Trek and Star Wars.