Book Rambling: DVD/Blu-Ray Question

I'm calling this a "Book Rambling" post because of the style it's ended up as, even though it's not about books at all.

When you're buying DVD's or Blu-Rays, especially for TV seasons, are they for shows you've already seen on TV? or do you buy for shows you haven't seen but think might be interesting? In other words, how much of a risk do you take?

I'm asking because I seem to find myself doing the latter, and sometimes it works out, while others not so much. I guess in part, I'm wondering how to judge a promising looking season/show, or maybe I'm just judging too soon.

For example, I bought a couple of seasons of Stargate SG-1 a few years ago, not having watched any of the series - maybe an episode or two but I'm not sure. I was hooked immediately on watching the first episode, Children of the Gods. That fascination kept up all the way through the next nine and a half seasons - though I found the last couple of seasons not quite as much to my tastes. I think it's because I liked the original four characters and their interactions - somehow the addition of Cam and Vala didn't work quite as well for me.

Based on the SG-1 seasons I'd seen by that point, it made sense to buy the Stargate Atlantis seasons unseeen - still haven't gotten around to watching them though. It's the same world and premise though, just slightly different characters, I think.

I've gotten a number of other seasons of things where I've not seen the show prior to getting the dvds as well, the latest being the new Amanda Tapping show, Sanctuary. I'll admit that I've only seen the first episode so far, but it's not grabbed me the way Stargate did. Maybe I'm expecting too much from the show - half the reason I bought it was because Amanda Tapping is in it, and it's completely a different type of show. I'm definitely planning to watch more though.

I've been looking at the Game of Thrones DVD's as well, but the price is definitely holding me back. Well, that and the fact that I haven't been able to read my way through the first book in the series as well. I get to chapter ten and stall out, both times I've tried to read the book now.

What are the criteria you use when buying seasons of TV series that you haven't seen? Or, do people still buy seasons of TV series rather than simply streaming them from somewhere like Netflix?

The First Amendment - Ashley McConnell

Stargate SG1 the First Amendment
Ashley McConnell
ROC
Copyright Date: 2000
0451457773
The jacket description:

The right to know...

From the very beginning, the success of the Stargate project hinged on one vital factor - absolute secrecy. The world remains ignorant of the Goa'uld and the war being waged in space, and that's just the way the Stargate command wants it. But their secret may not stay that way for long...

A young reporter has been smuggled into the most restricted area of the Cheyenne Mountain base. He's witnessed the Stargate in action, and wants answers. But he'll get much more than a headline when Colonel Jack O'Neill and his team decide to show him exactly how dangerous the universe can be...

I read this book for the first time last month just after I got hooked on the Stargate SG1 T.V. series and my original review is here. I'm now into watching the second season (finished watching Message in a Bottle this morning), and everything I said about the book last time still holds true.

The book is lots of fun and seems to remain true to the characters as I see them on the show. I rather suspect it's set early in the series too, but I'm not quite sure of when. Either way, I definitely enjoyed reading it, and the story was just as good the second time. I've gone and ordered McConnell's other Stargate novels as well. Here's hoping they're just as good as this one. I'm going to have to double-check and see if I have her Highlander one already too.

Short, I know, but so's the book, and I don't want to give anything away.

Stargate SG1 The Barque of Heaven - Suzanne Wood

Stargate SG1 The Barque Of Heaven
Suzanne Wood
Fandemonium
Copyright Date: 2008
9781905586059
The jacket description:

Through the underworld...

Millennia ago, at the height of his power, the system lord Ra decreed that any Goa'uld wishing to serve him must endure a great trial. Victory meant power and prestige, defeat brought banishment and death.

On a routine expedition to an abandoned Goa'uld world, SG1 inadvertently initiate Ra's ancient trial - and once begun, the trial cannot be halted. Relying on Dr. Daniel Jackson's vast wealth of knowldege, Colonel O'Neill mst lead his team from planet to planet, completing each task in the allotted time. There is no rest, no respite. To stop means being trapped forever inthe farthest reaches of the galaxy, and to fail means death.

Victory is their only option in this terrible test of endurance - an ordeal that will try their will, their ingenuety, and above all their bonds of friendship...

I'll admit it right off. I've gotten myself hooked on the Stargate novels. However, from the moment I bought this one, I thought it looked like the most interesting. I have to say that thought turned out to be true, and The Barque of Heaven is my current favorite.

The story is non-stop, and I found that I didn't need to have seen any of the later episodes in order to understand it (still haven't gotten past episode nine of season one). I just couldn't put it down. The characters seemed true to the series as well, and there were several points where I could "hear" the dialogue in the voices from the series.

From the start the SG1 team finds themselves in a race against time, having to solve different problems in order to get to the next planet before the time runs out and they're trapped. Each character has his or her time to shine, with puzzles that rely on their specific skill sets. Early on in the book it's made clear that the trial is a life or death matter.

Thing is, in a tie-in novel, you know that all of the main characters are going to come out of the book in the same condition they started it, or at least that's been my experience. With The Barque of Heaven, I completely forgot that little fact, I got so involved.

It's a bit of a longer read, but a very satisfying one, and I think the rest of the Stargate novels I have are going to have a lot to live up to after reading this one.

Stargate SG1 City of the Gods - Sonny Whitelaw

Stargate SG1 City Of The Gods
Sonny Whitelaw
Fandemonium
Copyright Date: 2005
9780954734336
The jacket description:

My Enemy's enemy...

When a Crystal Skull is discovered beneath the Pyramid of the Sun in Mexico, it ignites a cataclysmic series of events that maroons SG1 on a dying world.

Xalotcan is a brutal society, steeped in death and sacrifice, where the bloody gods of the Aztecs demand tribute from a fearful and superstitious population. But that's the leat of Colonel Jack O'Neill's problems. With Xalotcan on the brink of catastrophe, Dr Daniel Jackson insists that O'Neill must fulfill an ancient prophecy and lead its people to salvation. But with the world tearing itself apart, can anyone survive?

As fear and despair plunge Xalotcan into chaos, SG1 find themselves with ringside seats at the end of the world...

Asheley McConnell's novel The First Amendment got me hooked on the Stargate novels so I went out and bought more of them. This was the second one I read. It was good, but not my favorite. I think it's because I didn't have as much of the background for the story this time around.

City of the Gods is set within the Aztec/Mayan cultures of Mexico/Central America, which I found quite interesting. The story links with the little I know about the region/period well, although I'm sure that the story would drive anyone who really knows the cultures crazy (as have some stories set in the periods and areas I'm more familiar with).

All of the characters seem to be in character, so far as I can tell. However, I'm still watching the first season of the TV series, and I think that City of the Gods is set near the end of the third season, or even into the fourth or later.

The Stargate novels are making a nice change of pace: they're quick reads, taking no more than a day or so each, and they're science-fiction, something I haven't read a lot of in recent weeks.

Stargate Novel: The First Amendment - Ashely McConnell

Stargate SG1 the First Amendment
Ashley McConnell
ROC
Copyright Date: 2000
0451457773
The jacket description:

The right to know...

From the very beginning, the success of the Stargate project hinged on one vital factor - absolute secrecy. The world remains ignorant of the Goa'uld and the war being waged in space, and that's just the way the Stargate command wants it. But their secret may not stay that way for long...

A young reporter has been smuggled into the most restricted area of the Cheyenne Mountain base. He's witnessed the Stargate in action, and wants answers. But he'll get much more than a headline when Colonel Jack O'Neill and his team decide to show him exactly how dangerous the universe can be...

I've recently gotten hooked on the Stargate TV series, and so, seeing this book in the store, I had to give it a try. Even though I'm only eight episodes into the first season, I found that The First Amendment had me hooked almost instantly. I know it's not the first of the Stargate novels, but I found that I wasn't too lost when I was reading it.

Ashley McConnell seems to have the character "voices" and attitudes matching the show as far as I can tell. Looking at the list of her other novels, novelizations for TV shows seems to be her particular niche. I saw a Highlander novel, Quantum Leap and several other Stargate novels listed under her name as well.

Stargate SG1 The First Amendment is a short novel, but that made it a nice change from the other books I've been reading lately (all of which were well over three hundred pages, and usually closer to six hundred). Definitely good for any fan of the Stargate series(es), and lovers of action/adventure/science fiction novels.