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jo_graham has put up another set of character thoughts up for the SGA Legacy book series - this time about John.
I recommend reading it, even if you don't plan to read the books. It's just such a complex character profile of John, an indication of how much care Jo, Melissa, and Amy have taken with these characters and how their story arcs work, the things they face, the parts that make up the whole.
The previous character studies are Radek, Teyla, Todd, and Sam (who seems to have very few supporters in SGA fandom, which is a real pity, because she has some really good storylines in Legacy - as a big Sam-fan, I'm really happy with where the storyline takes her and with the stuff that Jo discusses in the post: her vocation and her choices).
One thing that really hit me while I was reading the drafts of these novels was just how feminist the Legacy series is. How they showcase female strength, power, and choice. Yes, the guys are part and parcel of the action, but the female characters have agency and purpose as well. They cause the action to happen just as much as the men, they take action to interrupt and shape events as the male characters usually do in the show, they move and shake and take control and use hard and soft power in differing measures.
In the Legacy series, Teyla and Sam and Jennifer Keller, Laura Cadman, Eva Robinson (OFC), Miko - and even Elizabeth where she appears - are not damsels. In all the books I've read so far (up through Avengers), they're never damsels - even when injured, hurt, exhausted, or without exits. No damsels in these novels. At all. They're the princesses throwing out the golden apples, and the warrior-queens swinging their swords into battle; they're the women wielding scythes when the raiders come for their farms and families, the quiet ones with a bite worse than their bark when provoked; they're the ones learning who they are, who they could be, who they should be.
Even the primary antagonist of the series - a Wraith Queen who calls herself 'Death' (a kind of Boudicca legend of the Wraith) - commands her males, makes decisions, shows daring and cunning and intelligence. She's not just the "magical women are evil" bitch of the series but a terrifying and terrible opponent.
And yes, the men have their day, of course. But the women are given the opportunities to shine and they take them and it's a thing of great beauty to see.
I'm sure this won't appeal to some readers: the folks who think that women should be seen but not heard - on TV and in fanfic and in stories.
But I know a bunch of people off my f-list who will love this series if they only give it a chance.
Incidentally: Death Game by Jo Graham is out sometime in the next couple of weeks. I can't remember if I've got it pre-ordered on Amazon. The ridiculous thing with me and Amazon is that I usually end up paying $50 in books and $95 in postage. Which is just sad and painful on top of 'expensive' and 'almost more trouble than it's worth'. Unfortunately, it's really the only way I'm going to get a whole lot of these books since they're only sold at Galaxy bookshop in the city...
*grumps at ridiculous postage prices from the US*
jo_graham has put up another set of character thoughts up for the SGA Legacy book series - this time about John.I recommend reading it, even if you don't plan to read the books. It's just such a complex character profile of John, an indication of how much care Jo, Melissa, and Amy have taken with these characters and how their story arcs work, the things they face, the parts that make up the whole.
The previous character studies are Radek, Teyla, Todd, and Sam (who seems to have very few supporters in SGA fandom, which is a real pity, because she has some really good storylines in Legacy - as a big Sam-fan, I'm really happy with where the storyline takes her and with the stuff that Jo discusses in the post: her vocation and her choices).
One thing that really hit me while I was reading the drafts of these novels was just how feminist the Legacy series is. How they showcase female strength, power, and choice. Yes, the guys are part and parcel of the action, but the female characters have agency and purpose as well. They cause the action to happen just as much as the men, they take action to interrupt and shape events as the male characters usually do in the show, they move and shake and take control and use hard and soft power in differing measures.
In the Legacy series, Teyla and Sam and Jennifer Keller, Laura Cadman, Eva Robinson (OFC), Miko - and even Elizabeth where she appears - are not damsels. In all the books I've read so far (up through Avengers), they're never damsels - even when injured, hurt, exhausted, or without exits. No damsels in these novels. At all. They're the princesses throwing out the golden apples, and the warrior-queens swinging their swords into battle; they're the women wielding scythes when the raiders come for their farms and families, the quiet ones with a bite worse than their bark when provoked; they're the ones learning who they are, who they could be, who they should be.
Even the primary antagonist of the series - a Wraith Queen who calls herself 'Death' (a kind of Boudicca legend of the Wraith) - commands her males, makes decisions, shows daring and cunning and intelligence. She's not just the "magical women are evil" bitch of the series but a terrifying and terrible opponent.
And yes, the men have their day, of course. But the women are given the opportunities to shine and they take them and it's a thing of great beauty to see.
I'm sure this won't appeal to some readers: the folks who think that women should be seen but not heard - on TV and in fanfic and in stories.
But I know a bunch of people off my f-list who will love this series if they only give it a chance.
Incidentally: Death Game by Jo Graham is out sometime in the next couple of weeks. I can't remember if I've got it pre-ordered on Amazon. The ridiculous thing with me and Amazon is that I usually end up paying $50 in books and $95 in postage. Which is just sad and painful on top of 'expensive' and 'almost more trouble than it's worth'. Unfortunately, it's really the only way I'm going to get a whole lot of these books since they're only sold at Galaxy bookshop in the city...
*grumps at ridiculous postage prices from the US*
