Battlestar Galactica
Jeffrey A. Carver
Tor, Jan 2006, $14.95
ISBN: 0765315416

The Cylons were created by humanity to improve mankind's life in the Twelve Colonies, but were transformed into killing weapons of mass destruction until they decided to destroy anything human. For the next decade, humanity warred against their creation with the loser eradicated from the Twelve Colonies. No one won and a truce occurs; the Cylons leave the sector. After one scheduled meeting in year one of the "peace", the Cylons vanished never to be heard from again, until now thirty-nine years later.

In that interim, the Cylons have devoted their energy to their prime objective: destroy humanity! Their plan is clever, as a new generation of Cylons has been created who look and act like humans, and not metal monstrosities whose design was totally based on form not aesthetics. Their new assault from within proves successful, with only one human warship left after a massive attack. The Battlestar Galactica was about to be turned into a museum while Commander William Adama was retiring, but instead he must rally humanity against a stronger amoral adversary whose genocide objective seems certain to occur.

Action packed, this novelization of the latest Battlestar Galactica tale is a fun story for fans of the series. Cylons are portrayed too often as loquacious boasters explaining their genocide plans, instead of just cold blooded killing machines; thus the tale loses some of its potency as it feels like a TV adaptation with four degrees of Star Wars. Still, within that limiting context, Jeffrey A. Carver displays his writing talent as he makes the Twelve Colonies and the key humans and Cylons seem real. The Battlestar audience will want to enlist in the war of survival as Mr. Carver provides an entertaining rendition.