Since the advent of Battlestar Galactica there have been novels. Quite a few in fact from three distinct lines. In this section we will cover all of them. We’ll provide synopses (longer ones for the original novels than the novelizations) short, capsule reviews and something I like to call “CONTINUITY NOTES” where we’ll list those bits and pieces from the novels that give more insight into the Galactica Universe than was stated in the episode. Check back regularly as this section will be updated often with added novels. Not in any particular order mind you, we’ll jump around a bit as the whim strikes. So read on and immerse yourself in Battlestar Galactica literature…
Original Series of Novels, Berkley 1978-1987
Before the show even premiered, there was a novel. The Berkley books spanned ten novelizations (adapting 16 of the show’s 24 hours, as well as the first 3 hours of Galactica 1980) and four original novels. This paperback line ran well into the late 80’s as the hunger for “new” Galactica was still there. Often based on early scripts, the novels contradicted the series as televised in places. They also sometimes contradicted each other. All of these novels are long out of print however they were printed in the millions so can still be found easily on the secondary market. The later novels can be a bit pricey but not extraordinarily so. The early ones can be found very cheap. The first few were reprinted in the early 2000’s in omnibus editions but I never bothered with those as I had the originals. I haven’t personally read these novels since the 80’s and 90’s and, in a few cases, I never read them at all. So this should be a fun exercise.
Note: For contractual reasons Glen Larson was listed as the co-writer for all of these novels. But, in no surprise to anyone, he didn’t actually write any of them. For the purposes of this article we are listing only the “real” authors.
Battlestar Galactica by Robert Thurston
Battlestar Galactica 2: The Cylon Death Machine by Robert Thurston
Battlestar Galactica 3: The Tombs of Kobol by Robert Thurston
Battlestar Galactica 4: The Young Warriors by Robert Thurston
Battlestar Galactica 5: Galactica Discovers Earth by Michael Resnick
Battlestar Galactica 6: The Living Legend by Nicholas Yermakov
Battlestar Galactica 7: War Of The Gods by Nicholas Yermakov
Battlestar Galactica 8: Greetings From Earth by Ron Goulart
Battlestar Galactica 9: Experiment in Terra by Ron Goulart
Battlestar Galactica 10: The Long Patrol by Ron Goulart
Battlestar Galactica 11: The Nightmare Machine by Robert Thurston
Battlestar Galactica 12: Die, Chameleon! by Robert Thurston
Battlestar Galactica 13: Apollo’s War by Robert Thurston
Battlestar Galactica 14: Surrender, The Galactica by Robert Thurston
Richard Hatch Novels, Pocket Books/iBooks 1997-2005
Oh, for the days when the only Battlestar Galactica controversy was who should bring it back, Richard Hatch or Glen Larson? Credit where credit is due, only Richard was able to produce material, Glen never did. Full disclosure, I knew Richard personally and we were friends of a sort. But that doesn’t mean I agreed with all of his decisions about Galactica. In fact we had some strong arguments. But I digress… back to the books. They were indeed controversial among fans at the time, with some loving them and others absolutely hating them. I was somewhere in the middle. For the most part I enjoyed them but I did have problems with pretty much all of them (I’ll mention that in the individual articles.) A total of seven were published, with a first draft of an eighth written. Most were printed in both hardcover and softcover. All of these novels are out of print and unlikely to be reprinted given the vague rights issue. The first two were published by Pocket Books and are by far the easiest, and cheapest, ones to find on the after-market. The rest however were published by the small press iBooks. These had limited print runs and distribution and are very expensive on the after-market. You’re looking at $40 to $70 for used editions, even former library copies. Good hunting!
Armageddon by Richard Hatch and Christopher Golden
Warhawk by Richard Hatch and Christopher Golden
Rebellion by Richard Hatch and Alan Rodgers
Resurrection by Richard Hatch and Stan Timmons
Paradis by Richard Hatch and Brad Linaweaver
Destiny by Richard Hatch and Brad Linaweaver
Redemption by Richard Hatch and Brad Linaweaver
Unpublished 8th Novel by Richard Hatch and Brad Linaweaver
GINO Novels, TOR Books 2006
With the coming of the “Great Re-imagining” came a new series of novels. Beginning with a novelization of the mini-series the line continued with three original novels. They were printed in both hardcover and trade paperback format. The three originals were also printed in an omnibus. Due to lackluster sales TOR never commissioned any further novels. The novels are out of print of course, but they seem to be easy to find on the after-market. Now, anyone perusing this site will know we’re not exactly fans of the remake. So why cover the novels? Well, three reasons, 1. Completeness sake, there’s only a few of them 2. I personally have read and like a couple of the authors’ prior books and 3. Many years ago a very polite gentleman from TOR sent some of the books to us and I promised I’d get to them. Now, I certainly didn’t intend for it to take so long but you know how real-life has a habit of getting in the way sometimes.
Battlestar Galactica by Jeffrey A. Carver
The Cylons’ Secret by Craig Shaw Gardner
Sagittarius Is Bleeding by Peter David
Unity by Steven Harper
So, will there ever be new Battlestar Galactica novels? And, if so, which version will they follow? Well despite the fact that there is no one at Universal currently that understands the property (and truthfully they haven’t for decades) it’s only a matter of time before they eventually do something with it. Whatever form that may take, more novels will likely come. Time will tell.
Written by Erik Matthews