Death Save All

Fanfiction
Title:	Death Save All
Author(s):	Gatedemon
Date(s):
Length:	43K
Genre:	gen
Fandom:	Stargate SG-1
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Death Save All is a Stargate SG-1 story by Gatedemon.

Reactions and Reviews

Told largely from Janet's point of view, Death Save All tells of the aftermath of a major Goa'uld attack on an off-world base, an attack that resulted in the deaths of thirty people, including three members of SG-1. The story doesn't focus on the attack itself, and indeed the deaths are only mentioned. This is a story about survival and recovery, not about the disaster itself.

The story opens with Janet visiting one of the survivors in ICU and discussing her patient's condition with Major Davis. The patient's identity is not revealed until the end of that scene - an interesting and effective creative choice. It both focuses the reader's attention on the conversation itself, and also establishes the reader's ignorance of the full picture, a theme that is maintained throughout most of the story. Information seeps through the narrative slowly and the reader never learns exactly what happened to SG-1, or indeed how the surviving member of that team copes with recovery. Yet far from distancing the reader from the plot, this technique increases the reader's empathy for the character. The reader is, in effect, placed in the same position as the peripheral characters in the story, hungry for news and explanations, and devouring each new morsel of information eagerly.

The characterisations are mostly very good: General Hammond's reactions ring very true for me; McKenzie is an ass, as always; and Janet's protectiveness and determination to get the right care for her patients finds an echo in Threshold (though that episode aired a long time after this story was written). The characterisation of Major Davies seems a little "off" to me but that could simply be because, unlike canon, this author has actually given him a personality.

The passage of time in this story is indicated by the heading of each section - "0900 Tuesday October 10", for example - which gives it an authentic atmosphere but is something that, frankly, I find irritating. I have to go back to the beginning at each section break to work out how much time has passed. I'd prefer "Two days later, 0900" - which at least is nice and clear. The capitalisation of "Colonel" and "General" is inconsistent, which is the only real grammatical problem I found. Of more concern is something that is, to me, a huge plot hole: there is no explanation for why General Hammond was off-world at the time of the attack. When you consider that, in five years of canon, Hammond has left Earth just once, for me this is a glaring omission. I am also less than convinced by the psychological reaction of the surviving member of SG-1, but as the reader is only told about this, not shown, this is a minor gripe.

The key "recovery" scene takes place "off-stage" in this story. I think some readers will find this frustrating, and it's true that a little comfort in this harrowing story wouldn't go amiss. Frustrating or not, however, the "off-stage" nature of the scene is consistent with the rest of the piece; the reader is permitted to know only what the medical professionals know, no more.

The author's notes on this story explain that the original version was written omitting the memorial service at the end. While some readers will no doubt disagree, frankly I think the author spoils the story with the memorial epilogue. The final scene prior to the service is the natural endpoint of the conflicts set up in the story, and the epilogue is much more relaxed in its point of view, detracting from the distance built up for the reader prior to that. I also find the last scene horribly sentimental and I confess that the flag-waving is a major pet peeve of mine. On the other hand, it does provide a note of hope to end on, where the earlier ending would have been more ambiguous, and I know some readers will prefer that.

This is a painfully realistic story that pulls no punches, yet somehow manages to avoid excessive angst and unnecessary details. I love the restrained style of the writing and (with that last scene edited out) I very much enjoyed this story.