stargateficrec | Tribes, by Kinggorilla (T)

Tribes, by Kinggorilla

Show: SG-1

Rec Category: SG-1 Off-world
Characters: Jack O'Neill, Daniel Jackson, Sam Carter, Teal'c, Team
Pairings: minor inferences of Jack / Sam UST
Categories: Gen, Action/Adventure, Drama, Suspense
Warnings: Violence (explicit scenes of death and aggressive violence)
Author's Journal: unknown
Author's Website: Kinggorilla, on AO3
Link: Tribes

Why This Must Be Read: Author's Summary: "A straightforward mission to retrieve a damaged MALP spirals into madness, forcing each member of SG-1 to reevaluate what it is they truly believe in."

Wow, what a ride. This is a long, meaty story in which our heroes have to navigate their way through a complicated and extremely dangerous cultural feud - a bloody, antagonistic war between two groups of utterly ruthless peoples, during which our team members are separated and their lives threatened. The world-building here is amazing, with the off-world culture both complex and fascinating, the descriptive and witty writing style is captivating, and the pace is one which pulls the reader along on quite the journey.

Two minor mentions that may or may not apply to any given reader, here: you need to take the warning of violence seriously, as abrupt and bloody death abounds in a few spots; and, for all you strictly Gen or M/M readers, there are very minor, insignificant hints of Jack/Sam here and there. My quick piece of advice to readers to whom these mentions might apply: if you can squint past the blood, read this story! It's quite the adventure; and as soon as I am done typing out this rec, I am gonna go read it again. Oh ... and one last mention: some of the author's chapter summaries are a hoot, so don't skip over them!

“Jack, no!,” Jackson protested. “We just got here; we can’t leave already. We haven’t even scratched the surface of this place.”

“We scratched hard enough to turn up a fresh corpse," O’Neill pointed out.

“For which we have zero context. For all we know, he may have been a criminal, or been involved in a lover’s quarrel, or… or…,” running out of possibilities, Jackson faded off into silence. O’Neill favored him with an inquisitive look.

“Justice appears to be swift and harsh in this town,” he rebutted, gesturing at the body. Jackson nodded and waved his hands in his frustration.

“Yes,” he agreed, “primitive societies often lack nuance in their administration of justice. That’s no reason to hustle us out of here this quickly. We’ve been lots of places where people were primitive, but things turned out well enough for us.”

“Daniel, the risk/reward equation is not working in your favor here. Even if there’s a lot more of these people and they all turn out to be extra-friendly, I’m just not seeing anything worth possibly putting the team in danger.”

"The decision may be out of your hands," Teal’c rumbled softly. "Several men approach."

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