Adama's Journals/Saga of a Star World (Book)

• First Entry (Before Chapter 1): Adama talks about how the Cylon war began abruptly with an outright attack on the Colonials' merchant ships, resulting in the destruction of thousands of ships. He tells of the first Cylon offensive against the twelve worlds, which the Colonial Fleet repulsed, thus beginning the thousand year war. He later notes that the humans later forgot the extent of Cylon treachery, and should never have trusted the peace offering the Cylons offered "just as abruptly as they had initiated hostilities". He believes that the Cylons were able to prey upon the humans' desire for peace, and blames himself for not trusting his suspicions.
• Second Entry (between Chapters 1 and 2): Adama notes that there is often debate between the significance of individual death and mass death. Adama doesn't believe there is a difference, noting that either set of deaths—a singular individual death (like that of his son, Zac) and the mass deaths caused by the Cylons in the same act—is "no less intense, no less meaningful, no less important".
• Third Entry (between Chapters 2 and 3): Adama reflects on his withdrawal from the Battle of Cimtar to rush to the Colonies and the misconceptions that surrounded it, particularly those from his own pilots, Boomer and Starbuck. In this entry, Adama tells of the legend of Gavin and the Villain; a moon miner from the solar system that contained Earth who spends his life looking for a villain after trying to best said villain in a game to prove his bravery. Adama relates to the legend, saying how his times of "apparent cowardice" made him feel like Gavin.
• Fourth Entry (between Chapters 3 and 4): Adama reflects on the assemblage of the rag-tag, fugitive fleet, astonished at the tenacity of disparate groups of survivors to assemble and coordinate efforts to evacuate, all while the Cylons were bent on exterminating any survivors. Adama tells of how Apollo improvised a camouflaging force field that made their rendezvous point invisible to Cylon patrols. He notes that many among the Fleet believe that a higher power was involved in making all these events occur; regardless of what one believes, Adama claims that the assemblage of the Fleet was a miracle.
• Fifth Entry (between Chapters 4 and 5): Adama reflects on being a benevolent tyrant, noting that if everyone were told the full truth around his plans, the Fleet and its people would succumb to ennui and fear once comprehending the full nature of the odds that they face. As he marvels at how resilient the survivors had become in repairing damages, converting ships to hyperspace ability, and dealing with the problems they faced, he notes that he remained aloof and emotionally detached so that work could be done.
• Sixth Entry (between Chapters 5 and 6): Adama discusses his first and only attempt to capture a young Ensign Starbuck in the act of illicit gambling aboard Galactica. He discovers that Starbuck and the other crew members have been betting on when Adama will die. Initially irritated at this, he discovers that all of the crew members have said "never"; Adama believes that Starbuck played him the whole time, knowing that the Commander was looking to nab him on something, and Adama never tried to catch Starbuck red handed again.
• Seventh Entry (between Chapters 6 and 7): Adama remembers a piece of advice that his father gave after transferring command of Galactica to him: to look for things that were absent when things appeared to be in place. He notes that he is odds with what he sees, or doesn't see, when it comes to the idyllic refuge of Carillon.
• Eighth Entry (between Chapters 7 and 8): Adama notes that the idea of paradise is something contrary to what it suggests ("an expansion of human potential") and is instead the complete reverse ("usually a reduction, generally to the state of inertia"). He notes that humanity has an "unfortunate tendency to welcome traps if we can find some way to call them paradises," noting that such traps included Count Baltar's peace initiative and the "Carillon paradise," and that humanity often doesn't "pay heed to the slaves who are the rest of the population in our ideal imaginary lands [...] be[ing] content if we don't have to think of the slaves or the inertia".
• Ninth Entry (between Chapters 8 and 9): Adama tries to make sense of Baltar's betrayal of humanity, but finds more understanding in the motivations of the Cylons and Ovions than in Baltar's evil nature.
• Tenth and Final Entry (between Chapters 9 and 10): Adama recalls his meeting with Adar during a lull in the Thousand Year War; Adar had been successful in filing his petition to run for a minor political office on Sagitara, and vowed to bring the War with the Cylons to an end, blaming the corruption of the politicians that ran the war. Adama discusses the gradual changes in Adar's outlook on things as he grew more powerful, up to the point where Adar was no longer welcomed by Ila, Adama's wife, into their home. (Also included is a brief story about a then-two-year old Apollo and his own daggit, an animal with a penchant of tripping people, and some memories of Ila.)