‘Buffy’/‘Angel’ flashback: ‘Unseen III: Long Way Home’ (2001) (Book review)
Nancy Holder and Jeff Mariotte wrap up their “Buffy”/“Angel” crossover trilogy “Unseen” by paying off most of the threads in satisfying ways and going big with the idea of our heroes traipsing through alternate dimensions. As is often the case in the Buffyverse novels, “Long Way Home” (September 2001) has ideas (alternate dimensions) and character
‘Buffy’/‘Angel’ flashback: ‘Unseen II: Door to Alternity’ (2001) (Book review)
Nancy Holder and Jeff Mariotte expand on their portrayal of gang warfare in Los Angeles and Sunnydale by digging into the Russian side of the Mexican-Russian conflict in “Unseen II: Door to Alternity” (July 2001), the second of a trilogy. In a backstory, the authors do some impressive writing from the point of view of
‘Buffy’/‘Angel’ flashback: ‘Unseen I: The Burning’ (2001) (Book review)
“Unseen I: The Burning” (May 2001), the first of a “Buffy”/“Angel” crossover trilogy, is one of the more unusual Buffyverse books so far. It’s notably decompressed, features many different storylines, and –most strikingly – digs into themes that don’t seem to be in the wheelhouse of this saga. For instance, Buffy is going after Los
‘Buffy’ flashback: All 7 short stories from ‘Tales of the Slayer Vol. 1’ (2001), ranked (Book review)
I remember when “Tales of the Slayer Vol. 1” (October 2001) came out, it felt to me like for first time the Buffyverse had a sprawling Expanded Universe similar to what “Star Wars” had developed. Starting here, a character need not be peripherally linked to Buffy in order to have their story told.
‘Angel’ flashback: ‘Not Forgotten’ (2000) (Book review)
Although “Buffy” was generally a slightly better TV show than “Angel,” I remember the “Angel” novels being consistently better than the “Buffy” novels. Because “Angel” was a less serialized concept, it was easy for authors to write a good old-fashioned detective yarn and have it fit into the timeline without any problems. In my re-read,
‘Buffy’ flashback: ‘The Book of Fours’ (2001) (Book review)
Nancy Holder intriguingly expands on Slayer mythology and simultaneously scoffs at established continuity in “The Book of Fours” (April 2001). But even if the idea that it fits into Season 3’s TV arcs is laughable, this third hardcover in the series is a delicious page-turner that daringly breaks free of narrative convention.
‘Buffy’ flashback: ‘How I Survived My Summer Vacation’ (2000) (Book review)
“How I Survived My Summer Vacation” (August 2000) is the only “Buffy” young-adult book that’s an essential read for all “Buffy” book fans, and it’s the first book that fits so nicely with the TV continuity that it can be considered unambiguously canonical. The full title includes “Volume 1” at the end, which suggests Pocket
‘Buffy’ flashback: ‘The Evil That Men Do’ (2000) (Book review)
By a quirk of timing, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” became linked with the 1999 Columbine school shootings. The WB pushed the airings of “Earshot” (3.18) and “Graduation Day, Part 2” (3.22) into the summer, citing the sensitive subject matter. In reality, neither episode explores school shootings, let alone takes a political stance on them. In
‘Buffy’ flashback: ‘Blooded’ (1998) (Book review)
Although “Blooded” (August 1998) is the fourth original young-adult “Buffy” novel, it’s possibly the book that inspired the publisher, Pocket Books, to split the title into adult and young-adult books after this point. Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder, who had previously launched this series with 1997’s “Halloween Rain,” write “Blooded” in the same style as
‘Buffy’ moves to bookshelves for ‘Halloween Rain’ (1997)
‘Buffy’ flashback (Book review): “BTVS” gets its first piece of spinoff fiction. Golden and Holder nicely capture the feel of the show, if not the continuity.