Chaos Bleeds (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

I usually dont read Buffy fiction but I couldnt pass this one up because Im a huge Ethan Rayne fan. Alas, this book was disappointing to say the least. The bulk of the book is made up of very boring fight scenes that go on for far too long. What little plot the book contains is completely ridiculous and would severely mess with the continuity of season seven. The Ethan parts were pretty dissatisfying as well, especially since there was no Ethan/Giles interaction. A little humor would have gone a long way towards making this book tolerable but most of the jokes were just not funny. The only good thing I can say about this book is that everyone seemed to be in character to a certain degree. Still, avoid this one at all costs!

Chaos Bleeds (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) > Customer Review #2:

---

Not an insulting book at all.....

As a HUGE fan of Buffy, Ive read all of the books; ALL of them, Buffy, Angel, the Comic Books, Fray, the unauthorized readers from various publishers, etc. I found Chaos Bleeds to be, albeit not the best of the series, a good read. While the fight scenes were, at times, needlessly long and drawn out, the characters were written well, both in dialog and description. While the books states that it takes place during Season Six, the Author himself has stated that was an editorial mistake and the story actually takes place in Season 5, shortly after the death of Joyce and before Glory began her attack on the group in earnest. Based on the Video Game of the same name (aka Buffy 2:Chaos Bleeds) the story attempts to cram as many Buffy characters as possible into the pages. As I read this, I couldnt help but picture each scene as challenges in the game, rather than scenes from an episode. Im sure the author had very little leeway in the plot or characters as a result of this.
As a fan, nothing makes me more upset when reading these books to come across continuity errors. There have been many times in both the Buffy and Angel series when a comment is made to refer to an episode in the series that contradicts when the story is actually supposed to take place. I cringe, and then I continue reading. For those who dont know, when the editors at Simon Pulse solicit a new story for the series, they have guidelines of when the stories can take place and what "status" the characters currently have. For example, last summer they were only taking new stories that took place in an "alternate Season Six" where Tara was dead and Anya was a Vengeance Demon. The latest Buffy/Angel crossover book, Seven Crows, followed these guidelines.
...

---

Chaos Bleeds (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) > Customer Review #3:

---

I applaude James A. Moore!

I have to say that I can not understand why this book has gotten so many bad reviews. Its based on a video game for crying out loud! If you expected something as epic as the Lord of the Rings then you should have picked up Tolkien instead. Yes, this book is fight intensive, but thats because the game is also fight intensive. Give James Moore some credit here people, he *IS* working with the storyline of video game. I think he did an excellent job of elaborating on the basic storyline of the game. He managed to capture the essence of every character and the descriptions of the carnage and demons were just fantastic. I was not disappointed in the least in this book. It felt like I was reading a lost episode of Buffy and I loved it!

---