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Average Customer Rating:
Queen of the Slayers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) >
Customer Review #1:
The horror... the horror...
That was pretty much how I felt after finishing this terrible book.
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lt;br /gt;Im a Buffy fan (something of a purist - as I dont like the Angel spin-off), and only an occasional reader of BTVS novels, which - except for The Lost Slayer - always disappointed me. They were like McDonalds food - good to have around when Buffys not on TV, but never satisfying.
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lt;br /gt;So when I saw this novel, I thought it would be good. Holder is a four-times Bram Stoker award winner, and I figured the first novel set after the climax of the BTVS TV show would be of a much higher quality than previous novels, to satisfy the BTVS fans who want the story to continue.
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lt;br /gt;But I was very wrong.
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lt;br /gt;This book is absolutely god-awful.
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lt;br /gt;Id give it zero stars, if I could.
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lt;br /gt;Its hard to pick on thing that makes this book so bad.
lt;br /gt;Unscary and cliched villains;
lt;br /gt;Regular Buffy characters acting out of character (since when does Oz give speeches?);
lt;br /gt;Terrible dialogue (unrealistic, and with none of the wit or intelligence thats the hallmark of the TV show);
lt;br /gt;The Yet Another Apocalypse plot, (something which Whedon and co. acknowledged was a cliche when the TV shows were running within the shows storylines);
lt;br /gt;Ignoring the continunity set up by the final series of Angel; during which this book is set (unless the worldwide Apocalyptic weather systems featured in this book decided to skip LA, and no one at Wolfram and Hart thought to tell Angel "A Hellmouth in Cleveland has opened");
lt;br /gt;Borderline racist characterisation of non-Americans (all Italians speak-a like-a this-a and are obsessed with clothes, while girls from Indian are all shy and hide behind veils);
lt;br /gt;And theres the uncountable number of unnamed new Slayers who are casually slaughtered (it seems a new Slayer has a shorter life expectancy than a red-shirted officer in Star Trek).
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lt;br /gt;But the worst thing about this book are the events Holder skips - battle scenes, action sequences, and major dramatic events she set up earlier in the book - theyre just skipped and youre told the result of what happened.
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lt;br /gt;For example, early in the book Buffy and co. encounter a pack of shapeshifters and go out hunting (doesnt have any bearing on the main plot). Only I think they do, because Holder skips the entire hunt. Buffy and co discover the monsters.
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lt;br /gt;Turn the page, the critters are all dead.
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lt;br /gt;The same thing is repeated again, and again, and again. Big set up. Expectation raised of major drama/action scenes. Turn the page and the events already in the past - sometimes by days.
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lt;br /gt;Admittedly BTVS jumps around genres with wild abandon, but action is a major part of the series and the novels. Something that Holder either doesnt want to handle or cant write, so skips.
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lt;br /gt;Even major events in the story - including the final battle, are skipped.
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lt;br /gt;The only good thing about this book is twist at the very end, which completes the "Journey to adulthood" arc Whedon and co have been running since the start of season 4 of BTVS.
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lt;br /gt;However, its execution makes me think Holder got her idea from reading Buffy slash fiction, and too many reports of angels visiting the dying in hospitals.
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lt;br /gt;Only BTVS fans would buy this book, but theyll end up hating it.
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lt;br /gt;In my view Holder took the publishers money, handed in a first draft, and then legged it.
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lt;br /gt;That all said, I found this book inspirational.
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lt;br /gt;Because after reading it I thought, "I can write a better novel than this piece of junk!"
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lt;br /gt;If youre a BTVS fan, avoid this book and spend your money on the new Buffy comic coming from Dark Horse - its Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 8 written by Joss Whedon.
Queen of the Slayers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) >
Customer Review #2:
good book
this book is a good tie in with the show.the only this that it jumps around alot,but its still well worth reading.
Queen of the Slayers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) >
Customer Review #3:
A Semi-Good Continuation
Im sure that most people who read this have seen the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and know what is going on. This book offers some relief as to what happens after Sunnydale but it sure is no Joss Whedon.
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lt;br /gt;I thought the introduction of Shapeshifters was very interesting and would of been an interesting consept while the show was running. That part of the book was very interesting. The concept of slayer against slayer was also very interesting. Other than that, Im not sure that I really liked that much about this book.
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lt;br /gt;I thought that time lapses were somewhat confusing in this book. It left you wondering what happened during those missing time slots. I thought it was particularly lame that the author would write about a big battle and yet every main Scooby member at the end lives. This is an end of the world fight and yet every main character lives? That is so cliche.
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lt;br /gt;This book is also missing a lot of background information. The Immortal isnt even justified in this book. It doesnt really explain much about him and even some of the Gods that are mentioned, are not adequately described. I thought it was also wrong how the author mentioned what happened to some of the Angel characters when this is supposed to be a book about Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
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lt;br /gt;Dont get me wrong though. I thought this book was mediocre but it definetly could never compare to what Joss Whedon wanted for the story. Even as we speak, he is working on his own comic about what happens after Sunnydale because he wasnt quite happy with the way this book explained things.
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