Rating: 
Summary: Golden & Holder -- Seperately great, together awesome
Review: While I don't think Immortal is as good as my favorite BtVS novel, The Lost Slayer (also by Christoper Golden), it's still a very good read. I think the only shortfall of this story compared to the other is that The Lost Slayer is a considerably longer tale, and therefore more intricate and detailed.This one is set in Buffy's senior year at Sunnydale High. There's one passing reference to the Mayor, but no mention of Faith. Angel is a major player in the story (it does take place after his return from Hell, and all the Scoobies know he's back), and much of the book is about the anguish between Angel and Buffy over the curse and how they can't be together but long to. The characters of Angel and Buffy are explored in great detail, the remaining characters are there mainly in as much as they interact with Buffy or Angel, although there is a little bit of time spent following the now defunkt relationship between Xander and Cordelia, and the blossoming relationship between Oz and Willow (as well as Willow's further foray into magic). The story follows a new vampire in Sunnydale, Veronique, who has the ability to be re-incarnated into the next vampire sired in her general vicinity whenever she's dusted. She serves a three-in-one demon called the Triumverate, who she hopes to release on Earth, and her reward for doing so will be true immortality -- a single body that cannot be destroyed. Meanwhile, as Buffy grapples with the unkillable vampire, she's faced with her mother's mortality as well as her own, as Joyce is sick and has a mass on one of her lungs (although the book is set prior to season 5, I'm not sure when it was penned, if Joyce's death in the series had any affect). Angel's own immortality isn't any help -- every time he's around, his presence only reminds Buffy of how she, her mother and everyone else will eventually die. It's a fascinating read, and very well written. I really enjoyed how the different events going on in Buffy's life (her mother, Angel and Veronique) all played into each other (a single underlying theme linked all three story elements), much the way multiple storyline elements do in the series.
Rating:
Summary: New Buffy fan from Columbus OH 12/9/99
Review: I stumbled upon "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" TV series this fall and am hooked(and "Angel" too). I spotted the book "Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Immortal" at the local library new book section and had to read it. Now I'm hooked on the books. This book was hard to put down. I lost a lot of sleep enjoying the story line. I enjoyed the today lingo that matched the TV Buffy's dialog nuances. I felt like I was watching the TV Buffy show in my mind's eye while reading with the added gift of knowing everyone's thoughts that only reading can provide. My only wish is that I had been a fan from the beginning of the whole story line. But catching up will be fun. The only thing I wondered about this new book published just recently, was why Buffy was still a Senior in High School when the TV series has her a Freshman in College.
Rating: 
Summary: Confusing and disappointing
Review: Having read several of Golden's "Buffy" novels, this one disappointed me. It is the first I've read by Holder, however. I had several issues with this book. The major problem was the constant shift in point of view. Flashbacks, minor characters, everyone and her sidekick had a point of view it seemed. It made for some confusing reading, but at least the flashbacks were clearly marked. Had they stuck to two or three major character points of view, I would have enjoyed the story more. The other major flaw, IMO, was Cordelia. Where were they in Buffyverse history in this book? Is this before or after the Cordelia-Xander breakup? I couldn't figure it out, and that was annoying. Cordelia just plays a more major role than I am able to stomach, especially if this is post-Xander. On the other hand, the plot and Big Bad of this book were very interesting and well thought out. The fact that I dislike both Cordelia and Angel must have some bearing on my enjoyment of the book as well. And it's difficult to read Buffy books without trying to place them within the context of the show. All in all, the characters rang true, the story was interesting if scattered, and this book is a decent to good addition to the Buffyverse.
Rating:
Summary: For Once, Golden and Holder Deserve Their Hype
Review: These two authors are the most overrated in the series, but Immortal is definitely a winner. It is also one of the more genuinely adult Buffy entries. One of the problems the book series has is coming up with sufficiently powerful foes for Buffy to face. The T.V. show has an entire season to develop them. The books don't. Immortal's Veronique is one of Buffy's more memorable opponents. Veronique is a lamia, an immortal vampire spirit hitherto imprisoned on a Greek island. Unlike other vampires, she has no true body of her own. For that reason, she can't be "killed." She can migrate from one corpse to another, continuing to face the best champion the world has to offer: Buffy. And each time around, Veronique has learned a few more of Buffy's moves. Eventually, by simple law of averages, Buffy can only lose. Compounding the Slayer's appreciable problem, Veronique plans to resurrect the demon source of all vampires, which even Buffy would be powerless to defeat in its proper form. The characters are more substantially and interestingly developed than usual, the plot is brisk and involving, the action harrowing. This is a good horror novel, in addition to being a good Buffy novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Buffy the Vampire Slayer takes on an Immortal Vampire
Review: With most stories of the battle between good and evil what makes the story is the quality of the villain. While Veronique, the "Immortal" vampire is not on the level of The Master of Hannibal Lecter, she does create some interesting possibilities for her encounter with Buffy in this novel by Michael Golden and Nancy Holder. Empowered by her demon overlords the Triumvirate, Veronique passes from the body of one vampire to the next every time she has been dusted, picking up more information about the Slayer and her fighting style with each and every encounter. Meanwhile, Veronique and her minions are preparing for the Triumvirate to take form in this dimension at which point wackiness will ensue and eventually she will get to drink the blood of the last man on Earth. Unfortunately, Buffy Summers is a bit preoccupied at the moment since her Mom is hospitalized and has to undergo a biopsy. Of course, given the death of Buffy's mom during season five, this subplot regarding Joyce now has an additional resonance. In this story its purpose is to put the Slayer between a rock and a hard place: the world is going to an end (again) and her mother is going under the knife. Golden and Holder create a situation in which Buffy can legitimately say "no" to doing her duty. Once again Golden and Holder have proven that their tag-team efforts at written Buffy novels set the standard for everybody else. You have to wonder if "Immortal" movie provided some inspiration for what happened to Joyce Summers this season on the series or if this is simply a case of great minds thinking alike. However, I do think they could have utilized Veronique's abilities a bit more creatively and exploited them to much greater effect. Since this novel has vampires ghoulishly robbing graves, it does have several scenes that are up there on the gross scale compared to other Buffy books. As always, the authors are concerned with exploring the depths of her characters, so that Buffy, preoccupied with thoughts of her mother's mortality cannot stop thinking about how time and death are relatively meaningless concepts to Angel. The Buffy/Joyce relationship comes across nicely in this story. Golden and Holder also continue to explore the past, both in terms of previous Slayers (two of whom appear in the book) and Angel B.B. (Before Buffy). "Immortal" is another first-rate Buffy novel from two writers who fully understand the Buffy mythos.
Rating:
Summary: A well-done abridgement of a Buffy novel
Review: I enjoyed this audiobook on the level of mere fun, "brain candy," for lack of a better way of putting it. I'm quite impressed with Charisma Carpenter's ability to capture the cadence and tones of nearly all the characters, with the exception of the absolute slaughter she has done of Giles' British Accent, and her sometimes mispronounced words (then again, I could be wrong, I was raised British and the difference between British English and American English is quite vast at times).
The story is pretty neat, and given a sub-plot of Buffy's mom being really ill in what would be around 3rd Season in the show, it's a nice foreshadow to the eventual plot conclusion of Joyce's character from the series. The notion of an immortal vampire who keeps popping into a new vampire body when her previous one is dusted is pretty nifty. The ritual and the villains Veronique (this immortal vampire) is trying to conjure are quite well crafted. Done well, overall!
'Nathan
Rating:
Summary: a good book
Review: I read this book when it came out and thoroughly enjoyed it. I liked the fact that it switched back and forth from different time periods so we could see Veronique when she was alive. A good book, I read it quite quickly as I couldn't put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Violence doesn't usually bug me this much.
Review: I love vampire movies, I love every Buffy thing ever, but this book was a little much for me. You could consider this a job well done on the part of the authors, because that's what they must have been going for. Personally, however, I don't like horror that gets that personal. I don't want to read more than a few words about a couple being killed one at a time so the second one watches the first die, for example. That's too much. I know the vampires are evil--"That's why one slays them."
Everyone reacts differently, of course, so this same thing probably doesn't even faze most folks. For me this book was pretty good, but also crossed the line of what makes my stomach knot up (much like the opening scene from "Scream" did) and I can only rate it 3 stars because of that.
Rating:
Summary: A mortal strain
Review: Being a Buffy and Angel fan (More Angel than Buffy, however) I decided to purchase this book after reading all the favorable reviews. However, whereas I usually breeze through most novels, I found myself putting this one down after reading several pages and it took me quite a time to get through the whole thing. Although there is a lot of action, it is repeated action and you know what is going to happen just by reading the opening sentences of some chapters. The book also dives too much into the Vampire Veronique's past. Much of the book is spent on background details that were not all necessary. The relationship between Angel and Buffy is also ackward in this book. At one point Buffy can;t resist him and then the next page she is shunning him. It just did not seem to flow. There were some highlights of the book though. The introduction of a previous Slayer, Angela, who now helps the lost souls on the ghost roads. You would hear of her again in the Buffy novel "Child of the Hunt". If you are a true Buffy fan, than you should read it. But don't expect to push through it in a sitting or two.
Rating: 
Summary: Buffy To The Rescue
Review: What can you say about Buffy The Vampire Slayer that hasn't already been said? IMMORTAL is a typical Buffy story, with the typical cast of characters and the typical formula plot. Fun, but Shakespere is in no danger of being replaced. The biggest letdown of the audio version was, sadly, Charisma Carpenter, or Cordelia to her fans. The lady is an adequate actor, but her reading skills need a LOT of work! This could have been a more enjoyable program with a better narrator. Sorry, Cordy!
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