Seven Seasons of Buffy: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Discuss Their Favorite Television Show

Rating:
Summary: 23 Writers Contributed
Review: 23 writers who have numerous other books available here on amazon contributed to this volume. To decide if you really need to own this book, check them all out -- read what folks say about their other books or read excerpts of their writing. Everyone in this anthology finds something intriguing, interesting, inspiring or curious about Buffy The Vampire Slayer. They're not all totally worshipful of the show, but as professional writers with sharpened critical faculties, they all found something to get deeply involved in thinking about.

That alone tells you something about the quality of Buffy The Vampire Slayer's writing. OK, sorry -- that's a hobby horse of mine. I wrote the article contending that this show is actually drawing television writing another step along the way to becoming Great Literature. Excerpts (with the publisher's special permission) of all the articles are in Writers In Residence at simegen dot com. Here is a list of the contributors. Use Amazon's new Search Inside feature by typing in each author's name without quotes around it. Once you see what they've been writing, you'll want to know what they think of Buffy The Vampire Slayer even if you haven't been watching the show.

Contributors in no particular order:

Peg Aloi, website Witch's Voice and poetry

David Brin, bestselling author of Kiln People

Margaret Carter, academic and author, The Vampire in Literature: A Critical Bibliography plus several novels.

Roxanne Longstreet Conrad, Author, Copper Moon and Bridge of Shadows

Jenny Crusie, bestselling author of Faking It and What the Lady Wants

Christie Golden, contributor, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Tales of the Slayer, Vol. 1 and author, The Last Roundup

Charlaine Harris, author of the acclaimed Dead Until Dark and Club Dead

Nancy Holder, co-author, The Watcher's Guide and Angel: The Case Files

Sherrilyn Kenyon, author of the bestselling Dark Hunter series

Nancy Kilpatrick, Arthur Ellis Award-winner and author, Bloodlover

Marguerite Krause, author, Blind Vision

Justine Larbalestier, academic and author, The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction

Jacqueline Lichtenberg, author of the cult favorite Sime~Gen series

Jean Lorrah, winner of award-winning Blood Will Tell

Carla Montgomery, winner, Writers of the Future

Kevin Andrew Murphy, author of Fanthom: The World Below and Drum Into Silence

Laura Resnick, award-winning author of In Legend Born

Lawrence Watt-Evans, veteran fantasist and author, The Dragon Society

Michelle West, author of Sea of Sorrows

Scott Westerfield, author of the acclaimed Risen Empire

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, author of popular St. Germain vampire series

Sarah Zettel, author of Fool's War

Rating:
Summary: Buffy...
Review: Despite having a somewhat fluffy sounding title, few would argue that Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BTVS), is one of the landmark shows in media history. Though targeted to the bubblegum crowd, like Harry Potter, many of the Chosen One's fanship has been comprised of older folks, ones you would think would be more serious.

In this post show book, authors well loved in both the science fiction and romance areas explore the many aspects of the show that has touched so many lives. Buffy's romances and the significance of various supporting characters are explored. Why Buffy is actually high epic literature is revealed. Not one aspect is left untouched.

***** In the end, fans will find their loyalty and devotion justified. Someone who has never been a fan might have their minds changed, and we will all miss Buffy and company just a little bit more. *****
Reviewed by Amanda Killgore.

Rating:
Summary: Hands down, the best Buffy anthology that there is
Review: I have read a lot of serious essays on Buffy: all of the essays on www.buffy.tv, and the entirety of the contents of the collections edited by Kaveney, by South, and by Wilcox and Lavery. But this new collection is far and away the best of the lot. I believe there are two reasons for this. First, the writers of the essays in this volume have the tremendous advantage of being able to look back on all seven seasons of Buffy and speak with some authority on what actually happened. If you read the other collections, there was always constant speculation about what might happen in the future. Now we know what happened. But the second and more important reason this collection is so superb is the fact that it was written almost exclusively by creative writers rather than academics. Although I am an academic myself, too many of the academic essays written on Buffy seem to me transparent attempts to graft unconnected academic interests onto the writers' favorite TV show. The writers here, however, are truly trying to tease out the meaning of the show on its own terms, and not trying to force the themes of the show fit the needs of philosophical, cultural, or feminist theory.

Another advantage of this collection is that just about every selection in the volume is excellent. I might want to differ with a couple, like the one that defends Riley as the best boyfriend for Buffy or the one that lavishes extensive praise on Tara (I don't dislike Tara, and loved her singing in "Once More, With Feeling," but I can't really get excited about her, either; I do, however, really dislike Riley, like a majority of Buffy fans), but even those take up positions that are fun to argue with. Some of the pieces are flat out outstanding, such as an early one that is cast as a essay question on a test in which a demon is asked to explain which is the most powerful force for good in Sunnydale and why (answer: Xander, with an interesting defense). In the other anthologies, there were essays I had to suffer through in order to get to others more to my liking. There isn't a clunker in the bunch here.

If I had a complaint--though I really don't--it would be that too many of the essays are fixated on the romance aspects of Buffy. I would estimate that well over half of the essays primarily are focused on one or more of the romances in the series. My own interests have always focused on the ethical aspects (e.g., did Spike's actions in Seasons 5 and 6 give him something like a soul before the shaman gave him one at the end of Season 6?, or on the extraordinary optimism that pervades the series that people can grow and become more than they are, that leopards can indeed change their spots), but clearly anyone who hates romance is not going to enjoy Buffy for very long. My lone complaint is that there isn't a bit more diversity of subject matter. There are just a few too many articles focusing on romance than I would have liked.

Still and all, this is a great, great book, and although I have frequently noted in other reviews that anthologies by their very nature are inconsistent and uneven, this one breaks that rule. It starts off great and stays that way all the way through. I can't imagine anyone with any interest in Buffy at all, not loving this collection.

Rating:
Summary: Hands down, the best Buffy anthology that there is
Review: I have read a lot of serious essays on Buffy: all of the essays on www.buffy.tv, and the entirety of the contents of the collections edited by Kaveney, by South, and by Wilcox and Lavery. But this new collection is far and away the best of the lot. I believe there are two reasons for this. First, the writers of the essays in this volume have the tremendous advantage of being able to look back on all seven seasons of Buffy and speak with some authority on what actually happened. If you read the other collections, there was always constant speculation about what might happen in the future. Now we know what happened. But the second and more important reason this collection is so superb is the fact that it was written almost exclusively by creative writers rather than academics. Although I am an academic myself, too many of the academic essays written on Buffy seem to me transparent attempts to graft unconnected academic interests onto the writers' favorite TV show. The writers here, however, are truly trying to tease out the meaning of the show on its own terms, and not trying to force the themes of the show fit the needs of philosophical, cultural, or feminist theory.

Another advantage of this collection is that just about every selection in the volume is excellent. I might want to differ with a couple, like the one that defends Riley as the best boyfriend for Buffy or the one that lavishes extensive praise on Tara (I don't dislike Tara, and loved her singing in "Once More, With Feeling," but I can't really get excited about her, either; I do, however, really dislike Riley, like a majority of Buffy fans), but even those take up positions that are fun to argue with. Some of the pieces are flat out outstanding, such as an early one that is cast as a essay question on a test in which a demon is asked to explain which is the most powerful force for good in Sunnydale and why (answer: Xander, with an interesting defense). In the other anthologies, there were essays I had to suffer through in order to get to others more to my liking. There isn't a clunker in the bunch here.

If I had a complaint--though I really don't--it would be that too many of the essays are fixated on the romance aspects of Buffy. I would estimate that well over half of the essays primarily are focused on one or more of the romances in the series. My own interests have always focused on the ethical aspects (e.g., did Spike's actions in Seasons 5 and 6 give him something like a soul before the shaman gave him one at the end of Season 6?, or on the extraordinary optimism that pervades the series that people can grow and become more than they are, that leopards can indeed change their spots), but clearly anyone who hates romance is not going to enjoy Buffy for very long. My lone complaint is that there isn't a bit more diversity of subject matter. There are just a few too many articles focusing on romance than I would have liked.

Still and all, this is a great, great book, and although I have frequently noted in other reviews that anthologies by their very nature are inconsistent and uneven, this one breaks that rule. It starts off great and stays that way all the way through. I can't imagine anyone with any interest in Buffy at all, not loving this collection.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but full of little errors
Review: I really wanted to give this book like 3.5 stars, but I figured I'd round down instead of up since everyone else is praising it. First off, I did find many of the articles interesting, particularly the article about "Insiders vs. Outsiders." And the comical, albeit cheesy, faux-college-essay describing why Xander is the M.P.I.F.F.G. (Most Powerful Individual Force for Good) was also enjoyable and thought-provoking.

Those points aside, this book seemed to endlessly repeat itself. The first time someone explained why Angel, Riley, and Spike were bad partners for Buffy, it was quasi-interesting. By the third or fourth times, it was a broken record. Each author might add a slightly different take, but it was all basically the same. The book is littered with many other repeated themes that make the book not as fun to read as it could have been. Also, with the exception of the introduction and the Xander Essay, this book can be very dry at times. This is a shame, because the humorous intro and Essay are over within the first 20 pages, and the rest can be dense at times.

The thing that really surprised me was how many small errors there were in this book. It really seemed like no one ever proof-read this book before sending it to the printers. One of my major beefs is an author who claimed to be a huge fan referring to Machida (the snake demon from Season 2's "Reptile Boy") as "Mikusa." This is just sloppy work, and a real fan would have taken the two seconds to look up the demon's name online if they weren't sure about it.

The bulk of the errors are in the numbering of the episodes, and the fact that episodes may be credited as happening at multiple times. Depending on what you read in the book, the episode "School Hard" was either episode 2-3(which it was), 2-5, or 2-15. And the "Becoming" episodes, which were episodes 2-21 and 2-22, happened either in the second season, the third season, or the sixth season. And one of the times "Becoming, Part One" was in the third season (3-21, it was called), Jenny Calendar was still alive (even though she died in 2-17...or as that author would have said, 3-17). And occasionally, it just seems that the author of a particular piece, and the (possibly invisible) proofreader were just lazy:

"The second-season finale is titled 'Becoming' (3-21, 3-22)..."

If you can get this book at a library, I won't try and dissuade you from checking it out, because it does have some interesting ideas and doesn't talk down to you. However, its redundancy and errors keep this from being a book I would even give 4 stars to.

Rating:
Summary: Mixed reviews for mixed level of quality of articles
Review: Jennifer Crusie's article I'd say was the best, Sherrilyn Kenyon's the worst. Crusie's article had depth, humor and really gave you a sense of the show. Sherrilyn Kenyon's was a repulsive misogynistic rant of the like of Phyllis Shafley. The hatred Kenyon has for women that aren't airheaded doormats to men was freakish. Now I know why her books are filled with abusive posturing men and vapid wimpy females, aparently that is the only acceptable type of realtionship to her. Ugh, why the heck did the woman even watch Buffy? Buffy was created to counteract repulsive attitudes like hers. Whedon's idea of "girlpower" wasn't always on key- frankly, in seasons 1-4 I found Buffy acting too much a doormat to Angel and Riley for my tastes, while other than the darkest point of season 6 when we got "psycho" Buffy, the Buffy and Spike relationship was a passionate, equalitive, sexy, and in season 7 (my favorite season, particularly the second half) deeply romantic and almost spiritual. A modern Jungian psychologist might even say they were a near perfect Anima/Animus pairing in season 7.

Rating:
Summary: So near, yet so far
Review: Seven Seasons of Buffy: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Discuss Their Favorite Television Show is very nearly a text I could have recommended to anyone; those who think Buffy was Shakespeare, those who think it was, or turned into, crap, and even those who think it was -- gasp -- "just" a television show. But unfortunately, like Buffy itself, this book loses its way and runs out of good ideas by the end. Let's start with the good stuff; the essays that had me thinking I could finally start a Buffy-related book review with words to the effect of "Now that's what I'm talking about!"

Sarah Zettel adds brilliant depth and a convincing thesis to a not uncommon criticism of the series: That Buffy lost, at the very least, certain cohesion when the characters graduated from high school. And in what I think is the heart of this collection, Justine Larbalestier charts her evolution over the course of Buffy's seven seasons from Champion of All Things Buffy to Horrified ex-true believer. In so doing, Larbalestier reflects the experiences of millions of Buffy watchers who found themselves seduced by a dramatic series for television, convinced themselves it was something more than it could ever be, and eventually hit the wall.

Jacqueline Lichtenberg's essay is devoted to the idea that "Buffy the Vampire Slayer is not 'just' a TV show." but a watershed event for television as literature. I dunno, I think she needs to look at her watch once in a while. In his nearly-brilliant 1992 book Teleliteracy, TV reviewer (and future Buffy fan) David Bianculli devoted an entire chapter to the idea that "Some Television Is Literature -- And Vice Versa," using as examples series (Taxi, St. Elsewhere, others) that pre-date Buffy by at least 15 years.

I am not saying that Buffy, at its best, was not the equal of the shows I've mentioned above at theirs. It was a really good show, when it was a really good show, like a lot of really good shows. It's just not inherently superior to all other shows, as some writers here want us to believe.

Still, as a whole, this book is better written than earlier Buffy-related volumes I've reviewed here on Amazon. It is badly marred, however, by the inclusion of a piece by Kevin Andrew Murphy. His essay digresses into vile, dubious and non-representative portraits of fans of actress Amber Benson, who played Tara on Buffy, as stalkers. It's based on wild speculation and deserves contempt for its intent to smear these fans.

I myself am a fan of the character Tara, and the group Mr. Murphy attacks in this book is one with which I am well acquainted. So let me make something clear: I am not saying that any fan group, much less one with which I have been associated, is above thoughtful criticism, any more than I believe Buffy is. Unfortunately, thoughtful criticism is not what Murphy does here.

Rating:
Summary: A readable and thought-provoking series of essays
Review: This collection of 23 essays about BtVS has the advantage of being written after the series finale, allowing a wider scope than similar, earlier books. Although these are (mostly) serious, thoughtful essays, they are written in a more readable, accessible style than "BtVS and Philosphy" by James South, which required a PhD in philosophy to understand.

In a book like "Seven Seasons of Buffy," everyone will have their favorites. One of the best was Zettel's piece, where she argues that the real reason the series went downhill after Season Three was - not because the characters were no longer in high school - but because their role had changed from "outsiders" to "insiders." In high school part of the appeal was that they had only a hazy notion of the forces against them (e.g., the mayor's plot); it was more difficult to empathize with the characters when they lost that "outsider" role. I also loved Larbalestier's article because, although not cohesive as an essay, she articulates what an utter disaster Season Seven was. This series went downhill fast. (The episode "Empty Places" gets my personal vote for ultimate low point of the series.)

Another great essay was Carter's article about alternate realities in BtVS. Ever notice that "The Wish" (in which we are led to believe that the alternate reality was extinguished when Anyanka lost her powers) is inconsistent with "Doppelgangland" (the alternate reality continues to exist parallel to the "real" reality)?

One of the weaker essays was Golden's, in which she complains that the presentation of wicca was unauthentic on BtVS. (Hey, anyone want to write an article about how badly Christianity is portrayed on this series?) I was also unimpressed with Harris's complaint about the good-looks bias in casting, and by Watt-Evans' speculation that Buffy and Wesley would be the ideal couple, and by Aloi's over-the-top rhapsodizing about how beautiful Tara was.

Rating:
Summary: A nice and interesting book about the Buffy-verse
Review: When it comes to buying books about tv shows I think a lot before I buy. Not many titles get my trust.
I took a chance with this book but in the end it was all worth it.
Not only do you get many interesting views in and around the show in question but also some rather insightful thoughts on the subject. All from clever writers and the rest is up to the reader to agree or not agree with. But I found it good reading. I actually was served a few views I had not thought of my self. So all in all it was good money spent.


Rating:
Summary: best buffy ever!!!
Review: While, in my opinion, this book wasn't as good as it's sister collection, Five Seasons of Angel, it was still very entertaining, insightful, and often humorous. Essays were very well done and most of them had very good points to make. Essay subjects ranged from the censorship of the show to individual character studies, to thinking about elements of Joss Whedon's complex universe. The thing that surprised me the most, though, was that some of my favorite essays had to do with characters who weren't part of the core four (Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Giles). Two of my favorite essays were the ones about Tara and Riley, and they really got me thinking of how good each of those characters are (although not many people will agree with me about Riley). Although I also enjoyed the essay about Xander, one reason being the creative format of the essay, and I think that my favorite overall was the final one, dealing with how season seven and the series finale not only tied up the last year the way it should have ended, but also ended the series the way it should have. With a few exceptions, this was a great read, and any Buffy fan should consider at least borrowing this book.