Heat

Rating:
Summary: Puking out bad cookies as we speak.
Review: So what the hell does it take, huh? Discovering an unaired very special episode of ATS, where we're treated to a split screen view of Angel and Buffy fervently screwing Nina and the skanky Immortal, respectively? Ugh, I can't believe some of you people are buying into this B/A4evah propaganda and revisionist crap. If this is the kind of Bangel fanfiction that wet dreams are made of and usually gets spewed out by you Ducks, I am so glad I unintentionally but thankfully lost interest in that pairing. Gives big fat smooches to Cordy/Xander, Willow/Oz, and the oh so chilling and mesmerizingly beautiful evil vampire couple, Spike/Drusilla, for stealing my attention away from the so called "Main Attraction" the way they all did.

Don't waste your money on Heat. Read the Spike/Dru centered book, Pretty Maids All In A Row, instead. Sorry redemptionists, but that's the only decent Buffyverse book I can think of as of yet. It's a fairly fun and enjoyable read. Most of all the author, Christopher Golden, actually portrays the love between Spike and Dru in a way that doesn't make you want to gag and roll your eyes because it honestly just does not ring true to both characters in that particular time frame. If Nancy Holder wants to continue to write Buffy and Angel together as a schmoopy harlequin romance, at the very least, set the story pre-S5, please?


Rating:
Summary: Heat hits a hot spot
Review: Surprisingly, <I>Heat</I> is not All About the (relation)Ships. It is an ambitious, richly-textured, sweeping novel that moves along at break-neck speed. Holder weaves together Chinese mythology and history, elements from the forgettable <I>Angel</I> episode <I>She,</I> and some intriguing mythology of her own that fits seamlessly with our knowledge of Lorne's home dimension of Pylea, and the Powers That Be. Though situated mainly in <I>Buffy's</I>seventh and <I>Angel's</I> fourth seasons <I>Heat's</I> early chapters take place from seasons four/one on. Here, Holder's extensive, intimate knowledge of the series allows her to create scenes as perfectly in keeping with where the character's were in their lives at those times as the scenes set some years later. Another treat die-hard fans will enjoy are the many in-jokes in tribute to the cast and crew who made the shows.

Joss Whedon said fans chased him with torches over C/A. Where the shows failed, Holder succeeds, making it believable that Angel loves Cordelia and Buffy loves Spike, though Angel and Buffy remain in love with each other. That is a theme, not a plot or even sub-plot, and the important point is not the relationships themselves, but how they contrast with the twisted, destructive, deceptive "love" triangles between the three major villains and a character who can only be described as their toy.

Holder deserves high praise for this effort. The book is not without flaws: a few too many uses of cutesy language, a few points that would have been better for some expansion during the climactic battle, an ending that feels a bit rushed. But, when all is said and done, the pros simply overwhelm the cons, and sweep them off the path. <I>Heat</I> is a keeper, and, frankly, one of the better of the tie in novels for the BtVS/Ats franchise.


Rating:
Summary: HORRIBLE!
Review: This was the worst book I have ever read. I expected much more from Nancy Holder and I am very disappointed in her. Her books are usually great but it's like she didn't even write this book. It was so horrible a 5 year old could do better.

She focused to much on the bad guys and had a story within a story within a story. It was cheap and trashy. If she wanted to write so much about them she should have written a book with just that story line and left Angel and Buffy out of it.

And the ending? Don't get me started on the ending. I can honestly say it was the worst ending I have ever read.

Every single character was completely wrong. She got the personality of everyone wrong. It wasn't even close. Lauren hotwired a drug-dealer's car! Lauren would never do that! There were so many things wrong that it would fill up a whole page if I continued.

She focused too much on the past. On at least every page she made a reference to a past episode that had nothing to do with the current situation. It was completely ridicules.

Do not waste your money on this so called book. I really want to know what she was thinking when she wrote this trash. I only hope you read this review and not waste your money and time like I did on such a terrible excuse of a book.

Rating:
Summary: Attack Of The Giant Museum Displays
Review: Unlike most of Nancy Holder's work, Heat starts off a bit wobbly, probably to the complicated scene setting needed to provide a backdrop for a story that rambles through Sunnydale, Los Angeles, and Hell, with various side trips on the way. In addition, the necessities of writing a late season Buffy/Angel crossover demand a lot of juggling of details and Holder lets a few inconsistencies slip. But, putting aside my own compulsive perfectionism, the story finally settles in and becomes a rather intricately developed tale of love, cross and double-cross, with an apocalypse or two thrown in for good measure.

The story centers on three 'possessors,' creatures who survive through time by changing to new human hosts as the previous one is burnt out. The three are Qin, once China's most fabled emperor, his primary wife Xian, and their court sorcerer Fai-Lok. Qin in turn is being manipulated to open the earthly plain to Lir, one of Hell's greatest demons, currently frozen like an ice cube. But while Qin tries to take over the universe, Fai-Lok is busy trying to take over Xian. And taking over the universe while he is at it. Just to keep things complicated Jhiera a beautiful (and treacherous) demoness joins the fray with no one quite sure who she is working for. And don't forget Wolfram & Hart. And I shouldn't leave out a visitor from Pylea. Clearly Buffy and Angel were going to have one giant bad hair day.

Qin sets up in an underground temple complete with hordes of Chinese gang members. The plan includes unleashing various exhibits of terracotta Chinese soldiers from Qin's original burial. These have been strategically deposited around the world in important places like Frankfurt, Cleveland, Tokyo, Paris, and, er... Sunnydale [go figure]. If the soldiers march they will cause incredible destruction, while Qin works to have Jhiera melt Lir out of the ice. Fai-Lok helps on one hand while he has his own gangs in the background trying to grab all the gusto there is. Buffy and Angel and their many friends desperately try to figure out what is going on in time to find a way to prevent it. The result really does resemble the fire drill like antics of many Hong Kong martial arts films.

The scale of the story is surprising, and Holder managed to put together a novel which is fun to read despite some BuffyTrivia mistakes. Everything progresses to yet another apocalyptic extravaganza. (Sometimes I think that Sunnydale owns the 'most often nearly flattened' award for the planet Earth) Lots of conflicted emotions make the characters more than just kung-fu puppets as well. Definitely a book to read if you love everything Buffy.