Shattered Twilight

Rating:
Summary: not bad
Review: actually this book starts out slow but towards the middle you can't put it down.

willow's coven is reduced in size by giles' spell. the remaining members no longer trust willow because she chose to protect buffy instead of them. willow is so upset by this that she comes up with another plan to rid herself of buffy and the scooby gang.

this book has everyone in it examing themselves and the little things that we tend to take for granted and whether or not their decisions are good or bad no matter how well intentioned. it is well worth the money and any buffy fan should definitely love.

Rating:
Summary: Let She Who Is Sinless Cast The First Spell
Review: After the devastating events of the first volume of this series one would expect to find that someone, either in Willow's coven or the Scooby Gang would realize that head on conflict wasn't going to work. Giles' dispersal spell managed to totally disappear to coven members and drive another insane. And Willow has lost what little trust the coven had in her. Despite this disaster, both sides get ready to square off. Willow rebuilds the coven and uses Riley's spirit to animate a golem, hell bent on her quest to restore Tara to life. Giles continues to look for a bigger, better spell - something that will do less mayhem. Of course, nothing works out as suspected and damage and casualties mount.

One of the things I found particularly interesting is that Buffy and the Scoobies actually don't understand what Willow is trying to do, and have managed to cause far more destruction than Willow would have done on her own. This dichotomy between an evil Willow who is really only seeking to create life, and the Buffy team keeps building. This keeps Willow a believable and almost sympathetic character while forcing us to look at Buffy, Giles, and company in a different way. The ending of this volume is particularly touching.

This focus on the moral dilemmas of the characters is unusual in a Buffyverse book. Willow, Buffy and Giles all must deal with difficult decisions, and their actions do not necessarily work for the best. As much as the publisher paints this as a Wicked Willow series, it is considerably more than that. No one is totally innocent, everyone makes a dreadful mistake or two. However, even as the interior dialog gathers momentum, the pacing seems to slow a bit. Shattered Twilight seems to get stuck in the pattern of attack and withdraw that began in The Darkening.

Still, while I experienced moments of tedium in the reading, the over all effect was compelling enough to hold my interest. Yvonne Navarro's effort has redefined Willow's character within an understandable framework. She certainly isn't the only person I know who it the thought they could undo a tragedy wouldn't do everything in their power to do exactly that. At the moment crosses over the line towards the inhuman, she offers proff of her real human depths. While this new, complex Willow will bother some fans, I think it's an illuminating development in one of my favorite characters.

Rating:
Summary: As if the first one wasn't bad enough
Review: I'd say more of the same, but this is actually worse than the first "Wicked Willow" book. Cliches on top of bad writing and tired old plots.

If this is the future of "Buffy" then I'll pass.

Ill concieved dreck.