Rating: Summary: Not bad, compares to series but with different characters Review: I found reading this book to be similar to watching a year of Buffy, not evenly done, some stories better than others. As you would expect from a group of writers each story is different, some even have historical references. I considered the ancient Greek story as one of the best(and,at 29, the oldest slayer I've ever read of), the Virginia Dare story was also good (and is full of those historical references), the 1880's Kentucky and 1950's Florida stories also had their points.
Rating: Summary: Very, very good. Review: I just finished the last story in this hefty tome and I have to say I find the complaints levelled at this book confusing to say the least. Tales of the Slayer Vol. 1 (and I can't wait for further volumes in this series) is an entertaining collection of horror stories. Accent on the word _horror_. While Buffy as a television show has a mix of laughs as well as scares, humor is not the theme of this book. It's theme is the Slayer, what it must be to be the Chosen One charged with the protection of the world from the forces of evil. The stories are grim tales of the fight of these young women and the Watchers who stand by their side against vampires and other creatures, and no they don't all end happily, which I found a refreshing change of pace from other Buffy books, in which the characters are protected from true harm or change because of the constraints of being part of the television show's continuity. I bought this book on a whim, and I'm glad I did. my only regret is there's only 7 stories in this book. Long stories and good stories, but it left me wanting more. Guess I'll have to wait for November 14 and the upcoming release of the Tales of the Slayer graphic novel to satisfy my appetitie. ^_^ This book and Pretty Maids All in a Row should be required reading for any Buffy fan, to give people a glimpse into how truly _scary_ Buffy's world can be away from the quips and comedy.
Rating: Summary: Good book! Review: I like BTVS and was happy when this came out. The one thing is that it goes into more than Buffy which I like but if you want only Buffy do not get this book there are only two stories about her and the gang in this book, but if your into the whole mytho's then this is the book for you!
Rating: Summary: a great book Review: I read this book when it first came out and am now reading vol.2. This book was excellent, I loved the fact that it was about previous slayers and what happened to them during their time as the chosen one! All in all, a great read, any Buffy fan would enjoy it.
Rating: Summary: mixed bag... Review: i resolved to stop reading Buffy tie-in novels after the mess that Nancy Holder made of The Book of Fours - anyone who can actually have Buffy say to Angel "Oh my love you are my life" pretty much screams the fact that they don't get the characters. Seeing that Nancy Holder only wrote one of the stories in this collection persuaded me to buy it - tellingly enough, her contribution was as overly long and messy as i expected. The real gem in this would have to be the first story, weaving in Persian/ Greek battles and the first marathon with a slayer that really deserved to be written about. Loved the writing as much as the concept, and it wasn't too depressing when she died. Reading on, of course, this gets a whole lot more miserable. Knowing slayers die young is one thing; seeing it over and over again is pushing it a bit. Buffy itself isn't about her death (granted she does die quite frequently :o)) but about her life - there are very few instances in this collection where a slayer actually survives their story. 'Mornglom Dream' was a nice exception, about a slayer being called on the eve of her marriage - there's potential for more material on that. By the time the slayer facing the Bloody Countess had met a grisly end, i was desperate for a little light reading. This is not the place to find it. The 1920s Munich story, actually related by a Watcher, is creepy and atmospheric, but ultimately unsatisfying. Being presented with deaths in nearly every case is all very well, but overall, there's not enough time to get to know the slayers before the end. And you just know that, unlike Buffy, they're not coming back.
Rating: Summary: mixed bag... Review: i resolved to stop reading Buffy tie-in novels after the mess that Nancy Holder made of The Book of Fours - anyone who can actually have Buffy say to Angel "Oh my love you are my life" pretty much screams the fact that they don't get the characters. Seeing that Nancy Holder only wrote one of the stories in this collection persuaded me to buy it - tellingly enough, her contribution was as overly long and messy as i expected. The real gem in this would have to be the first story, weaving in Persian/ Greek battles and the first marathon with a slayer that really deserved to be written about. Loved the writing as much as the concept, and it wasn't too depressing when she died. Reading on, of course, this gets a whole lot more miserable. Knowing slayers die young is one thing; seeing it over and over again is pushing it a bit. Buffy itself isn't about her death (granted she does die quite frequently :o)) but about her life - there are very few instances in this collection where a slayer actually survives their story. 'Mornglom Dream' was a nice exception, about a slayer being called on the eve of her marriage - there's potential for more material on that. By the time the slayer facing the Bloody Countess had met a grisly end, i was desperate for a little light reading. This is not the place to find it. The 1920s Munich story, actually related by a Watcher, is creepy and atmospheric, but ultimately unsatisfying. Being presented with deaths in nearly every case is all very well, but overall, there's not enough time to get to know the slayers before the end. And you just know that, unlike Buffy, they're not coming back.
Rating: Summary: A must-read for fans of Buffy Review: I wasn't really sure what to think of this book at first, but the fact that it is about past Slayers really got me interested. Most of the stories were extremly well written (though there were I few I didn't really enjoy). I only really have one problem- all the stories are very dark. I sort of expected it, but after awhile I got tired of reading about death on every page. And that's what it was. All but one story deals with death. It would be nice if, for further volumes (I'm assuming there will be more since the is *volume 1*) they dealt with the lives of the slayers as well as the deaths. But, all in all, this was a good read.
Rating: Summary: I loved this Book.......... Review: I've always love BTVS because of the Mythology of the Slayer line and how she's Chosen and all of that, I also love the characters and how they're written so well.....But i've often wondered about Past Slayers, what they were like, and what their life was like because as we've always known, Buffy is just one of many Slayers throughout the Years. I loved this Book and how it told about Different Slayers from Different Era's and how that particular Era effected their Duty as the Slayer. My Favorites were probably "Unholy Madness", "A Good Run", and "Silent Screams". I liked this one better than the Second Book, although it's a close call, I like this one just a little more. I thought it was a very good book and I recommend it to other fans of Buffy and especially Fans of the Buffy Books.
Rating: Summary: Engaging read Review: I've read some of the other reviews of this book, and I have to completely agree with one of them, written by "a reader from California." The stories are, for the most part, supposed to be dark. They're written about characters who lived and died hundreds of years ago. What do you expect? But history is fascinating, and the way it is interspersed with fantasy here is excellent. The only story that I found weak was "And White Splits the Night," Yvonne Navarro's second effort. It just didn't seem to hold up against the rest of the novel. Nancy Holder and Christopher Golden are the established masters of the "Buffy" genre - when I pick up something with their names on it, I know I'll be getting the best quality, but Yvonne Navarro has quickly made a name for herself in the Buffyverse, and is obviously a superb writer. "Die Blutgrafin" may have been dark, but it was written very well. Ditto for "Silent Screams." I hope a second "Tales of the Slayer" is in the works as we speak. This was marvelous.
Rating: Summary: A Mixed Bag of Slayer Mythology Review: In this collection of short stories based the excellent TV show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", one finds stories ranging from the quite good to the quite so-so. While Yvonne Navarro's "And White Splits the Night" and Nancy Holder's "Unholy Madness" stand as the best stories the collection has to offer, other stories, such as "Silent Screams" and "Mornglom Dreams," offer OK stories that don't stand as particularly memorable. Meanwhile, stories such as "White Doe" choppily flow as a comprisal of vignettes, with no actual plot that last too long and say too much. Truly a mixed bag, one should be careful which stories to skim and which to truly devote time to.
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