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Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Tales of the Slayer, Vol. 1

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Tales of the Slayer, Vol. 1

List Price: $9.00
Your Price: $8.10
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Into every generation a Slayer is born: meet seven of them
Review: There have been hundreds of Slayers over thousands of years of human history and this first volume of "Tales of the Slayers" begins to reveal the past. We have seen Lucy Hanover in several of Nancy Holder's books, walking the Ghost Roads and doing what she can to help Buffy and the Scoobies in the here and now, but only "Spike & Dru: Pretty Maids All in a Row" by Christopher Golden and Holder's "The Book of the Fours" have dealt with past Slayer in any substantive way. Those were novels and these "Tales of the Slayer" are short stories, a distinction that as I constructed this review.

Like any collection of short stories these tales are a mixed lot and anybody who reads them will like some more than others and visa versa. I liked "Silent Screams" by Mel Odom, set in 1923 Germany, although it, ironically is the story least about a Slayer of the seven tales. At the other end I would put the first tale, "A Good Run" by Greg Rucka, set in 490 B.C.E. Greece, which tells of the Slayer Thessily Thessilonkikki at the Battle of Marathon. While I like the idea of a Slayer obsessed with doing something important and memorable to justify her brief existence, I would have like to have seen something more creative than a footnote to the Greek battle against the Persians, not to mention something dealing with the Greek conception of vampires. But the biggest problem seems to me to be the story is 18 pages long, hardly enough time to set up let alone deliver the payoff. In contrast, Odom's story proceeds at a crisp pace and while it makes an ironic contrast to what Hitler was doing in Munich in 1923 he comes up with an even better twist on the German Expressionistic film movement in general and the classic "Nosferatu" in particular. Yes, it will remind you of "Shadow of the Vampire," but it is making a different point.

I really liked the historical figure who turns out to be the Slayer in Christie Golden's "The White Doe" (and I appreciate the story even more having read the About the Authors section at the back of the book) and the encounter the Slayer and Elizabeth Bathory in Yvonne Navarro's "Die Blutgrafin." Nancy Holder deals with questions of class in "Unholy Madness" while Navarro's second tale deals with the issue of race," both of which touch on the idea that people might not be happy with who the Slayer is and where she comes from (Holder's story also offers the most chilling point in the book, bottom page 119). Doranna Durgin's "Mornglom Dreaming" also has an intriguing premise, a Slayer who does not know she has been called, which is the story I most would have liked to have seen as a novel instead of a short story. Conversely, Odom's tale is perfectly suited to this format. I suppose my compromise suggestion would have been fewer stories developed with more depth (i.e., novellas). Still, these stories reflect what you would hope from such a mixed bag of tales: Slayers learning they have been called and their final battles, with only one tale comfortable with the idea of exploring the middle rather than the beginning or the end. Yes, there is high drama to be found in the birth and death of Slayers, but the mother lode is going to be in between and that is what needs to be mined in Volume 2

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Must have for a FAN!!!
Review: This Book brings in all the suspense and drama of the show along with a better insight in the world of the Slayer. Each seperate account of a different Slayer lets you know how old they were when they died and how good a fighter they were and who they faced. Think of yourself as their watcher!!! The best part is that this book involves a weird twist in our own history, meaning that it is implied that a Slayer was involved in many historical events throughtout time.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: This book is a terrific collection of short stories about pre-Buffy slayers that fans are sure to enjoy. Each story is well-paced, individual, and leaves you wanting more. The weakest story is that of pre-Nazi German Slayer Britta. While different from the others in that it's told from the view of her Watcher, the plot is so dismaying and heartbreaking, you'll be glad when it's over. The idea is wonderful, and the delivery well-done, but it leaves you feeling angry and disturbed.

Definitely a great read. I finished it in just over an hour, and am praying a sequel is in the works, as the story possibilities are limitless.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Stuff!
Review: This book is one of the better ones in the large Buffy section of my personal library. I'd rank it right up there with the Holder-Golden novels.
Most of the stories are short, but they all left me feeling satisfied that I'd learned something about another slayer and the Buffyverse. There wasn't a clunker in the bunch in my opinion.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Slaying
Review: This book offers good tales of differnt slayers, along with some tales that waver on being just a tad awful. It's worth getting if your a hardcore Buffy fan.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: An Excellent Collection
Review: This book was an excellent collection of many different Slayers stories and opinions about their way of life. I don't know if people not into the Buffy image would enjoy reading this book but if you're a Buffy fan I completely recommend it!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Dissapointing
Review: This book was extremely dissappointing, I couldn't even finish it. The writers of each of the strories took the mythology of the Slayer and completely turned it upside down. The Countess Bathory story was horrible. They Slayer (if you can even call her that) was weak, stupid, and stubborn. None of the Slayers possessed any abilities or characteristics even remotely related to Buffy which was a mistake because Buffy's characteristics are what make her interesting. It would have been better if the Slayers in this book had more say in what was going on and were portrayed as actual people dealing with their calling instead of mindless drones following orders and never thinking. That's what makes a good Slayer, one who is constantly struggling with her identity yet accepts it and does her best to accomplish what she was put on the earth to accomplish. Basically, this book failed to bring out the essence of a true Slayer. Instead it tells stories about girls who are stronger than others and kill vampires because they were told to. Not worth it.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Myths Of the Slayers
Review: This is an anthology series about previous Vampire Slayers. The stories are written by high profile Buffy the Vampire Slayer authors.
I normally love anthologies.
However, this wasn't really one of my favorites.
Maybe it's because I'm so used to Buffy and her fellow Scoobies. However, I think it's all so because I felt like some of the stories fell short
Some of them could have continued
But it's still pretty good none the less.
I recommend some of Navarro's other series. Such as The Wicked Willow trilogy.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Interesting illuminations
Review: This is the first Buffy tie-in book I've bought, mostly on the strength of Doranna Durgin's name. (I love her other novels.) While some of the stories didn't really move me ("Die Blutgrafin" and "Unholy Madness"), I really enjoyed "A Good Run," "Silent Screams," "And White Splits the Night" and "Mornglom Dreaming" - stories with Slayers who felt truly real to me.

I'd love to see a novel about Mollie Porter; she was the character I most regretted leaving behind at the end of the story. The sense of dislocation and wrenching as Mollie trades her expectations for life for a shorter life expectancy, the similar feelings of isolation and alienation felt by Ethan--another fascinating character--and the tidbits of real-life Kentucky peppering the story all come together very nicely.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Fast & Enjoyable Read for Buffy Fans
Review: This was a very interesting book that I finished in an afternoon. I particularly enjoyed the first story, A Good Run, and Unholy Madness, the story of Marie-Christine, the Slayer during the French Revolution. Her total ignorance of the rest of the world was amazing and yet it rang true. I did not care for the story of the Hungarian slayer: she was stupid and unworthy of her calling. And White Doe was a little too far-fetched for my taste. But all in all a fun way to spend time. I'm looking forward to the next volume.


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