Rating: 
Summary: Angel, the Beginning
Review: "Angel, City of", is a novelization of the first episode of the series. Angel has recently moved to L.A. and is saving random victoms. He then meets Doyal, who has a message from The Powers That Be. He is sent to help a potential victom from a particularly nasty vampire. He also meets fellow Sunnydale transplant Cordilia, who is strugling as an actress. I liked the book better than the episode better because it gives a lot of back ground on Angel, even if it mostly referes to episodes from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". I also liked that he drinks the blood of a victom he failed to save, that showed how confliced he still is. All in all I liked this book a lot, short though it is. I recomend it to any fan, even though most fans have probably already read it.
Rating:
Summary: Angel, the Beginning
Review: "Angel, City of", is a novelization of the first episode of the series. Angel has recently moved to L.A. and is saving random victoms. He then meets Doyal, who has a message from The Powers That Be. He is sent to help a potential victom from a particularly nasty vampire. He also meets fellow Sunnydale transplant Cordilia, who is strugling as an actress. I liked the book better than the episode better because it gives a lot of back ground on Angel, even if it mostly referes to episodes from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". I also liked that he drinks the blood of a victom he failed to save, that showed how confliced he still is. All in all I liked this book a lot, short though it is. I recomend it to any fan, even though most fans have probably already read it.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: "Wow" was the first word that came to mind when I finished reading this book.This has in-depth accounts of his past as the scourge of all Europe. I love the chapter on Spike and Drusilla in Hungary.There are also flashbacks of Buffy and Angel's past with her in Sunnydale.It has the author's version of the series premiere,and has set the pace for the other Angel books (Not Forgotten,Redemption,Close to the Ground).
Rating:
Summary: A very intense Angel on the prowl...
Review: "You have no idea what it's like to have done the things I've done, and to care."Angel moved to L.A. after his doomed relationship with the Slayer, Buffy. "I can walk like a man. But I'm not one." He dwells in his sorrows and guilt, repressing his urges to feed. His 'unnatural' condition attracted Powers That Be who sent Doyle to contact Angel. Their (Powers That Be) message were --- save Tina's life. But, he as a vampire, led Tina to her death when trust was betrayed after Tina saw his true face. Now Angel is determined to seek revenge...in a manner that reveals his old self. This book contains lots of flashbacks of Angelus, where he met his sire--Darla, companions Spike & Drusilla and even the gypsies that laid the curse. A really great book that will make a wonderful addition to your collection.
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Summary: Angel- City of
Review: An exellent book that will enlighten any confused of youconfused fans out there.. The writing is great and you won't want toput the book down (I know i didn't)
Rating: 
Summary: Good book - basically a rehash of the first episode.
Review: ANGEL:City of... wont take you long to finish. It basically is a novelisation of the first episode of the ANGEL series with a few more historical tellings of Angel, Darla, Drusilla and Spike (well worth reading for these). The story was quite bland, hence all the historical padding. All in all though, Nancy Holder did a pretty fine job working with what she had.
Rating: 
Summary: City Of... What?
Review: As a huge fan of Angel and BtVS, I've never been interested in reading most of the Buffyverse novels. Just seeing summaries and excerpts from most of the novels put me off reading them. But I figured a novelization of an actual episode couldn't be that bad. And it wasn't completely terrible. However, the best parts of the book were the dialogue from the episode. There's also a great deal of recycled material from early BtVS episodes.
Most of Holder's descriptions were unoriginal, and her insight into the characters was limited and unimaginative. However if you are a big fan of Angel as a character, and miss the earlier portrayal, then you might enjoy it. Personally, I thought Holder spent too much time trying to make him look "deep" and tormented so we would feel sorry for him. Just let the story speak for itself, I say.
The biggest problem was that the backstory for Angel completely contradicted what we saw on the show. That's not exactly Holder's fault, seeing as how this was written back when the show premiered, and Greenwalt and Whedon didn't give out future storylines. Still, it definitely makes things less enjoyable if, like me, you prefer the story as it was told on the show.
I'm a big fan of Spike, and he and Dru get a fairly decent portrayal here, but I was disappointed that there wasn't a lot of Darla action. She was a pretty huge part of Angel's history, but you wouldn't understand the full scope of their relationship from this book. Again, I suppose it was because this was written before Julie Benz's return stint on the show.
Some of the cut dialogue from the episode was included, and there were a few extra scenes which I greatly enjoyed. One scene in particular, of Angel finding a dead girl's body, was much darker than it was in the episode.
If you miss the show and want an Angel fix, I wouldn't recommend this book. It's canon is too far removed from the show itself.
Rating:
Summary: Shivers down my spine
Review: As I started reading I expected to read a TV show. But no, This is a new spin on the episode giving us a take on what's going on in the inside. Loved the flahbacks (even if they dont always match the show) If you are a true Angel fan, get ready to fall in love with this " world" all over again>!
Rating:
Summary: What To Do In Los Angeles
Review: By now Angel's exodus from Buffy at the end of season three to start again is Los Angeles is cold news. Even so, this novelization of the Angel series premiere still has a considerable amount of power. Here is the initial gathering of Angel, Doyle, and Cordelia - still not quite sure what to do with themselves, but on the road to 'help the helpless.' One of the things that I didn't notice when watching the show, and even on the first reading of Nancy Holder's excellent rendition, is that Angel really does recapitulate is initial time in Los Angeles. Not quite as down and out, obviously, but footloose and unsure of himself. He wants to do something, but his past seems to keep his present from happening. Not just his immediate past with Buffy, but his whole experience as a vampire, from Darla and Drusilla onwards. So my first reaction, which was that the script has way to many flashbacks was right, but for the wrong reason - something has to wake Angel from this reverie before he falls into complacent, bad habits and yields to the temptation of human blood. Of course, that is Doyle's purpose. Holder manages to fill in the inner details of motivation that are missing from the screenplay. When we watch we have only the spoken word and the expressiveness of the actor to work with. What we have here is a novelization that really does dig beneath the surface to uncover something of the inner workings of Angel's mind - as well as provide an impressive amount of history. I've read my share of novels based on scripts, and, too often, they simply attempt to redeliver the dialog with barely narrative to fill in the action. Holder goes well beyond this simple approach, and this story would live on its own, even if the series premiere never had happened. Whether you saw the season start or not, 'City of' is worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: What To Do In Los Angeles
Review: By now Angel's exodus from Buffy at the end of season three to start again is Los Angeles is cold news. Even so, this novelization of the Angel series premiere still has a considerable amount of power. Here is the initial gathering of Angel, Doyle, and Cordelia - still not quite sure what to do with themselves, but on the road to 'help the helpless.' One of the things that I didn't notice when watching the show, and even on the first reading of Nancy Holder's excellent rendition, is that Angel really does recapitulate is initial time in Los Angeles. Not quite as down and out, obviously, but footloose and unsure of himself. He wants to do something, but his past seems to keep his present from happening. Not just his immediate past with Buffy, but his whole experience as a vampire, from Darla and Drusilla onwards. So my first reaction, which was that the script has way to many flashbacks was right, but for the wrong reason - something has to wake Angel from this reverie before he falls into complacent, bad habits and yields to the temptation of human blood. Of course, that is Doyle's purpose. Holder manages to fill in the inner details of motivation that are missing from the screenplay. When we watch we have only the spoken word and the expressiveness of the actor to work with. What we have here is a novelization that really does dig beneath the surface to uncover something of the inner workings of Angel's mind - as well as provide an impressive amount of history. I've read my share of novels based on scripts, and, too often, they simply attempt to redeliver the dialog with barely narrative to fill in the action. Holder goes well beyond this simple approach, and this story would live on its own, even if the series premiere never had happened. Whether you saw the season start or not, 'City of' is worth reading.
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