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Tempted Champions

Tempted Champions

List Price: $6.99
Your Price: $6.29
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: so-so at best
Review: this book had a lot of potential to be MUCH more interesting.

now that buffy the tv series is over, i eat these books like candy, i miss buffy & the gang.

but, this book... for one thing the anya/d'hoffryn (probably spelled that wrong) plot is weak- her temptation to go back to being a demon is like three pages long, and utterly unconvincing. i love anya, and was really looking forward to a plotline involving her- sure, she gets kidnapped by some odd fish demon, but that bit's lame as well.

the second thing not working is the cheese-o-rrific ending- i won't ruin it in case you're desperate for buffy reading- let's just leave it at buffy-as-after-school-special-oh-angel-you're-my-hero-gag-gag (and i like buffy & angel together, this was just too much).

i'd stay away from this one, and watch a rerun of an old episode instead.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Tempted Champions was tempting!
Review: This book had me on the edge of my seat. It was so good to see that Angel was back in town. If your in the mood for something Buffy, this is a great book to sit down and read. You will not want to put it down.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good story, interesting dilemma
Review: This book presents in interesting dilemma for both Buffy and Anya, even though Anya's temptation wasn't all that convincing to me. I could, however, feel for Buffy. The chance to be with the one you love, forever (literally).
The book itself is well written, as are the characters, for the most part. I enjoyed the part that Spike plays (tied naked to his bed nonetheless). Anya was a bit too over-written, too much sex/-money talk.
Not as great as other Buffy novels, but still a good read!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Buffy the Vampire??
Review: This book was great. The only thing that I didn't like about it was where D'Hoffryn comes and offers Anya a job as a vengance demon again. My favorite part of the book is at the very end. It lasted a few pages, where Buffy really thinks about becoming a vampire.

She doesn't think that it would be so bad, and compares the good things from the bad thinks. At the top of the list is, obviously, Angel. She really misses him, and after Riley has left, she's feelin' very lonely. I hope this rewiew has helped, and, oh, and by the way, this book is set in the late 5th season, before Buffy dies, but, strangely enough, after Dawn's(The Key's) power isn't there anymore.

Also highly reccomended: The Unseen Trilogy (if your'e trying to find it on this site, type in: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Unseen.), These Our Actors (It has a TON of info about Spike, before and after his change.), Immortal, and The Wisdom of War.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: I expected a bit better...
Review: This was an okay Buffy book. As I said, above, I did expect better. After reading the back of the book, I had such high hopes.

Here's a quick summary. There's a new vampire in town, and she has the strength and the speed of the slayer. And she wants one thing...to kill Buffy. Who is this new vampire and why does she want to kill Buffy? You'll have to read it to find out. The reader will also find out what secret that this vampire has. That's all I want to say about the plot. Whoever wrote the blurb on the back cover should be shot. They gave a *major* spoiler away. Even some of the people who have reviewed on Amazon, gave that secret away. Shame on them. Read the book and discover the secret for yourself.

The sub plot with Ayna to me seemed forced, and didn't really fit in with the story.

One of the strenghts the Navarro has is that she takes us in the mind of the characters, and does a wonderful job. Esp with Anya. As I said, the plot with here didn't really fit, but I like how we get into Anya's thoughts and see some of her feelings.

Navarro has a short story in "Tales of the Slayers". I *highly* suggest that all of you get that book, just to read her story. It's amazing!

Over all, this was a pretty good Buffy book. I read better and I've read worse. If you want to try it, go for it. It's a pretty good read.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A new vampire show up in Sunnydale looking for Buffy
Review: WARNING! WARNING! DO NOT READ THE BOOK DESCRIPTION ABOVE OR THE BACK COVER OF THIS BOOK! YOU WILL REGRET IT. HEED MY WARNING MORTALS OR KNOW A HANDY WICCA WITH A SPELL OF FORGETFULLNESS!

Talk about having a book spoiled. I should have known better, but I looked at the back cover of "Tempted Champions" before I read it and it ended up spoiling my enjoyment of Yvonne Navarro's latest "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" novel. Usually I am smart enough to just pick up a book and start reading, but unfortunately this time that was not the case. This is important because not only does Navarro have a first rate twist for the vampire that shows up in town hoping to put the bit on Buffy, but also she saves the revelation for the climax of the novel. If the author has a surprise for the reader when they are more than halfway through the novel, then the people assigned the job of writing the tantalizing description on the back of the book should not give the game away, including the heroine's big dramatic choice at the end. Sheesh.

Ironically, "Tempted Champions," which is set during the LAST part of the show's fifth season (not the beginning as the historical note claims), hit the shelves the same week that we saw the "Hell's Bells" episode from season six. This is ironic because in both D'Hoffryn shows up in Sunnydale and offers Anya a chance to go back to work as a vengeance demon. We might be wondering what sixth season Anya will say but obviously we know what fifth season Anya told her former demon overlord. However, Navarro does an excellent job of having Anya work out her feelings. Anya has been the most problematic character on BtVS; when she first turned human she still had an edge to her, but then she was flunking math and was going with Xander to the prom, and by the time she showed up in that bunny outfit she had become the show's comic relief. Often I find the character overwritten, especially in terms of her preoccupation with sex (I am talking strictly the writing her, I find nothing to fault in Emma Caulfield's captivating performance). However, in "Tempted Champions" Navarro presents a more fully developed characterization of Anya that is a strength of the book, albeit the major subplot.

The main plot involves the mysterious Celina who has arrived in Sunnydale to take down Buffy. Celina has crossed paths with both Angel and Spike in the past, although under different names, but with nearly fatal results for the guys in both instances. What is Celina's secret? Well, hopefully you will discover it when you read the book (and avoid the spoilers), because it makes their final confrontation quite dramatic. As she did with Anya, Navarro manages to crystallize Buffy's thoughts at a critical juncture on some rather heavy subjects. Angel shows up in Sunnydale to help Buffy weather this particular storm and at first I thought it was an unnecessary crossover. But Navarro surprised me by making it integral to the story's climax. She also deals explicitly with one of my biggest concerns for this particuarly story, which is why Celina agreed to be turned into a vampire, obliterating my reservations about the character. "Tempted Champions" is Navarro's finest BtVS novel that compares favorably to "The Lost Slayer" serial novel. I only wish I had been able to fully enjoy it without the specter of that stupid back cover.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: a new updated buffy book
Review: when anya is attacked outside the magic box by a vampire who is
also looking for buffy, the whole gang gets worried. this particular vampire is particularly perplexing because she firsts
saves anya from a vampire and then trys to attack her. when anya
reports this vampire's peculiar behavior and super natural strengh to the scooby gang they all become concern. little do they know that this particular vampire used to be a slayer and is
out to do the world harm in general be it human or otherwise. as
buffy comtemplates this, she wonders if this vampire turned her
and willow restored her soul would she be free to be with angel
forever? was her love for him strong enough for this life altering decision? this book is very up to date as of the middle
of the fifth season which was refreshing. the only problem i had
was that it did not go into great detail about the buffy/angel
relationship, this book has great potential that it never really
capitilized on. too bad christopher golden or nancy holder did not come up with this ideal. the book would have been a lot better.


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