Rating: 
Summary: Decent read, but could have used one more revision
Review: I wish there were a 3.5 rating because this book is a solid "C". It has an interesting plot and some great moments, but is a little loose in the dialogue and suffers from periodic bouts of disjointed pacing. It's like a star running back recovering from a torn ligament. There's a lot of solid muscle and talent there, but with the connectve tissue damaged he just can't play up to his former potential. He's still better than most of other guys, but slowed down just enough to level the playing field a bit.I have enjoyed Ms. Holders books in the past, especially those written with Chris Golden. That may be the reason I am a little disappointed here. This is a good book that has some incredible siblings that came before it. I tend to think that one more revision or possibly a stronger editor could have lifted this work to the same level as those that came before. It is definately worth a read, especially for die hard Buffy Fans, but if you really want a great Slayer book(s) check out the Gatekeeper Trilogy. It includes all of the best that Book of Fours has to offer wrapped in a tighter package.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the best Buffy books ever.
Review: In 1993, India Cohen was fifteen years old. She had just arrived in Japan, where her Navy father had been transferred. She had her whole life ahead of her. That all changed one dark night, when she met Christopher Bothwell, who told India that she was the Slayer, chosen by fate to fight vampires and demons until the day she died. That day came in 1997. And as fate chose India, so it chose the girl who would follow her as Slayer - Buffy Summers. Now Buffy and Faith - the second Slayer, the freak accident, who succeeds Kendra, made Slayer when Buffy died and was revived - are having nightmares. Sunnydale is bombarded by the four elements - a raging fire, a devastating hurricane, a powerful earthquake, and a deadly flood. Buffy and Faith fear the worst - the end of the world may be near. To stop it, Buffy and Faith won't have to just work with each other, but with the Slayers that came before them, who lost their lives to the same evil that now threatens the world. This is one enemy Buffy and Faith may not be strong enough to defeat. But they will have to. Because the world is counting on them. This was an excellent new Buffy novel, one of my favorites. Nancy Holder has written an exciting, thrill-a-minute adventure.
Rating: 
Summary: Quite enjoyable
Review: In contrast to some of the earlier reviews posted, I had no trouble following the storylines of this book. It's nonlinear, but nonetheless compelling and interesting. The characters are true to the series, and there were more than a few surprises that worked without violating internal consistancy. While I haven't read all that many Buffy books, I'm a big fan of the show and thought this was as good as many of the episodes, and better than quite a few.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book Chock Full of Slayers and Slayer Lore!
Review: Let me begin by saying I believe Nancy Holder(along with Christopher Golden) to be among the best original Buffy novel writers. The Book of Fours explores in depth some of the more recent Slayer history that the show has of yet not delved into. It starts with Buffy and Faith sharing disturbing dreams of an ancient and powerful enemy-the Gatherer. The Gatherer deals with the four elements: air, water, fire , and earth-which also leads to very interesting background on the Slayers' powers. It leads Buffy to explore more of the history of her predessor(India Cohen) and how India's final battle led to Buffy being "called" and how India's killer is setting its sights on Buffy and Faith. This is very interesting because the show has never dealt with the Slayer before Buffy. The story also includes Buffy's immediate successor(and Faith's predessor), Kendra. Buffy and Faith must band together with their Slayer ancestors(and friends) in order to defeat this enemy that could stop the Slayer line forever. While this story was very exciting(I confess I finished it one day), it only gets four stars instead of five for a couple reasons. One, in order to understand some of the story not only must you have watched the show, but you have to have read the Gatekeeper triology as well as the Spike & Dru: Pretty Maids... book. Two, this book constantly changes back and forth between past and present and between many, many characters. It makes it a little confusing. Third, the plot is very convulted with describing the enemy and how it came about. Very long and just a tad boring. Not to mention that the book is a little darker than the show is. Fourth, there are a couple little inconsistencies. For instance I though Kendra's watcher was refered to as Sam Zabuto in the What's My Line episode. In the book he is referred to as Roger Zabuto. However, for the most part this is a great book, fairly consistent with Joss Whedon's vision. Holder does a great job bringing Faith's character(before she went bad) to life. That is just how I imagined her in scenes not shown on the show. Holder also does a good job bringing the complex yet loving relationship of Buffy and Angel to life. Their few scenes together are great and any fan of this duo will love them. Nancy Holder does a good job and this book will be a treat for any Buffy fan.
Rating:
Summary: This one's a bit complicated...
Review: Like I said, a bit complicated. But let us not dwell on its complicatedness. First the good bits. The plot for a start. Its so perfectly 'Buffy' that they could have based an entire season of the TV show around it. It jumps on you right from the prologue (which, by the way, is one of the best bits) and doesn't let up. The flashbacks are (whilst slightly too numerous) beautifully written and provide a great insight into slayers of the past and present, something which the show has failed to do a lot of the time. However the slight downside to this book is that it requires the reader to keep his or her concentraition levels at level that resembles Buddhist monks. If they don't the result is nausea followed by bleeding from the ears followed by sudden cranial explosion, (or you might just lose the plot, which is also irritating). This especially true of the final chapter which I had to read 4 times before I got the jist of it. So in conclusion, a super good read which I am happy to award 5 stars. Oh wait, hang on. Oh yeah, half a star off for unnecessary over complication and half a star off for the really bad Seth Green joke which contained all the subtlety of being hit in the face with a sledgehammer.
Rating:
Summary: Liked it very much!
Review: Many of the reviews that have been put up have upset me, The Book of Fours, By: Nancy Holder I personally thought was a wonderful book. I have been told by far to many people that you if you haven't read the Gatekeeper Trilogy and Pretty Maids All in a Row, you will be lost, but I don't think this statement is right, I haven't read any of those books and I understood all of it. Its just in the beginning that you understand very little but if you just stick with the book and keep reading it turns out to be wonderful. By the time I had bought the book so many people had told me it was not very good and I was not going to read it but in the end I read it anyway and I am thankful for that. The only thing I found remotely boring about the book was all the looks into the past I found those so boring that I wanted to skip them but I didn't, and they weren't really that bad after all. I think this book has everything a reader is looking for a lot of action a little bit of romance a little humor (I loved the part about the surf board it cracked me up) and the best thing of all, something about the book that just makes you keep reading and reading! I especially enjoyed the parts about Kit and India (mostly the parts in her diary). The 1 piece of advice I have for you is that do not let the first prologue totally confuse you, that is the part I think Ms. Holder should not have put in the first prologue because you can make absolutely no understanding of it till the end. (don't let it frustrate you as it did me). All in all, I think all the Buffy fans should read this book! I know they would love it!
Rating: 
Summary: Not that good.
Review: Most people who decide to read this book will be avid BTV fans, like myself. Thus, so much backstory is just redundant and useless. The storyline, though creative at elementary stages, is not very well developed. The writing isn't that well done, either. The characters aren't true to their personas in the television series. Their emotions and the way they talk are very uncharacteristic of the original characters. Like one said before, the Buffy lingo is forced. Though I think that it is a goo plot, I could have been developed way better than it has been. I don't recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Another wonderful outing
Review: Nancy Holder has done it again with her latest Buffy book about slayers past and present. The book is a fast-paced exciting read. It is always a pleasure to read one of Ms. Holder's novels and this proved no exception. I can't wait for her next book.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing considering...
Review: Nancy Holder has written some excellent books in the Buffy series, this however is not one of them. I was really looking forward to reading this but the writing was too full of useless details and where it was supposed to tie in with the TV series, it didn't. Also, more than likely because of the many details, its gets confusing towards the end. I think that perhaps too many books have been written on Buffy, because if this book is any sign of further books from Ms Holder, then I think she should quit while she's ahead.
Rating:
Summary: what we've come to expect from nancy holder
Review: Nancy Holder is a terrible writer, and this book is a crashing bore.
Her plots are always incredibly overwrought, and never get off the ground. She includes a lot of flashbacks, new characters and sterile additions to the Slayer mythos. But she doesn't realize that the show works by using all the fantasy and horror junk as a metaphor for the human experiences Buffy and her friends go through. I doubt anybody watches Buffy the Vampire Slayer just for the monsters. They watch it because of the characters. Without good characters the monster stuff wouldn't work.
Much like bad fan fiction, Nancy Holder takes fleshed out characters and manages to flatten them into two dimensional parodies of the characters in the show. And occasionally the characters are only recognizable by name. There's a hospital scene in this book that drips with melodrama and sap. She specializes in the kind of cheesiness that made 90210 so embarrassing to watch. Buffy was refreshing because it could take similar situations and handle them with irony and humor. Nancy either doesn't understand that, or is incapable of conveying it on the page.
Which would be excusable if she had any talent as a storyteller. It's as though she's so anxious to use the Buffy characters she has on loan, that she never stops to think what she's going to write about. And the end result is a boring, near unreadable mess with a few familiar names and locations tossed in. No flow, no suspense, no concern about the outcome. And are fight scenes supposed to be fun to read? Without the visuals, they're just a list of martial arts moves. So it's probably not in this books favor that there's another mindless fight every five pages.
This shouldn't matter, but there's a really annoying photo of her on the back flap of the hard cover edition. It's not that she's remarkably bad looking or anything. It just makes you wonder what her problem is. If there was anything redeeming about this book (there isn't) the photo would cancel it out.
I notice the About the Author section doesn't mention her husband like the earlier books did. He probably left her, and I can imagine why.
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