Unseen: The Burning (Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, 1)

Rating:
Summary: Burning
Review: "Unseen" is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel crossover triligy focusing on a group of kidnapped teenagers. Salma, a privliged Mexican at Sunnydale Collage, goes to Buffy and Willow to help with her brother who went missing. Meanwhile back in Los Angeles, Angel gets involved with a man who was framed by crooked cops, and his psychic son. Cordelia and Wes track down a bunch of vampire worshiping teenagers. All of these stories do not come together in this book. But there is a lot of conflict; Angel seems at odds with Riley (Buffy's new boyfriend), LAPD detective Kate Lockly, and even Buffy herself. Xander get envious of Spike because of him and Anya having so much in common; Giles and Wesley have a battle of the experts. I liked this book, and I couldn't wait until the next one. One little problem is that the "Unseen" series isn't as good as "The Gatekeeper Triligy" or "The Lost Slayer" series, but still pretty good.

Rating:
Summary: Burning
Review: "Unseen" is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel crossover triligy focusing on a group of kidnapped teenagers. Salma, a privliged Mexican at Sunnydale Collage, goes to Buffy and Willow to help with her brother who went missing. Meanwhile back in Los Angeles, Angel gets involved with a man who was framed by crooked cops, and his psychic son. Cordelia and Wes track down a bunch of vampire worshiping teenagers. All of these stories do not come together in this book. But there is a lot of conflict; Angel seems at odds with Riley (Buffy's new boyfriend), LAPD detective Kate Lockly, and even Buffy herself. Xander get envious of Spike because of him and Anya having so much in common; Giles and Wesley have a battle of the experts. I liked this book, and I couldn't wait until the next one. One little problem is that the "Unseen" series isn't as good as "The Gatekeeper Triligy" or "The Lost Slayer" series, but still pretty good.

Rating:
Summary: The Burning
Review: After reading this book I got hooked on the u.p.n. drama BuffyThe VampireSlayer and you will to. I don''t want to go into detail because I might give away the ending so my advice to you BUY IT...
READ IT...
WATCH IT...

Rating:
Summary: Buffy and Angel take on magical monsters and L.A. gangs
Review: Buffy and Angel do not learn that they are in a crossover story until fairly late in "The Burning," the first book in the "Unseen" trilogy by Nancy Holder and Jeff Mariotte, which is to be expected since there are two more books to go (Yes, I did not start the first book until the third one was published because I do not like to wait for the next volume). It is the summer after the downfall of the Initiative and Buffy and Willow are trying to help Salma de la Navidad, a fellow student at UC-Sunnydale, who is upset that her brother Nicky has disappeared. From this rather simple beginning the Slayer becomes involved in a case involving magic and gangs as well as invisible monsters. Meanwhile, in L.A., Angel is working on a case that he thinks involves poltergeists, but which really involves supernatural abilities, corrupt cops and the Russian Mafiya. When Buffy discovers that what is happening in Sunnydale has its roots in L.A., she visits Angel's turf. Only at the very end of the book do our unhappy couple discover the two cases are related, which is about where you would expect the connection to be made. Actually, the subplot involving Cordelia and Wesley dealing with a group of young girls who are vampire wannabes is more interesting at this point. Of course there is even a hint that this all links up with the main plot lines as well.

The strengths of "The Burning" as the opening volume in this trilogy are as follows. First, the mystery appears to be big enough to give Buffy, Angel and the rest of the gang plenty to do. Second, the evil this time around is magic rather than vampires, which is nice because it gives Willow more to do. The best new character in the novel is Dona Pilar, the bruja of the Navidad family who has some opportunities to take our red-headed wicca in training under her wing. Third, the large number of Hispanic characters work well, not only because it introduces some nice mystical elements into the Buffy mythos, but also because there is a large Hispanic population in Southern California which really deserves to be represented by more than the Inca Mummy Girl. Fourth, the story gets Buffy out of Sunnydale. I have always been in favor of Buffy road trips, especially after "The Ghost Roads" trilogy. I know L.A. is only a hop, skip and a jump for the Slayer, but new turf is new turf. Finally, I love it when Buffy uses the name "Anita" as a cover. Nothing like a good homage to make my day.

The main problem with "The Burning" has to do with the relationship of the main characters. Riley is edgy about Buffy and Angel, Buffy is edgy about Angel and Cordelia, Tara is edgy about Willow and the known universe, etc. Yes, most of this makes sense at face value, but there is a sort of tentativeness to all this angst. These feelings get repeated over and over again without anything really happening and I think I know why. The major problem for dealing with the relationships on "Buffy" and "Angel" is that things are so fluid on the show that by the time one of these novels comes out, things can be radically different. By the time "The Burning" came out, Riley was long gone. This sort of forces the authors of these books to tread water with the characters since you cannot really create any epic moments between them because they are reserved for the two television series. So when Buffy is miffed with Angel because he does not drop everything to come help her as soon as she shows up in "his" town, it comes across as motivated more by plot concerns ("Buffy is mad at Angel in Book 1, but then they make up in Book 3") than true characterization. However, Holder and Mariotte have set up some solid elements to be explored in the rest of the trilogy, which is enough to justify four stars at this point. Now we shall see what happens next in "Door to Alternity." True, Holder co-writing this trilogy with someone other than Christopher Golden, but she is still the finest belly dancer writing Buffy books today.

Rating:
Summary: Buffy and Angel take on magical monsters and L.A. gangs
Review: Buffy and Angel do not learn that they are in a crossover story until fairly late in "The Burning," the first book in the "Unseen" trilogy by Nancy Holder and Jeff Mariotte, which is to be expected since there are two more books to go (Yes, I did not start the first book until the third one was published because I do not like to wait for the next volume). It is the summer after the downfall of the Initiative and Buffy and Willow are trying to help Salma de la Navidad, a fellow student at UC-Sunnydale, who is upset that her brother Nicky has disappeared. From this rather simple beginning the Slayer becomes involved in a case involving magic and gangs as well as invisible monsters. Meanwhile, in L.A., Angel is working on a case that he thinks involves poltergeists, but which really involves supernatural abilities, corrupt cops and the Russian Mafiya. When Buffy discovers that what is happening in Sunnydale has its roots in L.A., she visits Angel's turf. Only at the very end of the book do our unhappy couple discover the two cases are related, which is about where you would expect the connection to be made. Actually, the subplot involving Cordelia and Wesley dealing with a group of young girls who are vampire wannabes is more interesting at this point. Of course there is even a hint that this all links up with the main plot lines as well.

The strengths of "The Burning" as the opening volume in this trilogy are as follows. First, the mystery appears to be big enough to give Buffy, Angel and the rest of the gang plenty to do. Second, the evil this time around is magic rather than vampires, which is nice because it gives Willow more to do. The best new character in the novel is Dona Pilar, the bruja of the Navidad family who has some opportunities to take our red-headed wicca in training under her wing. Third, the large number of Hispanic characters work well, not only because it introduces some nice mystical elements into the Buffy mythos, but also because there is a large Hispanic population in Southern California which really deserves to be represented by more than the Inca Mummy Girl. Fourth, the story gets Buffy out of Sunnydale. I have always been in favor of Buffy road trips, especially after "The Ghost Roads" trilogy. I know L.A. is only a hop, skip and a jump for the Slayer, but new turf is new turf. Finally, I love it when Buffy uses the name "Anita" as a cover. Nothing like a good homage to make my day.

The main problem with "The Burning" has to do with the relationship of the main characters. Riley is edgy about Buffy and Angel, Buffy is edgy about Angel and Cordelia, Tara is edgy about Willow and the known universe, etc. Yes, most of this makes sense at face value, but there is a sort of tentativeness to all this angst. These feelings get repeated over and over again without anything really happening and I think I know why. The major problem for dealing with the relationships on "Buffy" and "Angel" is that things are so fluid on the show that by the time one of these novels comes out, things can be radically different. By the time "The Burning" came out, Riley was long gone. This sort of forces the authors of these books to tread water with the characters since you cannot really create any epic moments between them because they are reserved for the two television series. So when Buffy is miffed with Angel because he does not drop everything to come help her as soon as she shows up in "his" town, it comes across as motivated more by plot concerns ("Buffy is mad at Angel in Book 1, but then they make up in Book 3") than true characterization. However, Holder and Mariotte have set up some solid elements to be explored in the rest of the trilogy, which is enough to justify four stars at this point. Now we shall see what happens next in "Door to Alternity." True, Holder co-writing this trilogy with someone other than Christopher Golden, but she is still the finest belly dancer writing Buffy books today.

Rating:
Summary: Rather disappointing
Review: I guess I expected better from a Nancy Holder story. The chapters kept repeating the same information over and over with slow to little progression of the main story line. The characters I've grown to love, Buffy, Willow, and Angel, along with the ones I can do without, Riley and Tara, never really connect on an emotional level with each other or to me as the reader. I do like the interaction between Willow and fellow witch, Dona Pilar. I also enjoyed the Cordelia/Wesley story with the girls enamored of vampires and of wanting to become one themselves. I am ready to read book 2 and have high hopes that it will be more to my liking.

Rating:
Summary: Rather disappointing
Review: I guess I expected better from a Nancy Holder story. The chapters kept repeating the same information over and over with slow to little progression of the main story line. The characters I've grown to love, Buffy, Willow, and Angel, along with the ones I can do without, Riley and Tara, never really connect on an emotional level with each other or to me as the reader. I do like the interaction between Willow and fellow witch, Dona Pilar. I also enjoyed the Cordelia/Wesley story with the girls enamored of vampires and of wanting to become one themselves. I am ready to read book 2 and have high hopes that it will be more to my liking.

Rating:
Summary: Slow-Paced, But A Good Read
Review: I must admit, the book started off slow, but got extremely good and exciting as you kept on reading. I must warn you though, before you read this book, make sure you have already bought the two sequels that follow this book. Don't be like me, and finish the first book, then had to wait a week to get the other two.

Rating:
Summary: a college student and a huge buffy fan
Review: I must admit, the book started off slow, but got extremely good and exciting as you kept on reading. I must warn you though, before you read this book, make sure you have already bought the two sequels that follow this book. Don't be like me, and finish the first book, then had to wait a week to get the other two.

Rating:
Summary: A great start to a promising triology
Review: I must say that I enjoyed this book alot. I immedeatly liked the idea of a cross over book trilogy between the worlds of Buffy and Angel when I first heard about it. I was not disappointed. The book is rather slow in the beginning but it does pick up towards the end. Nancy Holder and Jeff Marriotte did a geat job, hopefully they can keep up the good work for the next two installments of this series. By the time you finish the book(the end is a real cliffhanger) you'll be dying to read the next one!! Enjoy!! -Rory-