Buffy/Angel Crossover: Unseen #1: The Burning

Rating:
Summary: Buffy and Angel take on Monsters and Gang Bangers
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. 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 Monsters and Gang Bangers
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. 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.